Marily Jo Jacobson

1936 - 2023

Our beloved Jo was born Marilyn Jo Pullen, second child of Harold and Gladys, in Sac County, Iowa, on June 20, 1936. From an early age she found music more pleasant than plucking chickens, so when piano lessons were prioritized in the lean family budget, Jo's trajectory was set. At Cornell College of Iowa, her piano hands gained feet as she mastered the organ, while her education degree revealed a love of teaching children (and former children) to sing. In college she met and married Joseph Mapes, and summer seasonal work at the Stanley Hotel first put the Front Range of Colorado on their map. Joe and Jo chased jobs across Iowa and east to Pennsylvania, while their newborn children Clark and Diana kept life hectic. Joseph landed university library posts in Pueblo (where Brian was born) and the next year in Boulder. Thus endeth their rambling (and Marty their progeny). Jo worked steadily too, as an elementary music teacher in the St. Vrain Valley district, flashing her red curls from a string of convertibles as she drove her guitar from school to school like a troubadour. Divorce in 1974 left Jo a working single mother of four. Piano playing at Furr's cafeteria earned a bit of milk money and free meals for the kids. She read ravenously for escape, devouring secondhand paperback bodice-rippers by the grocery bagful. She even tried her hand at writing. But the 1970s were not a golden age for smart, upbeat homemaker essays in one's own name, so she has only the file folder of magazine rejections to show for it -- as far as we know. She found solidarity in relatives, neighbors and friends, and in a fine organization called Parents Without Partners, where the handsome, rock-solid Charles H. Jacobson presented himself. Jo and Charlie married in 1977, and she took his family name. Her 4 and his 3 kids have long since ceased to squabble over pancakes and thermostat settings, and are fast friends today. Jo was no victim of her economic precarity: she took night classes to gain a master's degree and ascend to school administration. She served for years as principal of Erie Elementary, where she had once been the music teacher. After an early retirement, she kept the music, leading music at Saint Ambrose Episcopal Church and directing seasonal choir projects in several senior centers. She also volunteered as a senior peer counselor. She saw the world a bit, her nails embedded in companions' arms on every necessary airplane ride. Jo's late years have been a great blessing, as she bounced back from cancers, heart failure and stroke. Nurse-trained daughter Diana gave Jo the joy of the longest possible time at home, and it is evident that Jo was beloved by staff at her final care homes as well. She will be missed by many. Jo was preceded in death by her parents; her siblings Clark, Jean, and Neil; and her husband Charlie by just 4 days. She is survived by siblings Carl and Dan, as well as by many in the younger generations of her hearty extended clan. In lieu of flowers, well-wishers can make a donation to Saint Ambrose Episcopal Church. A joint celebration for Charlie and Jo will take place at Saint Ambrose Episcopal Church on August 12th at 11:00 AM, with a reception to follow.