Jerome Jacobs
search

Jerome Jacobs

Jerome Jacobs, 91, of West Orange died Dec. 19, 2015. He was born in Newark and moved to West Orange in the 1930s. He later lived in Florham Park before returning to West Orange. 

Mr. Jacobs worked in the family printing business with his father and brother Leonard. His father retired in 1967 and in 1972 he and Leonard broke up their partnership. He moved his share of the business to New Jersey, which his son Andy later joined. 

He graduated from West Orange High School at age 16. He entered Carnegie Mellon University in 1941, where he majored in industrial engineering and was a member of the ROTC program. 

In February 1943, at the age of 18, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and entered their meteorology program. 

Following basic training, he studied at University of Wisconsin and University of Chicago, from which he later graduated. He completed additional courses required for his degree by mail correspondence from Europe. He was commissioned on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

He was sent to Texas, where he was a weather forecaster for two months before being reassigned to approach control (similar to current air traffic controllers). After six weeks of training in New York City, he volunteered for duty in Europe, and was sent to Cornwall, England-St. Mawguns RAF base, where he spent the next five months involved with airport approach control and living in a tent. He was then transferred to Rome, where he spent the next nine months as operations officer. He was also Airdrome officer-in charge of the lead jeeps that parked landed aircraft and of maintaining the runways. He was responsible for welcoming arriving celebrities and dignitaries, including Frank Sinatra and Gen. Dwight Eisenhower. 

From November 1945 until June 1946, he was stationed in Athens again as operations officer before returning home in June 1946. 

He is survived by his wife, Phyllis (Henig); two sons, Ira (Eve) of Verona and Andrew (Wendy) of Short Hills; his daughter, Irene (David) Beyth of South Orange; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. 

Services were held Dec. 22 with arrangements by J.L. Apter Memorial Chapels of Cedar Grove.

read more:
comments