Eric Sheldon Jacobson

1941 - 2023

Eric Sheldon Jacobson died on August 4, 2023, surrounded by his family at his home on the Yeocomico River in Lottsburg, VA.

Physician, scientist, sailor, boatbuilder, musician, loving husband, father, and grandfather-Eric lived a full life. Born on December 30, 1941, in Philadelphia, PA, Eric was the eldest child of Sheldon and Annette (Chesin) Jacobson. He attended Hudson's Bay High School in Vancouver, WA and then Stanford University, graduating in 1963. He went on to earn an MD and PhD in Physiological Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in 1970, becoming a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine in both Infectious Disease and Internal Medicine.

For nearly three decades, Eric was employed as a researcher and attending physician in Infectious Disease at the Richmond Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, VA, with a research focus in fungal genetics and immune deficiency. His nationally recognized program of research in cryptococcal genetics was continuously supported by the National Institutes of Health and through a V.A. Clinical Investigatorship. He was a respected member of numerous professional organizations including the American Society of Microbiology, American Federation of Clinical Research, Infectious Diseases Society of America, International Society for Human and Animal Mycology, and the Richmond Academy of Medicine. He retired from active medical practice in 2004.

Eric's lifelong avocations were sailing and classical music. The son of a U.S. Navy captain, he was a Sea Scout during his youth in the Pacific Northwest. The experience kindled his lifetime love of boats and the sea; he even considered becoming a naval architect before embarking on his medical and scientific training. Once in Virginia, he taught his children to sail and led the family on many cruises throughout the Chesapeake Bay, in the Great Lakes, and up the Atlantic coast to Maine and Nova Scotia. In later years, he shared his lifetime of sailing experience with several students from the nearby St. Mary's College of Maryland, completing several long-distance cruises in the Atlantic and helping to launch at least one professional nautical career. He built or rebuilt dozens of boats in his home workshop, ranging from a whitewater dory in which he ran the Colorado River, to the classic small sailing and rowing craft of L. Francis Herreshoff. He also volunteered as a docent for the Reedville Fishermen's Museum.

Eric played viola in the Richmond Philharmonic before he retired and moved to the Northern Neck. He then became a violist and board member of the Northern Neck Orchestra, where he worked to keep community orchestra available to talented local amateurs. He also developed the NNO's chamber music program and its partnership with the Good Luck Cellars winery, and served as treasurer of the Rappahannock Music Study Club. He loved to gather friends at his home to play music together.

He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Christiane M. (Angele) Jacobson; his children Lisa Jacobson, Melanie Jacobson Schuster (Richard), and Leif Jacobson; his siblings Ira Jacobson and Ruth Jacobson Cummins; and three grandchildren Anne, Catherine, and Jacob Schuster. He will be sorely missed.

A memorial service will be planned for the fall.