Jane Jacobsen

WESTBOROUGH, Mass. | Jane Greer Jacobsen, 1916 - 2009, passed away.

She was the wife of the late U.S. Navy Commander Conrad Leiknes Jacobsen.

Born in San Francisco, California, she was the daughter of the late Medal of Honor recipient, U.S. Army Col. Allen James and Dorothy E. Hersey Greer.

Jane received her Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Wisconsin in 1937, a master's in Art History at the University of California at Berkley in 1939 and a master's in Education at the George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tenn., in 1949.

During her early childhood, Jane joined her mother, grandmother, brother and other staunch supporters of the Women's Suffragette movement in the Washington, D.C., marches in the early 1920s. She later became an accomplished equestrienne and sharpshooter. Jane was a member of the U.S. Women Swim Team for the 1932 Olympics.

While raising her family during the 50s and 60s Jane was an active participant in the Clandestine Civil Rights movement in the lowlands of South Carolina, where she coordinated local efforts in support of NAACP and CORE activities at the national level.

For many years, Jane taught in the Myrtle Beach public school system, where she is still fondly remembered as ''Miz J.'' She also taught in Harlem, New York City, and was a speech therapist volunteer for several years at various Native American reservations in the Los Angeles region.

Jane is survived by her two daughters, Caroline L. Jacobsen Starita of North Chelmsford, Mass., and Ciri L. Jacobsen Malamud of Glen Ridge, N.J.; six grandchildren, Edith I. G. Chapman, Vittorio I. Starita, Caroline J. S. Enos, Gianpaolo Starita, Rachel I. M. Alembakis, and Deborah L. Malamud. At the time of her death, Jane had 11 great-grandchildren.

Jane was the mother of the late Conrad Allen Jacobsen.

A local memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Saturday, April 18, 2009 in the Rand-Harper-Pickering Westborough Funeral Home, 62 West Main St., Westborough, Mass. Family graveside services will be held at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va.

Please sign a guest book at TheSunNews.com.

Donations in her memory may be made to the UMass Memorial Medical Center, Neurology Department, 55 Lake Ave. North, Worcester, MA 01605.

Westborough Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.