Raymond Bradley Jacoby

Raymond ("Ray") Bradley Jacoby of South Hero Vermont died at the McClure Miller Hospice Home in Colchester on Winter Solstice, December 21, 2023 with his three surviving children by his side. Born in Finesville, New Jersey on June 26, 1931, the son of Raymond and Myrtle Jacoby, Ray grew up in Asbury Park NJ, where he became a diehard Philadelphia Phillies and Eagles fan, and in Worcester MA. Following his father, grandfather, and two brothers, Ray attended Lafayette College in Easton, PA graduating in 1957. During school summers Ray worked at YMCA Camp Blanchard where he learned skills that served him for the rest of his life - cooking, sailing, but especially gathering those around him in a common activity or cause. Ray brought camp counselor enthusiasm and a broad inclusive energy to everything he did; from teaching, directing non-profits, and fundraising, to being a dad, grandad, and friend. Post college, Ray taught at the Abandon Institute of Technology (AIT) in Iran, during which time he married the love of his life, started a family, and coached AIT's basketball team to a country championship. In Bridgeport, Connecticut he returned to the YMCA, in youth programming and directing YMCA Camp Hi-Rock, while earning his Master's Degree. After teaching overseas again in Tripoli, Libya, Ray became the executive director of the Wilmington YMCA in Delaware. In 1974 Ray shifted directions becoming the Executive Director of the Chittenden County United Way in Burlington, Vermont where over the next 10 years he grew the organization's capacity for funding local non-profits fourfold. He finished his United Way career in Atlantic City and in semi-retirement worked in the consulting sector advising successful capital campaigns for nonprofits across the country with the American City Bureau. This final job allowed him to summer in South Hero Vermont, where he and his wife Muriel bought a retirement home in 1997 Ray's success in fundraising for nonprofits was grounded in a faith in humans' capacity to care about one another and two mantras; 'the volunteer is always right' and, 'if you don't ask you are withholding someone's opportunity to give'. As a volunteer, Ray served on the Board of Local Motion, raised money for YMCA Camp Abnaki, was deeply involved in the International Rotary Club's student exchange and goiter eradication projects, and served in lay leader positions in every church community he became a member of - most recently the South Hero United Church of Christ. He and his wife also served in the retired YMCA Executive's volunteer program teaching English in China for two 6-month commitments and hosted an annual 'cousin's camp' for their grandchildren. In his family, Ray will be remembered for his relationship with his wife of 52 years, which was marked by deep love, mutual respect, and a degree of equality that was ahead of its time. He will also be remembered for his default of genuinely liking every person he met, groan-worthy puns, and a willingness to be goofy. Ray is survived by his children and their spouses Peter and Tereza Jacoby, Laura Jacoby and Jack Brooks, and Lynne Jacoby; and his grandchildren Josh Smith, Zachery Bowen, Kayla, Connor, Alexia and Gabriella Jacoby and Cyrus and Ethan Brooks. Ray is predeceased by his wife Muriel Keller Jacoby, his son Henry Jacoby, his daughter-in-law Mary Doyle and his siblings Walter, Roger and Sarah Jacoby. In lieu of flowers please make a contribution to any organization that honors your own relationship with Ray, or to the Jacoby Camp Abnaki Scholarship Fund at https://campabnaki.org/donate/give/. A celebration of Ray's life will be held July 5, 2024, 11 am at the United Church of Christ of South Hero Vermont. To plant a beautiful memorial tree in memory of Raymond, please visit our Tree Store.