THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 15, 1994 TAG: 9409140183
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
FOR MORE than 20 years, Louis Jacobson has spent a lot of time and energy on an organization that he is very proud of - the Civitan Club.
Jacobson has been president of the Civitan Club of Norfolk twice, served as lieutenant governor of Area 1 for the Chesapeake District of Civitan International - which includes Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, and has received three Honor Key awards, as well as an award for outstanding lieutenant governor.
``I really believe in the Civitan Club's values and its program,'' Jacobson said. ``And what it stands for as far as mental retardation is concerned.''
The Civitan Club is an international service organization whose local branches raise money to benefit their community's needs, especially those concerning the mentally retarded and physically disabled.
When he was nominated for his latest Honor Key award, Jacobson was cited for bringing in a stream of outstanding guest speakers, the formation of clubs at local college campuses, counseling and training club officers and chairmen, and more.
Civitan was started in 1917 by a group of business and professional men in Alabama. The Norfolk club was chartered years later by a group of former Junior Chamber of Commerce members after they had surpassed the organization's age limit.
Jacobson, 83, is a member-at-large of the Civitan Club of Norfolk these days, but he's still very active. He's always on the lookout for guest speakers for the club's weekly meetings and he has a hand in public relations.
He is also an active member of the Chesapeake District of Civitan International. He serves as a member of the committee which approves requests for funds from the foundation. He just recently returned from a meeting of the Chesapeake District in Hagerstown, Md.
A Norfolk native and one of eight children, he was born in a house on Boush Street, where the the WTKR-TV studio is now located. His father operated a grocery store where The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star office is now located on Brambleton Avenue.
He retired in 1981 as a civilian employee of the Army, where he was involved in research and development of aircraft. He did, however, serve in the Army during World War II. He retired as a master sergeant after five and a half years.
Jacobson is a former member of the Jaycees and helped establish a chapter of the Jaycees in Richmond.
A bachelor, he now lives with three of his sisters in the Ghent section of the city. He hasn't always lived in Norfolk, however. He's also lived in Richmond and in Louisiana.
Since his retirement in 1981, Jacobson has taken a cruise each year. He travels alone, but he enjoys meeting new people on the ships. He said, in all his years of traveling, ``I've never met the same person twice.''
When he returns from his next cruise, it will be business as usual - Civitan business, that is. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MOTOYA NAKAMURA
Former club president Louis Jacobson says, ``I really believe in the
Civitan Club's values and its program.''
by CNB