Georgia S Jacobson

Georgia (Schwanda) Jacobson died peacefully at her home on Friday, October 9, 2015. A memorial service will be held at Wolfe-Bayview Funeral Home in Fairhope on Wednesday, October 14th at 1:30 p.m. She is survived by her husband, John Jacobson, her son John (Trudy) Jacobson, Jr of Leawood, Kansas. and daughter, Barbara (Richard) Casey of Point Clear; three grandchildren:  Sean (Emily) Casey of Brooklyn, New York; Erin (Jonathan) Bailey of Atlanta, Georgia; Joseph Jacobson of Olathe, Kansas; and two great grandchildren, Jackson and Elizabeth Bailey of Atlanta; her brother, Joseph (Ginny) Schwanda, Jr. of Fort Myers, Florida; and many nieces and nephews.  She was predeceased by her sister and brother-in-law, Evelyn and Merico DalPian of Stafford Springs, CT. Georgia was born on January 9, 1918 in Elmhurst, New York, to Rose (Stehlick) and Joseph Schwanda, and grew up in Staffordville, Connecticut.  At the age of fifteen, she went to Mount Holyoke College, earning a B.A. in Sociology. She devoted her life to helping others.  Her first job was with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.  In 1943 she married John  (“Jack”) Jacobson at Camp Lee, Virginia.  While at Camp Lee, she worked for the American Red Cross, as Home Service Social Worker, and then Director of the Petersburg, Virginia Chapter. While Jack was with the Army in France and Germany during World War II, Georgia moved back to Staffordville.  She started and was the Director of the Veterans Rehabilitation Center in Stafford Springs, then went to Washington, D.C., as a consultant to the Department of Labor to help develop similar centers around the United States. After the war, she and her husband moved back to Massachusetts with their two young children.  From 1954-1956, she was a social worker with the Red Cross, working with the wives and families of servicemen.  She was also a substitute teacher and a member of the School Board in Auburn, Massachusetts. From 1954-1961, she worked as a volunteer at the Worcester State Hospital as Special Assistant to the Director.  When she moved to Kansas City with her husband in 1961, she continued her work with the Western Missouri Mental Health Center.  In 1970, when they moved to Liberal, Kansas, she worked for the Southwest Guidance Center, as a full-time volunteer, including a year as Interim Director. Georgia was on the Board of Directors of the Kansas Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse, the Liberal Area Rape Crisis Center, which she helped establish, and Seward Community College.  In 1986 she was named “Citizen of the Year” by the Southwest Daily Times. In 1986 they retired and moved to Florida, spending winters in Cocoa Beach and summers at their home in Auburn, Massachusetts.  In 1999, they moved to Point Clear, Alabama.   Until an illness in 2011, Georgia was an active bridge player at the Nix Center in Fairhope.  She was a generous supporter of the Eastern Shore Art Center and its Committee on Public Art, as well as other charities, and a Founding Member of Impact 100  Baldwin County. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions in her memory to the Eastern Shore Art Center.