Photo courtesy of Peterson-Bassi Chapels - Chicago
Apr 1, 1955 - Aug 12, 2025
I was fortunate enough to know Cate for decades, ever since we met in HS. Didn't see her often enough for decades (too much geography and time zones separating us), but we had some VERY fun get togethers in recent years. She was a very special person indeed. I can't even imagine the huge number of lives she improved with her magic touch.
Mary Anne Cassin
August 20, 2025 | Portland, OR | Classmate
Remembered By
Laurie Brown
August 19, 2025 | Downers Grove, IL
Dear Jacobs Family,
I am truly sorry to hear about the untimely passing of your Mom. Your obituary said it all, Cate truly was full of life and had a heart of gold. Your Mom will forever live in your hearts and all your memories. Cherish them. Even with her passing, Cate will still live on in others.always helping.
Prayers to all of you for strength, comfort and peace during this very sad time and as you navigate the days ahead. My deepest sympathies to you all.
Tamara Jabour...
Tamara Jabour
August 18, 2025 | Nolensville, TN | Friend
What a happy day this was.
Laurie Brown
August 17, 2025 | Downers Grove, IL
A lifelong Oak Parker, devoted mother, grandmother, godmother, aunt and sister and the life of every party and family dinner, Cate Jacobs loved life, her family and her community.
The middle sister of four boys (the youngest of whom died as an infant), Cate was born on April 1, 1955. Sharp as a tack with a quick wit, she loved her coffee and her Lienenkugel’s Summer Shandy. Especially when they were shared with family and her wide circle of life-long friends.
She attended St. Giles and Trinity High School before the University of Illinois in Champaign.
A dedicated social worker, she chose to invest back into the community she grew up in and spent the entirety of her career working with kids near Chicago’s west side. While she derived pride and satisfaction from her work, family was always the focus of Cate’s life.
She met her match in every sense when a friend introduced her to a co-worker named Charlie Jacobs at Chicago Fest on Navy Pier. They fell in love quickly and Cate instantly became an integral part of the extensive Jacobs clan. Even after his death, she remained a loving, involved, dedicated member of his family and considered his siblings her own.
Asked once about the best day of her life, she recalled a perfectly ordinary day shortly after the birth of her youngest, Erin. Her oldest, Caleb, was putting Erin in a stroller for a walk while the middle children, Frank and Annie, were playing outside.
Talking with family about if she wanted to return to work, Cate was struck by the realization that she had everything she wanted in life. She had a family she loved and who loved her, and a career that let her help the most vulnerable people in the community she had spent her entire life in.
She died on Aug. 14, at 70, surrounded by the people she loved most: her children.
Cate was preceded in death by her husband, Charlie, her parents, Bob and Peg Kennedy, her brother, Joseph, and two of Charlie’s siblings, John and Joan. She is survived by her children, Caleb, Frank, Annie and Erin and Caleb and Frank’s wives; five grandchildren; her brothers, Matt, Jim and John and their wives; five of Charlie’s siblings; and 36 nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations be made to a cause close to Cate’s heart, the Good Shepherd Manor Foundation, P.O. Box 260, Momence, IL, 60954
Read More
