Waynesburg Physician
Dr. Donald R. Jacobs Dies Of Heart Attack WAYNESBURG - Dr. Donald R. Jacobs, of Waynesburg, a local physician since 1926 widely known throughout Greene County, died at 10:45 p.m. Saturday, March 17, 1962, in Greene County Memorial Hospital following a brief hospitalization. He had suffered attacks of a heart aliment and other illness during the past few years but had continued in practice until his final attack. He suffered repeated attacks the last few days of his life. Except for his service in World War I as a medical Navy corpsman before he had entered medical school and World War II service as an Army Medical Corps officer, Dr. Jacobs had devoted almost all of his adult life to the practice of his profession in Greene County. He was principal of the Bristol, W. Va., High School in 1919-20. All of the 36 years as a physician were as a general practitioner, the traditional "family doctor." He had befriended many, especially the more elderly patients and many of the needy, combining his professional skills with a reverence for their misfortunes which was in the tradition of the early eras of the medical world. His career had spanned the period which preceded the breakthrough of medicine's miracle drugs and advanced therapy of today, his earliest years in the profession having been those in which it was still necessary for doctors to use the traditional horse and buggy transportation to reach their patients. Dr. Jacobs was born December 4, 1892, near Bristoria, Greene County, a son of William R. Jacobs and Florence Scott Jacobs, both deceased. Later the family moved to Franklin Township, near Waynesburg, his parents residing there until their death. He attended the elementary schools in Greene County and attended California State College and Waynesburg College, graduating in the class of 1918. After service in the Navy as a medical corpsman in World War I, he netered Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia. He was graduated from medical school in 1924 and after internship in St. Francis Hospital, in Pittsburgh, he became associated with his uncle, the late Dr. G. M. Scott, in Waynesburg, in July, 1926. In World War II he was an officer in the U. S. Army Medical Corps, advancing to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He remained in the reserve and during the Korean War was chief medical advisor for the Greene County Selective Service Board No. 74. In recognition of his many services he was awarded a service medal from President Truman, a certificate of appreciation from President Eisenhower, a 15 year service citation signed by President Kennedy and a citation from the U. S. Congress. Dr. Jacobs was student medical director at the college for many years and in recognition of this service to the community was given a distinguished service citation by the Delta Sigma Phi social fraternity on December 10, 1959. He was a long time member of the fraternity. He was a member of the First Methodist Church of Waynesburg and of numerous professional societies including the Greene County Medical Society, the Pennsylvania Medical Society, the American Medical Association and a Fellow in the Geriatrics Society, a group specializing the diseases of the aged. Fraternally he was a member of James Farrell Post 330, American Legion, of the Greene County Voiture of the Forty and Eight Society, the Ft. Jackson Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, Waynesburg Lodge No. 469, I.O.O.F., B.P.O. Elks 757, Waynesburg, and a number of Masonic organizations. His masonic affiliations included the following: Lodge 153, F. and A. M., Waynesburg; Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Valley of Harrisburg; Shrine Lodge, Zimbo Temple. He was a member of the Disabled Officers Association, Greene County Historical Society, American Heart Association, State Young Men's Christian Association of Pennsylvania, Waynesburg Sportsmen's Club, Alumni Association of Waynesburg College, Alumni Association of California State College, and Sigma Rho Chi, medical fraternity. Dr. Jacobs was married September 29, 1927 to Nellie Church, of Rogersville, who survives as do their two sons and one daughter, Charles Church Jacobs, a Pharmacist at Cleveland Heights, Ohio; Dr. DOnald Warren Jacobs, a dentist at the Naval Air Test Center, at Lexington Park, Md.; and Miss Marjorie Jacobs, a Registered nurse at St. Joseph's Hospital in Denver, Colo. Also by three grandchildren, Joyce Susanne Jacobs of Cleveland Heights, Donald Marshall and Carol Anne Jacobs, of Lexington Park, Md.; by one sister, Mrs. Grover C. Hughes, of Waynesburg, and one brother, Ralph Jacobs, of Waynesburg, R. D. 3. One brother, Allen Jacobs, died Jan. 20, 1962. Newspaper obituary, date and source unknown (Greene County, PA) |
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