Jacques Noel Jacobsen Jr. ’54 M’63 died on December 16, 2016, following complications from surgery. He was 84 years old. He had retired to Florida and lived in the Daytona Beach area since 2006.
Jacobsen was born on October 5, 1932, in West Brighton, Staten Island. He was the son of the late Jacques Noel Jacobsen and Anita Kershaw Jacobsen ’63 M’68. He was the nephew of the late Edythe Kershaw Larson ’44, who was a professor of bacteriology at Wagner for many years.
He attended P.S. 14 and P.S. 45 and graduated from Curtis High School in 1950. He received his Bachelor in Science in microbiology from Wagner College in 1954. He received his Master of Science in education from Wagner in 1963, and a fifth-year certificate from Kean College of New Jersey in 1977. He also did doctoral studies in Egyptian and Near Eastern archaeology at Columbia University.
He taught science and earth science at Curtis High School, Prall Junior High School, and Susan Wagner High School. He retired after 21 years and continued to be a substitute teacher for several more years. He was an adjunct associate professor at Richmond College and taught Egyptian and Near Eastern archaeology at Wagner College.
For more than 50 years, he was also a licensed auctioneer and appraiser and antique dealer. He ran his own antique business, Collectors’ Antiquities, which focused on police, fire, and military antiques and ephemera. He was elected a fellow of the Company of Military Historians.
He wrote two books, The Red Blue Coats, a history of the U.S. Army Indian Scouts from 1866 to 1943; and They Answered the Alarm, a history of firefighting on Staten Island from 1805 to 2005. He also wrote more than 25 monographs on American military uniforms and insignia.
He was a freemason for more than 60 years and was instrumental in saving the Stapleton Masonic Temple. He was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church on Staten Island.
He and his wife, Marion, founded the Archaeology Society of Staten Island, and he served as CEO for 45 years. The society holds monthly archaeology lectures at Wagner College during the academic year. He was a co-founder, curator, and director of the Museum of Archaeology at Staten Island. He and his wife led tours all over the world for members of the Archaeology Society. In addition, they both traveled extensively as a couple.
Jacques is survived by his wife of 57 years, Marion M. Jacobsen, four children, and four grandchildren.
