Helen R. Jacobson

Helen R. Jacobson, age 90, a lifelong resident of the Lake Geneva area and longtime member of the Badger High School Board, died on Wednesday evening, May 18, at Zilber Family Hospice in Wauwatosa. She was born May 27, 1925, on her family’s farm in Lyons Township and lived there until moving to Brookfield, Wis., in 2015 to be closer to her children. She was the daughter of the late Valentine and Elisabeth (Sauer) Reich. Helen attended Red Brick School in Lyons Township and graduated from Lake Geneva High School in 1943. She married Kenneth Jacobson on May 10, 1958, at St. Killian Church in Lyons Township. She and her family later joined St. Francis de Sales Parish in Lake Geneva, where Helen was involved in the Catholic Daughters, with whom she held several offices, including State Regent. During WWII, she worked in Kenosha as a bookkeeper with American Motors Corp. She also worked as a bookkeeper at Burlington Drayage, Wisconsin Southern Gas Co., and Culligan. She was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother. Education and young people were among her greatest passions. She was a room mother, Brownie leader and 4-H leader. She was elected to the Badger High School Board in 1977, later serving as board secretary and president. She retired from the board in 2015. She also served as a lector and Eucharistic minister at St. Francis de Sales, and was a member of both the Tri-County Red Cross Board and the Blood Board of Wisconsin and Iowa. And she loved to play cards, especially bridge and pinochle.

She is survived by her husband, Kenneth; her three daughters: Marybeth (Ted Strupp) of Wauwatosa, Julie of Green Bay, and Patti of Waukesha; her grandchildren, Elise and Stephen, both of Milwaukee; three sisters-in-law, Lois Johnson, Lorraine Sieker and Alice Jacobson; and nieces, nephews and friends.

Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by her eight siblings and many other relatives and friends.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, May 23, at St. Francis de Sales in Lake Geneva, beginning with visitation at 10 a.m. in the chapel, to be followed by the funeral mass at noon. A Rosary Service will be held at 10:30 a.m. in the church. Burial will follow at St. Killian Cemetery.

Memorials are suggested to Lake Geneva Schools Helen Jacobson Scholarship Fund or the Catholic Daughters.

Derrick Funeral Home in Lake Geneva is honored to be assisting the Jacobson family with arrangements. To sign the on-line guest registry click guest book/condolences

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