Attended New Trier East and Howard Jr. High

Chicago Sun-Times (IL) - January 30, 2006
Deceased Name: Kenneth Jacobson : Wrote children's story about cancer: Therapist was honored by Daley for devotion to helping others

In addition to his family and uncounted numbers of friends, psychotherapist Kenneth Jacobson left behind a children's story -- a cancer patient's version of the Munro Leaf classic Ferdinand the Bull.
"We saw that the psychosocial services provided to people were really subpar," explained his wife, Jill Schachter. "He hoped [the story] would be able to help people in his private practice, and influence hospital social work departments."

Ferdinand the Cancer Patient is about a child who liked to sit in the park but had to be in the hospital. Among people who helped him are nurses who "distinguished themselves in their knowledge or their compassion. Some nurses could barely figure out what Ferdinand needed or wanted. They might come to the door and giggle or frown.

"But Ferdinand learned to tell them what they needed to know about him. Not about his park, but about his pee, poop, pills and poison bags on the IV pole."

The story, published for now only on a Web page -- which had 16,390 hits as of Sunday -- closes with: "Ferdinand soon will go back to his park. Some people say that he will be better for his experience.

They like to say that he will see more or know more than he did before. Ferdinand has changed, it is true.

"He can't ride his bike as far. He can't play as long or with such abandon. He can't hear as well or see as well. He can cry a little easier now, perhaps. Ferdinand did not need the cancer to appreciate life or people or time. He was happy already. But now he will be appreciative and loving again. And he will love his park like he did before. Hopefully for a long, long time."

Sometimes a prankster
But for Mr. Jacobson, the time was short. On Jan. 14, about five months after he posted the Ferdinand story from his bed in a Houston cancer hospital, he died at Evanston Hospital due to complications from a stem cell transplant. He was 52.

Clinical director of the Goodman Child and Adolescent Institute of the Jewish Children's Bureau of Chicago, Mr. Jacobson also maintained a private practice.

His boss, Robert Bloom, recalled Mr. Jacobson as the first person he hired in 1988.
"He was like the soul of the place," Bloom said, noting that of its 400 employees, more than half will attend an upcoming memorial service for Mr. Jacobson.

"He left everybody feeling they were lucky to have met him," Bloom said. "They had the sense that he had given them a piece of himself, and that they were both enriched by the experience."
Known for his professional creativity, he published a journal article about how to draw out young patients with pencil and paper.

"Instead of a house, he would have them draw a floor plan or an aerial view of a living space -- a home, an apartment, an attic," Schachter said. "It helped them reveal their inner space, their life space, with an incredible kind of detail."

He was caring, gentle and something of a prankster. He hated sport-utility vehicles, viewing them as despoilers of the environment. When he came across a particularly large one parked at a curb or in a lot, he would slap on a phony NYPD parking ticket or "a nasty note," his wife said.
Born in Chicago, Mr. Jacobson moved with his family to Wilmette when he was in his teens. He graduated from New Trier High School and Colgate University, earning a degree in social service administration from the University of Chicago.

Proclaimed Ken Jacobson Day
Before joining the Goodman Institute, he worked at Shore School in Evanston, Michael Reese Hospital and Beacon School in Beverly. Mayor Daley proclaimed July 11, 1992, as Ken Jacobson Day for his dedication to the welfare of children and their families.

At home in Evanston, he enjoyed live Irish music at Tommy Nevin's Pub, biking, swimming "and Airedale terriers," his wife said.

He and his extended family gathered three times every year -- at Rockport, Mass., Whitewater, Wis., and Lac des Isles, Quebec.

On his last birthday, Dec. 18, Mr. Jacobson wrote, "The Web site postings from around the world moved me. [A cousin's] notes about Lac des Isles made me smile and tear up, as my memories of weeks every summer of my life among cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents and local friends are among the most special things I ever think about.

"It has generations of history and the most loving, connected people anywhere. Lots of the people there get around by wooden canoe, and there are many deeply wooded islands to explore. These are some of the images I conjure up to relax and feel good."

Survivors, in addition to his wife, include his daughter, Natalie; his son, Alec; his parents, Alan and Linda; his twin brother, Paul, and his second brother, Tom.

A memorial service was held Feb. 6, 2006 at the Music Institute of Chicago, 1490 Chicago Ave., in Evanston, followed by a reception.
Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Date: January 30, 2006
Author: Gary Wisby

Copyright (c) 2006 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.

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Evanston Review (IL) - January 19, 2006
Deceased Name: Kenneth D. Jacobson

Kenneth D. Jacobson, 52, of Evanston died Jan. 14 at Evanston Hospital after a courageous four-year battle with Hodgkins Lymphoma.

A lifelong Chicago area resident, he was born Dec. 14, 1953 on Chicago's South Side. He lived in Wilmette during his adolescence, in Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village in his adulthood, and eventually settled in Evanston for the past 12 years to raise his family.

Mr. Jacobson's extraordinary warmth as a friend, husband, father and son were celebrated by all who knew him, relatives said. His kindness of spirit, patience, acceptance and exceptional ability to listen will be forever remembered, they said.

Part of a close-knit family, and proud of his Canadian heritage, his family traditionally gathered each year in Rockport, Mass.; Whitewater, Wis.; and Lac des Isles, Quebec.

His daily life was influenced by his respect for the environment and love of music and the arts, relatives said.

Mr. Jacobson attended New Trier High School, and was a graduate of Colgate University and the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago.

The clinical director of the Goodman Child and Adolescent Institute of the Jewish Children's Bureau of Chicago, Mr. Jacobson was a clinical social worker in private practice in psychotherapy; he worked in child welfare during his entire 30-year career.

Over his years in the field, he worked at the Shore School, Michael Reese Hospital, the Beacon School in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood, and the Jewish Children's Bureau, where he spent the last 18 years in various leadership roles.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley proclaimed July 11, 1992, as Ken Jacobson Day in Chicago for his outstanding professional skills and dedication to the welfare of children and families in the Chicago area.

Survivors include his wife, Jill Schacter; a daughter, Natalie; a son, Alec; his parents, Alan and Linda Jacobson of Evanston, his twin brother Paul (Rebecca) and brother Tom; and several nieces and nephews.

Memorial contributions may be made either to the Jewish Children's Bureau of Chicago, the Baker Demonstration School or to the environmental cause of one's choice.

Date: January 19, 2006