Mark D. Jacobson, 57, passed away suddenly of natural causes on Saturday, February 12, 2022, in his home in Conifer, Colorado.
Mark was born on September 26, 1964, in Plymouth, IN to David and Jayne (Dungan) Jacobson. He graduated from John Glenn HS in 1983 and received a BS in Physics in 1987 and an MBA in 1989, both from Ball State University.
For over 30 years Mark’s career in Business Development for the energy sector took him from Wisconsin to Colorado. This work offered him the opportunity to travel abroad to places like Brazil, the Philippines, and Bangladesh.
Mark was devoted to friends and family. He was always the life of the party. He loved all sports, especially Indiana University basketball, the Green Bay Packers, golf, and fishing. He loved travelling, eating good food, drawing and painting, researching his genealogy, and coaching his sons’ sports teams. He was a member of the Tyner Oddfellows Lodge and his recently formed “Old-Fashioned Club”, complete with newsletter.
He is survived by his wife of 27 years, Valerie (Beal); sons David of Bloomington, IN, and Cody of Bozeman, MT; mother Jayne of Plymouth; brothers: Tod of Plymouth and Hoa of Holland, MI. Mark is preceded in death by his father David and brother Kevin.
Visitation will be held on Monday, February 21, 2022, from 4-7 p.m. at Johnson-Danielson Funeral Home, 1100 N. Michigan Street, Plymouth. Mark’s Tyner I.O.O.F. Lodge brothers, will pay tribute to him, with their memorial service at 7:00 p.m.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, February 22, 2022, at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 6835 Union Road, Plymouth, IN 46563 with Pastor Thelma Cobbler officiating. Visitation will resume one hour prior.
Burial will follow in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery, Plymouth.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Epilepsy Foundation at www.epilepsy.com or 3540 Crain Highway Ste 675, Bowie, MD 20716.
Mike and Amy Coddington says
Val, Amy and I are so terribly saddened by this news. Please reach out and let us know what we can do to help you.
Bob Taylor says
David, I am so sorry to hear that your Father passed away. If I can help in any way just let me know. My thoughts and prayers will be with you and your family. Bob T.
Christine Lentner says
It is always sad when someone passes
Condolenses to the family.
I was 10 years oldder. So I had no idea who he was..
Sean Tyson says
My deepest condolence to all of Mark’s family, friends and colleagues.
I was most fortunate to work with Mark over the past few years. I greatly appreciated his ability to consider others’ positions on issues and to work with them to accomplish mutual goals. I enjoyed Mark’s insights, humor and pragmatism, all of which made it much easier to accomplish work that might otherwise have been unpleasant. Mark was one of a kind and I will greatly miss him.
Tony says
I only knew Mark for a short
Time. We played golf together on several occasions
And hoisted a few at the local
Pubs in Conifer. I will miss him a bunch. First class guy
RIP Mark
Joe Bailey says
I met Mark through the family reunion. I was immediately impressed with his good humor and kindness. Though I had only known him for just under 4 years now I had quickly begun to look forward to seeing him and bantering with him online. I’ll miss his smile and his company. The world is less now for his passing, which has come far too soon. I know he will be sorely missed by all of us lucky enough to know and love him.
Bill and Marilyn Fortin says
Dear Jane and Family: Sincerely sorry for your loss. Our prayers are with you to help you through this sad time.
Toni (Smith) Walker says
I am so terribly sorry for your loss…..Mark was always a one in a million. I will always carry very fond memories of your family 💔 prayers for peace love you all 🙏❤
Carolyn Fouts Kelly says
Dear Jayne and family,
I am so sorry to learn of Mark’s passing. God bless you.
Jodi Eveland says
Sending prayers to the entire Jacobson Family. Our thoughts are with you all during this difficult time.
Derek and Jodi (Hilliard) Eveland Family
Amanda Waltz says
Mark was a cherished family member and friend. I will miss trying new restaurants with him, traveling and spending holidays together. He was so kind to always be listening to you and truly curious to learn more about what you were talking about.
His deep love of his family and family history was admirable.
He will be sorely missed. This is an unimaginable loss. Val, Cody, David, Todd and Jayne, I hope you can feel comfort in the future as you remember the great life Mark lead. I am sending strength and love to you all.
I don’t usually drink but I will be toasting an Old Fashioned in his memory. Thank you Mark for the great impact you left on all of us.
Mary Flynn Boener says
Thinking of all of you. Prayers to heal your loss.
