Paul Jacobsen

Paul Jacobsen DVM 1927-2023

      Paul Jacobsen, 95, a resident of Shoshone, passed away March 25, 2023 at his home in Rincon de Guayabitos, Mexico.

     Paul was born in Tacoma, Washington to Iver Olai Jacobsen and Esther Bergersen Jacobsen, a butcher and a music teacher/organist. His father came to the US at age 15, and Paul was always proud of his Western Norwegian heritage. Livestock and fishing were in his blood. He grew up in Morton, Washington, a small logging town near Mount Rainier. Those who know him will be surprised to learn he was painfully shy as a child. Despite his 95 years of life, he remembered the beginning of 1st grade as his most terrifying experience. He did not attend his high school graduation, as he had enlisted in the US Navy and was training in San Diego. He served on a destroyer, the USS Benner, and had just received uniforms for the land invasion of Japan when World War II ended. He credits the end of the war and the GI bill with changing the course of his life.

     He went on to attend Washington State University for both undergraduate and veterinary school. He had grown up working in his dad’s slaughterhouse and planned to be a meat inspector until a professor assured him, he was smart enough for vet school. His junior year of vet school, he met Roberta “Bobbie” Paul, an undergrad Home Ec major. They spotted each other in the library and a friend arranged their first date. He and Bobbie were married in 1955, a day after they both graduated, and lived briefly in Enterprise and La Grande, Oregon.

     From there, they bought a home and vet practice in Shoshone, Idaho. The office and kennel were attached to the side of the house until he and Bobbie built the Shoshone Veterinary Hospital. It was not unusual for someone to stop for a bottle of Combiotic on the way home from the bar. Paul was pretty good with a lasso, but excelled as a “preg tester,” claiming he once checked more than 600 heads in a single day. “Doc” would come day or night, rain or snow. A box of cereal on the kitchen counter meant he’d been up during the night pulling a calf or putting in a prolapse. He had many partners before finally selling the practice to Ofer Inbar upon his retirement.

     He was fond of saying he was retired for more years than he worked, and he and Bobbie made the most of retirement. His favorite trip was to New Zealand aboard a cargo ship. They spent parts of every winter in Mexico and Central America before purchasing their Mexican home 20 years ago. He was a diligent student of Spanish. The house was littered with pages of verb conjugations, and he was fearless about speaking the language; always to try someone else, if the first listener failed to understand. In Mexico, he and Bobbie found a group of close friends, who were especially treasured during Paul’s last illness.

     They spent many summers with their Airstream trailer and their float tubes at their favorite Montana lakes. He always said he caught the most fish and Bobbie caught the biggest ones. He fished in his float tube until his late 80’s.

     He was an avid reader - Harper's magazine and National Geographic would be devoured the day they arrived. His curiosity knew no bounds. He would become interested in a topic and research it for days: science, politics, poetry, history. Everything interested him. He loved conversation; more appropriately, storytelling or imparting his newfound knowledge.

     His proudest legacy involves loans to people he knew personally, often to help them pursue an education or set up a small business. Their success was his greatest pleasure.

     He is survived by Bobbie, his wife of 57 years; his daughter - Dawna Jacobsen Kramer, MD (Monte) of Poulsbo, Washington; grandchildren - Grant (Cherry) Kramer, Alexa Kramer, and Geneva Waite (Abraham); and four great grandchildren.

     He is predeceased by his siblings - Ivan, Linnea, Eldon, and Shirley, as well as by sons - Douglas and Grant.

    Vaya con dios, Pablo 

     A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 2:00 pm at Christ Episcopal Church in Shoshone.  Burial will be in the Shoshone Cemetery in Shoshone.

     Funeral arrangements are under the care and direction of Demaray Funeral Service – Shoshone Chapel.

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