Harold Jacobs

With deep sadness we announce the passing of our beloved father, Dr. Harold Jacobs, age 103, of Chestnut Hill, formerly of Waban, on January 6, 2024. He leaves behind his adored wife of 76 years, Jacqueline (Green) Jacobs, his three children, Amy Jacobs (David Krauss), David Jacobs (Jamie Cutler), Lisa Weinberg (Mike Huggins), three grandchildren, Benjamin Krauss, Leah Krauss (Quince Marcum), and James Jacobs (Sophia Wesley), and James’ mother Jill Sadler.

Harold was born on May 10, 1920 to Dr. Max Jacobs and Bertha (Hoffman) Jacobs of Roxbury. He was a much-loved only child, who excelled at sports, and who developed an early life-long passion for all things athletic - baseball, tennis, squash, golf. He used to say that his friends, the Dead-End kids of Allston, would sit outside his window while he practiced piano, at his mother’s insistence, waiting for him to come outside to play baseball. He loved the Boston Braves and would go to games whenever he could. He remained passionate about Boston sports his entire life.

Harold was a graduate of the Class of 1941 at Tufts University and a 1947 graduate of the Tufts School of Dental Medicine where he trained as an oral surgeon. He taught at Tufts Dental School, and maintained a practice alongside his father who was also an oral surgeon and an anesthesiologist. Throughout his career, Harold held various offices in professional organizations. In 1947, he became a member of the New England Society of Oral Surgeons, where he later served as Program Chairman from 1965-66 and the Alpha Omega Dental Fraternity, where he served as President of the Local Chapter in 1954. He became a Diplomat of the Board of Oral Surgery in 1957 and served as President of the Greater Boston Dental Society from 1964-1965.

In 1947 Harold met his devoted wife, Jacqueline Ruth Green of Malden. At the time, he was serving as a Captain in the Army at Westover Airforce Base, and Jackie was a senior at Smith College. They were immediately smitten with each other, and they remained deeply attached throughout their long, happy, enduring marriage.

Upon retirement, Harold began a second much loved career as a student/scholar at the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement (HILR), still in its earliest days. He taught classes in subjects as demanding and diverse as the French Revolution and the art of Japanese Ukiyo-e. For his extraordinary service to the Institute, he was honored as a Distinguished member in 2002. Harold was an active participant and lecturer at HILR until the age of 96, when he felt his memory wasn’t as sharp.

Harold was engaged with so many things in the world: he was a superb poker player, a lover of Scotch, a savvy online investor, a plant propagator, and a master gardener. He loved traveling the world with Jackie, especially shared trips with friends to Turkey, Barcelona, France and China. He played tennis until his mid 90’s and watched many of his tennis partners retire. He golfed until 100, with his son David, and grandson, James, until Covid and balance issues made playing golf too challenging. He took great pride in the accomplishments of his three grandchildren and was engaged in their lives’ passions.

In the truest sense, he was a Renaissance man, a scholar and a gentleman.

A private graveside service will be held in his memory at Sharon Memorial and a private gathering will be held by the family.

In lieu of flowers, kind expressions of sympathy may be sent to Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston, www.ma.cjp.org or the charity of your choice