Mary Flynn Boener
Teodor Chirica, Romania says
I’m very sad to hear that Mark is no longer with us. I find it hard to believe that I will never see or hear him at our NICE Future meetings again, but Mark will remain in our memory as a dedicated person and close to his colleagues from the NICE Future Team.
May his memory be blessed!
Larry and Sue Chase says
Larry and I feel so sorry for you and your loss. Larry remembers Dave bringing the boys out to the garage. Memories forever.
Ren and Beverly Van Gilder says
We send you our love and our sincere sympathy.
Ren and Beverly Van Gilder
Spencer Wilcox says
‘Mark was a first class guy’
Ain’t that the truth. Quite a loss. Mark always stood apart. I remember him telling me he worked and lived on an Amish farm during High School. That story still stays with me. That takes a certain curiosity and courage. Condolences to his wife and boys. RIP Mark
Rich and Margaret Hackner says
Valerie, David and Cody,
So sorry to hear of Mark’s passing. We met while he was at Wisconsin Electric back in the late 80’s. He was a good friend and great person. You are always welcome if you’re ever in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.
And let us know if there is anything that we can do for you.
Rich, Margaret and Jon Hackner
Dan Patterson says
I knew Mark from our time in elementary school through graduation. I played a lot of basketball with him and against him in the playground at Tyner through high school. A lot of great memories and some sad ones also. We lost a friend in the 3rd grade, and as we coped with this loss, I can vividly remember Mark saying something like, “God had special task that only Bryan (our class mate) could do, so God called upon him to help him with that task.” I now turn to his word in this time of mourning. Those words have always been soothing for me when I’ve had loses in my life. My condolences to the Jacobson family. We share nothing but smiles in our memories of Mark.
Facundo Deluchi says
I am deeply sorry for Mark loss, He has been so enthusiastic conducting NICE group meetings and discussions, and always transmitted good feelings and created a good atmosphere among all the colleagues. My condolences to the family.
Jin Tan says
I am so saddened to learn Mark is gone from us. Words are never adequate to express the proper sense of loss at a time like this.
Mark was an amazing leader and co-worker. I knew Mark through his Hydro project called “Transforming the U.S. Market with a New Application of Ternary-Type Pumped-Storage Hydropower Technology” back in 2017. He was the principal investigator. I was a junior employee at NREL then. I still remembered vividly how he introduced us to the team and external industrial partners without any hesitations. He was the one who always encouraged me to speak out in the meeting. He kept asking “so what” to bring in the high-level values of our techniques that developed under this project. He was the one who brought me to an elevator pitch. He was always willing to share his work experience with young people selflessly.
He was a truly warm, funny, and kind person. He liked to build up the personal relationships with co-workers by sharing the fun life stories and experiences. He was such a foodie. He patiently introduces the different types of cheese when we had a business dinner with our collaborators. He shared his foodie trip to Italy with me and I learned he was not only a foodie but also a warm person who deeply loved his wife and friends and enjoyed the time with them. On Jan. 18, 2022, while we were discussing a hydro paper through e-mails, he was even joking and asking” how’s the new baby doing—have you taught PSLF? ” This was the last message that Mark sent me. And I couldn’t help myself read it again and again and imagined his smile when he wrote it. Because he was so thoughtful, personal and fun friends. All these memories made me hard to believe it.
May the joy of life that was Mark’s sustain you in this dark time of losing him. We will all remember your exuberance from this simple pleasure. Mark, we will miss you a great deal.
Andy and Marilyn Betsch says
We will greatly miss Mark’s wonderful sense of humor. His participation in the Conifer High School Baseball Boosters provided strong leadership at a time it was sorely needed. We will always treasure the years we were gifted to spend with Mark, Valerie, David and Cody. Our boys played baseball together with Cody and David throughout their High School careers.
We are praying for Valerie, David and Cody as they travel this complex and difficult journey.
Erik Ness says
Valerie, Cody and David: my heart goes out to you. Mark was a special person, cut from a different cloth. My memories of him are filled with endless and delightful conversations over many years at the lab. He could be fun and light, or as deep as the topic demanded. And he was playful. I loved the sparkle he would get in his eye when he was poking fun at me. I will miss his love, passion, insight and intelligence. I can’t be there in person, but my thoughts are with you.
