Stephen W. Jacobson

Stephen Wayne Jacobson, 57, Chesterfield, MO, beloved husband of Laurel Jacobson, died November 20, 2004, at Virginia Hospital Center, Arlington, VA, after a three-year battle with kidney cancer. Mr. Jacobson was born in Girard, KS, on June 26, 1947, to Victor and Wilda Jacobson. Later the family moved to Kansas City, MO, where he graduated with honors from Paseo High School in 1965. Mr. Jacobson graduated from Northwestern University in 1969 and earned his juris doctor with honors from The University of Maryland Law School in 1973, where he was a member of Order of the Coif. Mr. Jacobson worked for The United States Social Security Administration while attending law school in Maryland. After law school graduation, he clerked for Judge Floyd Gibson of the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals before joining Lathrop Koontz Law Firm in 1975, where he became a partner. In 1990, Mr. Jacobson joined the Law Firm of Bryan Cave LLP, where he practiced until opening his own office in 1993. In 1996, he and his wife moved to Kiawah Island, SC, where he practiced until he retired in 2001. Mr. Jacobson was a member of the Missouri and South Carolina Bar Associations and the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association. He was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd, 6th and 8th federal circuits. Mr. Jacobson was named to the Marquis Who's Who in American Law List for his contributions to the environmental law field. Mr. Jacobson was a lifelong athlete, excelling in baseball and basketball. He was an avid skier and tennis player and a former member of Homestead Country Club. His passions were his family, genealogy, jigsaw puzzles, and travel. Perhaps his greatest joy was being "Papa" to his grandson. Mr. Jacobson prized humor, music, a certain brown La-Z-boy recliner, his beloved pugsters, and discursive minds. Mr. Jacobson was diagnosed with metastatic kidney cancer in September 2001. He was then accepted for a stem-cell transplant protocol at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, in early 2003. Thanks to the gift of stem-cells from his sister, Michele, he was given more time with us and for that his family is eternally grateful. Mr. Jacobson was preceded in death by his father and grandparents. He is survived by his wife of 36 years, Laurel (Arbogast) Jacobson; daughters, Wendy Jacobson, Ballwin, MO, and Nicole Jacobson, Arlington, VA, and son, Stephen Jacobson, Jr., Key West, FL; his mother, Wilda Jacobson, Bolivar, MO; brother, Donald Jacobson, Bolivar, MO; sisters, Fayanne (Jim) Bullis, Mechanicsville, MD, Vicki (Phillip) Chastain, Roswell, GA, and Michele Phillips, Bolivar, MO; his grandson, Jacob Miller, Ballwin, MO; and many other treasured aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends. A memorial service is planned at Mt. Moriah & Freeman Funeral Home, 10507 Holmes Road, Kansas City, MO, at 1 p.m. Saturday, November 27, 2004. Family suggests contributions to the National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute (NHLBI) Gift Fund, c/o Claude Lenfant, M.D., Director, 31 Center Dr., Room 5A52, MSC 2486, Bethesda, MD 20892. Funds will be earmarked for kidney cancer research, therefore the memo section of any donations should note: Stephen Jacobson/Dr. Childs Fund.