Bob Jacobsen. OBITUARY

[Stanley]

City says goodbye to beloved businessman Jacobsen
Bob Jacobsen, 82, died on Thursday

By MAGGIE LEE
Staff Writer

After a very short illness, Robert "Bob" Jacobsen died Thursday at Northfield Hospital.

Although the department store that he operated on Division Street for over 50 years has been closed since the summer of 2003, a day hasn't passed without someone voicing a sense of loss. Longtime Northfield residents have been delighted to see Bob when he has made it downtown for iced tea. He was 82.

Bob was busily working for the national Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., when his father Ralph died in 1968. Ralph had bought the department store at 417 Division in 1947 and had instituted ideas that Bob religiously followed after he decided to take over the business.

There was, for instance, always a family member in the store during open hours.

"I think that makes a difference to the customer," Bob said.

When people were looking for clothing, fabric or housewares that the store was unable to furnish, Bob would send them to other stores, including competitors. He didn't want people to have to buy somewhere else but in Northfield. The store was dubbed by a customer the "store with a heart," and Bob used that saying in signs and advertising.

Bob was quoted in the News: "When there is a special need for something, we can, if all else fails, have it sewn. Maybe that's why we have survived. We use imagination and we will hunt."

The store frequently had out-of-season items in its spacious second-floor storeroom, items that just as frequently delighted someone who needed them out of season.

Ross Currier, NDDC executive director, when told of Bob's death, said, "Jacobsen's store was a powerful magnet for downtown. I didn't buy a pair of jeans anyplace else for 20 years."

Currier recalled that Bob started every morning by sweeping the sidewalk in front of his store.

"Every Sunday he could be seen in the city parking lot behind the store pulling weeds and picking up trash. He cared enough about it.

"Not just a key retailer, but a model citizen, putting his muscles where his mouth was," Currier said. "At the same time, he was willing to speak his mind. He was a great guy. He was a classic Northfielder, very involved, very civically active with a very strong opinion."

Ken Madole, who moved to Northfield in 1987 after retiring from a Minnesota Highway Department post, was a close friend of Bob's and still visited him at his home every Friday. He describes Bob as "a wonderful guy, a truly sincere friend, so thoughtful of other people."

Another of Bob's close friends, Jim Reiley, remembered with what he described as a heavy heart, that Bob was the very first person he met in Northfield. Walking along Division, Reiley decided that Quality Bakery would be a good place to find out what kind of place Northfield was. He ordered some coffee and "a sinful pastry" and walked into the coffee shop.

There he overheard Bob Jacobsen talking to a young couple, "giving them a sales pitch on Northfield. When the couple left, I said to Bob, 'would you repeat that?' Bob said to me, 'Come with me.' He took me across the street to Jacobsen's store and said, 'This is my place.' He asked me whether I was hungry. I told him I was born hungry. He telephoned the Senior Center (then at the corner of Division and Woodley) and made arrangements for me to attend senior dining.

"When he got there, Jim was introduced to several men who became good friends. That was my introduction to Northfield - all in one hour," Jim said. "I am so pleased to have known this wonderful man."

Bill Cupp, yet another friend, spoke of the store - as well as Bob - as an institution.

Long-time customers recall such features of the store as the old wooden play pen filled with toys that offered children a place to play while their parents or grandparents shopped. The pen had originally been used by the Jacobsens' own children.

Bob was very active in the Breakfast Club, an informal group that met weekly to discuss Northfield goings-on. He picked up and sifted through a weekly packet of information from the city, including agendas and minutes. He was among club members who frequently attended city meetings. Madole still picked up the packet until recent months and, with Bob, reviewed goings-on in the city.

Bob's son Rollie, who had as a youth urged Bob to take on the store, became employed at the store as soon as age allowed and eventually became manager. Following his marriage in 1974, his wife Shar became involved, just as Bob's wife, Elaine, had been all the Northfield years.

When it was decided to close the store, in July of 2003, after 56 years, Rollie explained that the hours had become long, that changes in purchasing and delivery of merchandise had made the work arduous. He said it was not uncommon for family members to work 100 hours in a week.

Known for his bow ties, Bob - and the rest of the family - said goodbye to the community with a celebration on Bridge Square. The event was titled "Bars and Bow Ties for Bob," as those attending were encouraged to bring a pan of bars and a story about Bob or the store to share with the crowd. The same week, the store was recognized by the city council for its service to Northfield community.

But not long after the store was closed, Elaine was taken ill and in the spring of 2005 she died. She had been a truly understanding and industrious wife, keeping home and her share of the business running smoothly. The family wondered how Bob would survive. But survive he did, learning the necessary features of keeping his home going. The family has expressed satisfaction that his last illness was very short - hours rather than days or months.

- Maggie Lee