Elaine E. (Reinsberg) Jacobson

Elaine Elsie Jacobson (nee Reinsberg) passed away on April 26th at Lyngblomsten Care Center in St. Paul, Minnesota after a brief bout with cancer. She had joyously celebrated her 100th birthday last December with over 100 of her friends and family attending the party!

Elaine was born December 19, 1925 in St. Paul to Ethel (Nelson) and Albert Reinsberg. She was very proud of her Swedish and German heritage, embracing those traditions and tracking ancestry that led back to German royalty. She attended Wilson High School and Hamline University, and retained many life-long friendships from those days.

Elaine was a beautiful and elegant woman who exuded class, always dressed to the nines, and had a smile for everyone.

Celebrating holidays was one of her great joys - she decorated her home for every possible occasion! She loved entertaining, setting exquisite tables with china and crystal, and making wonderful meals for her family and friends to enjoy. Her delicious cakes and bars, many varieties of Christmas cookies, and fun Mickey Mouse pancakes are fondly remembered by all who knew her.

Elaine loved to travel, both for her career as a travel agent and for pleasure as she and Maynard traveled the world, visiting six continents and over 100 countries, including Japan, China, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East while they lived in Saudi Arabia in the 1980’s. She wrote about many of her amazing travel experiences in the book she proudly published last year: Elaine Jacobson, Stories of My Life.

She generously gave her time and energy to many worthy causes in her church, her community, and her country. This led to multiple awards of recognition, including the Valiant Woman Award given by Church Women United and a Distinguished Service Award from Lyngblomsten Foundation.

She is survived by her husband of 43 years, Dr. Maynard Jacobson; daughters Carole (Jim) Southam and Barbara (Kevin Funfar) Jampsa; step-children Scott (Alicia) Jacobson, Kimberly Jacobson, Myron (Catherine) Jacobson, Marcia (Mike) Johnson; grandchildren Ashley (Ben) Lind, Jamie (Matt) DeMarco, Ryan (Lindsay) Southam, Ben Johnson, Ella Johnson, Quinn Jacobson and Lydia Jacobson; and great-granddaughter Ellery.

She was pre-deceased by her son David Jampsa, and siblings Lois Agnew, Pearl Juelich, Ruth Deeg, and Robert Reinsberg.

Services and visitation will be held on Tuesday May 12 at the church she attended for over 70 years: Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 700 Snelling Avenue, St. Paul. Visitation will be at 9:00, funeral at 10:00 followed by a luncheon, and burial at Fort Snelling National Cemetery at 1:30. The service will be live streamed at https://www.youtube.com/c/GloriaDeiStPaul/live. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Lyngblomsten Foundation.

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