His life was cut short, but it was a full and rich life. Mark really showed up: for his friends, his family, his colleagues and his community. His life touched so many people. Of all of Mark’s special characteristics, what I will miss the most is his big heart … because it was big enough to embrace all of us. Mark was unequaled. Rest in peace, my friend.
Robert Lippke says
Valerie, David and Cody,
words can never be enough to express how sorry I am for your loss.
Mark was always my close friend and will always be in my heart. Since we met almost forty years ago, it felt like it was yesterday even when we haven´t seen each other for a while. The times we were given together were always something special, I will be forever grateful for the honor to have met him. Mark was a man who brought so much to my life as he did to so many others, every thought of him brings a smile to my face.
The times at the fireplace at Thanksgiving in Wisconsin, cooking together, running away to escape from bugs on our walks, the vacations we spent together on skis in Austria and exploring Tuscany, the cigars on the deck at night with endless talks, trips to the Amish people, your ironic remarks out of the blue keeping a straight face, all these will be forever precious memories.
Mark, I will always remember your values, your understanding, your jokes. Many times I was down I could just think of you and your positive energy and it hold me up.
Thank you for being my friend.
You as a family are in my prayers.
Robert
John C. Stickney says
I was shocked to learn of Mark’s passing. I had spoken to him perhaps two weeks ago and he was absolutely excited and full of life. I met Mark by chance a few years ago out in Denver, CO at the DOE Energy Exchange and we started talking energy issues. Mark was one of those guys I wish I had met decades before because I considered him a good friend and those are very hard to come by. Rest in peace my friend!
Tessa Cunningham says
Valerie,
I’m so sorry to hear of Mark’s passing. I’m sending you so much love from Minnesota. Please reach out if you need anything.
Tessa
Bob Mikulec says
Mark and I shared some great life experiences together out West, in Canada and in Wisconsin. We also attended the same church for a while. He was a great friend and a good man. Mark loved food, drink, friends, travel, and life experiences. He had the business acumen, work ethic, and common sense you’d expect of an Indiana farm boy.
As I told my family when they heard of Mark’s passing, there’s no replacing the loss of an old friend. Our prayers go out to Valerie, Cody, David, and Mark’s family back in Indiana. As a Christian, it’s comforting to know Mark was a believer and so I will see him again in another beautiful place.
Margaret Baumer says
Jane and family,
We are so very sorry for the loss of your son, Mark, Please express our condolences to your extended family. Prayers for continued healing upon the loss of a loved one.
Bruce and Margaret
Jane Pusch says
Dear Val,
It was such a shock and so sad to hear of Mark’s passing, and still so hard to believe. As you’ve heard in lots of the messages, he was a wonderful guy to work with and brought a friendliness to every encounter. It was like, when he came online, or walked in the room, you just felt better. We worked together for four years, meeting every couple of weeks and Mark was so great at starting each meeting we had just picking up the conversation where we left off the last time regarding how things were with our kids and families. Whenever he talked about you and the boys it was with love and pride, you were the center of his universe.
I’ll never forget how kind Mark was. For example, one time when I had just first started working at NREL, it dawned on both of us around 5pm that he wasn’t booked for an upcoming trip to Bangladesh. I got upset and said I thought he was supposed to do it (and I was wrong). He stayed late after work to find a flight. And the next day there was a Starbucks gift certificate on my desk – even though he knew I was wrong, he just didn’t want there to be any hard feelings. His kindness like that shone through countless times – like inviting out-of-town visitors to your place to grill them bison burgers (“the best burgers we ever had” read one email); traipsing down the hill (on his bad knee) in your back forest to get me a different saw to cut down a Christmas tree etc. The world was a better place with him in it and I’ll miss him. Please let me know if there is anything I can do, I’m so sorry for your tremendous loss.
Dear David and Cody,
Your dad was really proud of both of you and enjoyed sharing stories at work about the fun you had together as a family, especially around travels, school and sports. You were really lucky to have each other, I’m sorry for your loss, he left this world too early.
Dear Jayne,
As a mom I can hardly imagine your grief at losing Mark. He talked about life on the farm in Indiana, and we compared notes (my mom was one of four girls and grew up on a farm in rural Ontario – so there were some parallels). He said he only had 2 “Janes” in his life, you were #1 and I was #2. Mark explained how you added the “y” around grade 6 or 7. It’s just a little thing, but for a son to know and remember little things like that is, I think, special and shows how close you two were. I’m so sorry for your loss, and hope you will find comfort in the memories and family.