Roy E. Jacobson's Obituary
Tacoma native Roy Runar Eugene Jacobson, born April 20, 1927, died peacefully at home on March 15, 2019. The third of four sons born to Swede-Finn immigrants August and Wendla Jacobson, Roy grew up in the Hilltop neighborhood and lived for the last 65 years in the home he built in the Waller Road area.
While still in high school during WWII, Roy worked in the Port of Tacoma shipyards to contribute to the war effort. He graduated from Lincoln High School, where he excelled at baseball. When the Army couldn’t take him fast enough he joined the wartime Merchant Marine, serving on ammunitions ships, enduring a typhoon and sailing in both the Atlantic and Pacific for two years. He was never tempted to take a cruise after that, content to see the ocean from the beach on annual trips to Hawaii. He did continue to venture out in small craft, which he found necessary to pursue his lifelong love of fishing.
Roy attended the College of Puget Sound for one year, but denied the benefits of the G.I. Bill that President Roosevelt had promised to Merchant Mariners before his death, Roy left school and went to work for Safeway Stores where he was a fixture for almost 40 years. Roy, his brother Stan and their wives operated apartments they owned for over 40 years. The Jacobson boys could fix just about anything.
An ardent baseball fan, Roy enjoyed an appearance as a “guest groundskeeper” at a Mariners game, threw out the first pitch at a Rainier’s game in front of visiting Swedish relatives, travelled to Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park and Cooperstown, then headed to home plate celebrating his 90th birthday by enjoying a game with extended family members in a suite at Cheney Stadium.
Roy is survived by his wife of 70 years Patricia, his children Rick (Kathy), Karl (Debbie), Nancy (Don) and Bonnie, 15 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, his brother Stan (Jerry) and numerous nieces and nephews. Private interment at Tahoma National Cemetery.
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