November 12, 2018
By: Bill Conger
Family, friends, and fellow teachers paid tribute to the late Karen Blair Jacobs Saturday at Northside Elementary School where she taught most of her 30-year career. Family members planted an Autumn Blaze Red Maple tree in Karen’s memory.
“She was a wonderful lady,” Director of Schools Patrick Cripps told the crowd that gathered on the playground behind Northside. “She loved her kids. She loved her job. I truly feel in order to be a teacher, it’s a calling. It’s not something you wake up and say I can do it and be successful with it. I think that God gives you the mission to do the job, and she truly had that within her soul.”
“I used to love coming over here and cutting up with her and her work buddies and giving them a hard time. I loved Karen. I did.”
“We’re just fortunate to be here and tell the family that we love her. We love them, and we thank you for allowing us to be a part of your lives and for allowing Karen to be a part of our lives.”
“I loved Karen,” said lifelong friend Angie Young Thomas. “I live in Michigan, and I didn’t get to see her that much. But I think about her every single day, and I miss her every single day. I’m so proud the school has let us do this. I want to see this tree get so big that we can see if from the road.”
“Karen was my best friend for 50 years,” says Annette Cripps Davis. “We had to have every class together all four years of high school. She had to be there with me because she had to carry all my books through school because I was on crutches most of the time,” Davis recalled laughing. “Karen was truly a best friend to a lot of people, and what a wonderful person she was.”
Jacobs died just over a year ago on October 25, 2017, from neuroendocrine cancer. By happenstance, the memorial occurred on World NET Cancer Awareness Day.
Jacob’s brother Keith thanked the crowd for the special remembrance of his sister at the school that she loved.
“This would’ve meant a lot to Karen,” Blair said. “The school meant so much to her, the kids meant so much to her, so this is a fitting tribute. It’s been tough losing her, but the support and love that continues on through Karen and through her memory has been so helpful.”
Karen’s husband, Shawn Jacobs, said he continues to miss his best friend.
“After we got married, I used to run around with a few guys who were really good friends. I quit seeing them quite as much, and she would ask me why don’t you call your friends and go do something. I would say you’re my best friend, and I would rather be with you. She really was my best friend, and I hit the jackpot. There’s no doubt about that. If you’re going to marry, marry up. Lord knows, I married up.”
“Karen couldn’t take a compliment. I don’t know if you all knew that or not. She didn’t like it. She’d almost get mad at you when you complimented her. I would say, ‘I’m sincere. I’m not being sarcastic. I really mean it.’ I know today that she’s looking down on us, and I think this is one of the compliments she would be proud of because she knows we’re sincere having the kids involved and having the plaque here for the kids to see and the tree for the kids to play under. I know that would please her so much.”
Inside the school, a plaque memorializing Karen will hang on the wall with one of her favorite quotes, the Golden Rule: Treat Others the Way You Want to Be Treated.”
Karen’s friends would like to thank Triple C Nursery for donating the Autumn Blaze Red Maple tree, Michael Hale with DeKalb Funeral Home for the commemorative granite stone, and Jeff McMillen for the plaque honoring Karen.