Margaret Louise Jacobson

Margaret Louise (Larson) Jacobson was born to Albert and Dora Larson and raised on a farm most of her young life. She graduated from high school and then moved to Omaha and lived with a family for room and board by doing household chores and childcare while attending and graduating from business school. She married the love of her life, Cecil Henry Jacobson, on Jan. 23, 1949, during a blizzard that forced them to stop and spend the night with kind strangers when they could not travel further due to the storm. They celebrated 72 years of marriage with 57 of those years in North Platte. Margaret was Cecil's constant companion and they shared hobbies like fishing, camping, gardening and wood carving, as well as volunteering at her Church and in the community. She prepared many duck, pheasant, quail, turkey or venison meals and loads of fish from Cecil's adventures. Together they raised daughters, Sonja Ann (Jacobson) Hayen and Sigurid Gail (Jacobson) (Peterson) Hansen in North Platte. As a founding member of the Messiah Lutheran Church in North Platte, Margaret was a woman with great love and compassion for her family and her church. Much of her adult life was spent with her church family. She participated in the women's organizations of the church, created many quilts and other community projects for donation, made Swedish meatballs and baked cinnamon rolls for church meals, assisted with meals for funerals and prepared communion for the church. Many a Saturday was spent cleaning the church, mowing the church lawn or scooping the sidewalks before Sunday services. Church picnics were spent at the Jacobson's cabin at Lake McConaughy near Lemoyne and at Lake Ogallala State recreation areas with fishing, water skiing and swimming. She was very active on church committees and volunteered to pick up those without rides so they might attend church and Sunday school. Margaret always had a welcome mat at the door and greeted everyone with her beautiful smile and hospitality. Her children came home to freshly baked goodies after school. Margaret was an avid gardener and canned everything from dill pickles to beans and peas. She baked apple pies from the apple trees in the yard and rhubarb crisps that came from her garden. She sewed most of the clothing worn by her daughters as they grew up. She was a stay-at-home mom until the last child graduated from high school in 1970 and then went to work for Nebraska Public Power District as a secretary in North Platte, retiring after 20-some years. Margaret and Cecil moved to Centennial, Colorado, in the summer of 2012, where their oldest daughter, Sonja(Jacobson) Hayen lived and spent their senior years enjoying the grandchildren and great-grandchildren under Sonja's watchful eye and love. Margaret loved children and was a very involved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, attending school programs and sporting events. All of her flock was blessed with her sense of humor and great compassion and her love for each of them. She was good at making each child feel wanted, needed and special and was a very patient and kind teacher. No one could leave Margaret's home without a big hug and a bag of goodies. We were all blessed. Margaret was preceded in death by her husband, Cecil Henry Jacobson; children, Jodi Jean Jacobson (1954) and Henri Jacobson (1958); her parents, Albert and Dora Larson; her brother, Dean Robert Larson; five sisters, Vera (Larson) Runnels, Myrna (Larson) Ahrens, Caryll (Larson) Karges, Alice (Larson)(Porter) Howard and Glynys (Larson) Quinlan; brothers-in-law, David Runnels, Bud Arhens, Bill Karges Sr., Jim Tisthammer, Michael Wray and Max Howard; ex-brothers-in-law, Max Porter and Tom Quinlan; and ex-son-law, David Lee Peterson. Margaret is survived by her daughters, Sonja Jacobson Hayen and Sigurid Jacobson Peterson Hansen and Sig's significant other, Grady Love III; ex-sons-in-law, David Hayen and Jerry Hansen; grandchildren, Amy Peterson (Dan) Duey, Lynsey Orr and Matthew (Lee Ann) Hayen; great-grandchildren, Henry "Hank" Orr, twins, Harley and Haley Orr, Hope Orr, Maryn Hayen and Morgyn Hayen; her sisters, Dorothy Larson Tisthammer, Laura Larson Wray (John) Muencharath; and sister-in-law, Beverly Coulter Larson. Cecil Jacobson elected to wait until Margaret would join him in death for burial together. A celebration of life will be held for both Cecile and Margaret Jacobson at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 6, at the Trinity Lutheran Church, 804 Hale Ave, Newman Grove, with Deacon Claire Meyers officiating. Inurnment follows at Hope Cemetery, Newman Grove. A gathering of family and friends with food and drink will follow at Trinity Lutheran Church.