Ellis A. Jacobson

Ellis A. Jacobson, age 72 passed away peacefully at home with his family in Montpelier, VT on July 19, 2025 after a brief, fierce battle with pancreatic cancer. Ellis was born in Portland, Maine on August 28, 1952 to Nellie (Levin) and Myer Jacobson.

Ellis was an artist, sculptor, mask maker, educator, curator, director, writer, actor, clown, comic and musician. His career in the arts began when he won the Best Actor award for the Children's Theater of Maine in 1966, and from there he was hooked. He went on to get his Bachelor of the Arts in theater and his teacher's certification at Goddard College in Plainfield, VT. In the late 60's and early 70's, he performed with Blackbird Theater, Two Penney Circus, and Bread and Puppet Theater. Throughout the 70's and 80's he wrote and performed numerous comedy shows with Barney Carlson; he juggled with Peter Youngbaer as Mister Blister and Fatman; and he created his own mask theater company, "The Regular Theater". He toured to Oaxaca, Mexico with Dragon Dance Theater in 1994, where he created a giant mask in the town square, which was used in their performance at Monte Alban. His paper mache masks were also featured in a performance by the New York City Opera and the Metropolitan Opera in Brooklyn in the 1990's.

In the 2000's he turned his energy to arts education and curation. In 2000 his masks were displayed in a one-man-show at the University of Montana. He worked in numerous Vermont schools as a theater teacher, director and artist-in-residence. He founded and curated the Artpath Gallery in Burlington, Vermont, and served as a Trustee for the T.W. Wood Art Gallery. For the past 10 plus years he has developed, run and taught after school arts programs for elementary aged children in central Vermont; most recently his own program, 3 O'Clock Art, at the Greenway campus in Montpelier. Providing an environment for his students to be able to play and create freely in whatever medium and subject matter inspired them was the most important to him, and he loved his students dearly.

Ellis loved the coast of Maine, spending time every summer body surfing and eating fried clams with family and friends in Ocean Park. He loved his chosen home of Cabot, Vermont, where he bought his first home while in college. He lived there until 2023, when he permanently moved to Montpelier. He loved making people laugh, and continued to do so even in his frequent hospital stays during his last weeks of life, cracking jokes with each person who walked into the hospital room. He loved all things and collected many, such as art, coins and antique toys, but he loved nothing better than the smile on the face of a child. He loved the extended non-traditional family that he shared with his partner of 42 years, Marilyn Nasuta, whom he married in 2012. He was a devoted grandfather to Cooper and Nellie Lamb, a step father to Rosemary Leach and a step-father-in-law to Ted Lamb. He is survived by his brother Alan Jacobson and sister-in-law Rose of Miami, FL; his nephews Brian Jacobson of Homestead FL and Mark Jacobson of Ann Arbor, MI; his brother-in-law Stephen Nasuta and sister-in-law Molly Backup of Saint Albans, VT; his niece Ditra Backup of Washington DC; as well as grand nieces, grand nephews and cousins.

Ellis was so grateful to everyone who shared their love, support, and medical expertise over the last 10 weeks including his family, his friends, his students and their families, and the staff at Greenway Institute, UVM Medical Center (especially Miller 5), Central Vermont Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice.

A celebration of life will be held in the fall. Donations can be made in memory of Ellis to Bread and Puppet Theater, Glover, VT or to Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice, Berlin, VT. The family also invites you to share your memories and condolences by visiting www.awrfh.com.

Photo is by Neil Davis