Albert Jacobs, Wissahickon educator

Albert B. Jacobs, 79, of Spring House, an educator in the Wissahickon School District for 22 years, died of heart failure Aug. 8 at home.

In 1966, Mr. Jacobs was appointed principal of Wissahickon High School. He became the district's director of secondary education in 1969 and later curriculum supervisor before becoming assistant superintendent in 1981.

In that post, he initiated a "social lab" to introduce high school students to career options. Teens interested in teaching were permitted to help in classrooms, those interested in medicine could shadow hospital staff, and others interned in business offices for several hours a week. Other schools copied the popular program, his daughter JudyLynn Donato said.

Mr. Jacobs took particular interest in struggling or troubled students, she said, and often invited them to swim in his backyard pool.

Several months before retiring in 1988, Mr. Jacobs spoke to the graduating class of Wissahickon High School. Instead of wishing the students "wealth, fame or worldly success," he said, he wished them "curiosity, challenge, health, spirituality, friendship, love, responsibility, forgiveness, beauty and peace."

A native of Wilkes-Barre, Mr. Jacobs served in the Army in Germany and Italy after World War II. After his discharge, he earned a bachelor's degree from Wilkes College. He also earned a master's degree from Temple University, and completed courses for his doctorate in educational administration at Rutgers University.

He taught English and was an administrator at high schools in New Jersey before joining the Wissahickon School District.

Mr. Jacobs told a reporter before his retirement that he was looking forward to "working with my hands instead of what passes as a brain." An accomplished woodworker, he made Shaker-style bookshelves, china cabinets, chests, a bed, and a desk for family, his daughter said.

He loved travel, she said, and in 1980 took a six-month sabbatical trip around the world. In retirement, he traveled to India, New England and Mid-Atlantic states to evaluate schools for accreditation, and he lived for a year in England.

Since 1951, he had been married to his college sweetheart, Marilyn Broadt Jacobs. They were longtime Montgomery County residents and had lived at Gwynedd Estates, a retirement community in Spring House, since the late 1990s. At Gwynedd, Mr. Jacobs initiated discussion groups and invited lecturers to speak on world affairs and environmental issues, his daughter said.

In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Jacobs is survived by another daughter, Jill, and three grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Calvary Methodist Church, 16 E. Park Ave., Ambler, where Mr. Jacobs was a lay leader. Friends may call after 10 a.m.

Memorial donations may be made to the Christian Children's Fund, Southern Plains Area Office, 1 Plaza South, AMB 304, Tahlequah, Okla. 74464.