Basil Howard Jacobson, Jr. of Mt. Juliet, TN, passed away surrounded by family on March 31, 2025. Born May 14, 1936 in Cylinder, IA, Bakey was the son of Basil Sr. and Frances Satter Harrison Jacobson. He was raised in Emmetsburg, IA, where he met the love of his life, Arlyn Kay Spaur, while ice skating on Five Island Lake. Bake and Kay married after high school and moved to Northfield, MN, where they were blessed with five children: David Michael, Steven Howard, Paul Alan, Elizabeth Vera and Mark Benjamin.
Bake began his college career at St. Olaf in Northfield, but was able to begin teaching in South Dakota as he finished his degree at Huron College in Huron, SD. The family then relocated to Castle Rock, CO, where Bake spent the rest of his career teaching 6th grade in the Douglas County School District, first at Northeast Elementary, then Wilcox Elementary, and finally at Castle Rock Elementary. He always said, “It beats working for a living!” Many former students fondly remember throwing paper airplanes out the windows at Wilcox and receiving his touchdown passes at recess.
Though he always enjoyed camping, shooting muzzle-loaders, riding motor-cycles and woodworking, retirement found Bake calling tractor pulls and traveling. Following the tragic loss of Kay, Bake found a second chapter with his special friend, Judy Gillen, when he moved to Las Cruces, NM. Bake fulfilled a lifelong dream to live near the coast when he moved to Brownsville, TX, but for health reasons needed to be near family, which brought him to Mt. Juliet, TN, near his son, Steve.
Basil was preceded in death by his wife, Kay; his son, Mark; and his grandson, Josh.
He is survived by his sister, Jane (Bob) Drew of Salt Lake City, UT; sister-in-law Geri (Cyril) Armstrong of Harker Heights, TX; sister-in-law Kathy (Bill) Harris of Montrose, CO; son, Dave (Barb) of Spencer, IA; son Steve (Arlene) of Mt. Juliet, TN, son Paul (Inger) of Florence, WI; daughter Beth (Chuck) Corell of Walnut, IA; 14 grandchildren and a multitude of great grandchildren.
