John Jacobs

John William Jacobs died peacefully surrounded by love at home in his beloved Key Biscayne, Florida on April 10. He was 89 years old.

John was born in Yonkers, New York on Sept 14, 1934 to Hirsch Jacobs and Ethel D. Jacobs. He graduated from the La Salle Military Academy on Long Island where he captained the Varsity soccer team and was All Long Island, and attended the University of Vermont where he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. In 1957, after completing service in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in Germany, he began working as a full time assistant trainer for his Hall of Fame father training thoroughbred race horses.

After a lengthy illness, his father died in February, 1970. In the barn were two promising home bred three-year-old colts, both contenders for the classic Triple Crown races to come. Fulfilling the family’s hopes, Personality won the Preakness and High Echelon won the Belmont, putting John in the unique position of having trained two different horses who each won a Triple Crown race in the same year. Personality was voted Horse of the Year by the Thoroughbred Racing Associations.

John continued to train a small number of horses for the family as well as stakes winners for George Steinbrenner, Nelson Bunker Hunt, and his sister and brother in law’s Harbor View Farm. However, after training for nearly two decades and after marrying his beloved Barbara in 1974, John felt it was time to do something different with his life. It was then that he retired from training to become a bloodstock agent, merging his love for travel with his love for the horses. For the next 27 years he appraised, bought, and sold horses for his clients, visiting Australia, Europe, South America and South Africa on business. He also served as an agent for a large Japanese bloodstock agency. He retired in 2002.

While a long-time resident of Key Biscayne, he and Barbara previously lived in Garden City on Long Island in New York. During that time, John served as Trustee of the New York Backstretch Employees’ Pension Trust for 24 years, and on the Board of Directors of the Monmouth Park Jockey Club in Oceanport, New Jersey. On Key Biscayne, for as long as his health permitted, he was an active Rotarian and a Paul Harris fellow. He served as the President of the Key Colony Homeowners Association and also as Treasurer for multiple terms. He was a Communicant at St. Agnes Catholic Church.

John was a sport enthusiast, enjoying Dolphins, Marlins, and Florida Panthers games with his family as well as tennis tournaments on the Key. He also loved living on the beach and the sand between his toes on his daily walks, any and all historical war movies, Brickell Literary Society author talks, Sunday brunch at the Yacht Club, racing in Saratoga Springs, NY (“the August place to be”), pastrami sandwiches, the notion that the aliens really are out there, and singing “Some Enchanted Evening” and “Oklahoma” at the top of his lungs on long car rides.

John will be remembered always for his “calm in the storm” attitude, caring nature, his interest in hearing about you rather than speaking about himself, his sense of fairness, his genuineness, his honesty, and his unqualified love for his family and friends. He was a devoted husband and father, and a caring gentleman whose friends were faithful to the end of his days. He will be forever loved and forever missed.

He is survived by his devoted and loving wife of 50 years, Barbara Dahl Jacobs, his children, John (Jay) William Jacobs Jr. and Jennifer Dahl Jacobs, who are as proud of him as he is of them, and his sister Patrice Jacobs Wolfson. He was predeceased by both his parents and his brother, Thomas E. Jacobs.

John’s family thanks those wonderful “helpers” who blessed him and us with their presence: Manuel Novoa - PT, Lilian De Aza and Sonia Binns - CNAs, Odalys - HHA, and High Standard Health Services.

In lieu of flowers, his wishes were that donations be made to any of the following:

- University of Miami, Diabetes Research Institute

https://diabetesresearch.org/about-dri/

- University of Miami, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

https://umiamihealth.org/sylvester-comprehensive-cancer-center/about-sylvester/giving

- National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York

www.racingmuseum.org

- Or a charity of one’s choosing

A mass of Christian burial will be held at 9:00 am on Tuesday, April 30 at St. Agnes Catholic Church, Key Biscayne, FL.