Blaine Ronald Jacobson

Blaine Ronald Jacobson, 71, passed away at a nursing home in South Ogden on Sunday, July 18, 2021, after a very long and dreadful nine years of fighting dementia/Alzheimer disease.  He had a peaceful passing which his family was very grateful for.  He was born in Preston, Idaho, on October 3, 1949 to Julius Ronald and LuDeen Godfrey Jacobson.  He was the oldest of four children (Blaine, Garth, Karen and Christy).  He was the epitome of the best big brother. He always watched over his younger siblings to keep them from harm. He was raised in Weston, Idaho, and lived and worked on their farm and many other farms in the Weston area as needed. He was also an avid deer hunter in his younger years, providing food for his family, and he also liked to fish and hunt for pheasant. 

He married Nadine Anderson in 1968 and was blessed with three children, Shauna, Shane and Tony.  He loved his family very much.  Sadly, they were later divorced in 1973.  Blaine did not get to see much of his children after the divorce and carried this hurt for many years.  When Shauna married Kurt Hathaway she invited him and his family to the wedding and a reunion with his other children began.  This was one of the biggest blessings he received in his life; getting to know his children again and being around his grandchildren was the highlight of his life for many, many years until his death.

On October 5, 1973, he arranged to go on a first date with a woman named Thelma Faber who lived in Preston with her sister and brother-in-law.  His divorce was final on that very day and they had a wonderful first date.  They both had the same feeling at the same time that they had met “their soul mate” and were married on December 28, 1973.  They were blessed with a son of their own, Cory, on February 10, 1976.  This marriage lasted 47 years until his death.

The family moved to Ogden, Utah, in June of 1976 for a job opportunity and a new start in life.  He worked for a tractor company until 1981 when he was able to purchase a used cab over semi-truck of his own.  He had driven truck for a farmer friend in Weston from the time he was 14 until his first marriage.  He had always felt the pull to be a long haul trucker and saw his dream come true in the early 80’s. He was very successful in trucking for many years having even become a dispatcher for the company he was working with in the late 80’s until the middle 90’s. In 1994 Blaine and Thelma decided to quit the dispatching and go back on the road together.  They both enjoyed going from coast to coast for two years, being together 24/7, and meeting many interesting and wonderful people.

In the mid 80’s Blaine discovered golfing and became very proficient at it very quickly.  Cory also did and gave Blaine a run for his money.  You could find the whole family on the golf course every weekend and sometimes during the week.  Blaine worked out a system where he would “pretend” bet Cory money on the tee block to see who could come up with the longest drive.  That would really mess up Cory’s shots!

 Blaine decided in 1996 to come off long haul and do local trucking.  The local freight was drying up for owner/operators around 2002 so he went to work for a gravel company driving the truck.  He stayed with that company until he was diagnosed with A-fib.  He was put on medication for this illness that caused a brain bleed (diagnosed as a systemic stroke) and retired on disability in 2010.  He was then diagnosed with dementia/Alzheimer’s in 2012 and suffered with that disease until his death.  It was extremely hard for both him and his family to see him lose his memory and personality and become so frustrated with his condition of not being able to communicate anymore.

Blaine was preceded in death by both parents and his sister Karen.  He is survived by his wife, Thelma, his daughter Shauna (Kurt) Hathaway, his son Shane (Sheri) Murphy, his son Tony (Gerry Kimery) Murphy, and Cory (Betsie Bender) Jacobson.  He also has 18 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. He adored all of his family and would make time for them whenever he could.

There will be gravesite services held for him on Friday, July 23, 2021, at the Weston Idaho Cemetery.  There will be a family only viewing for him at the Weston church from 10:00 am to 10:30 am.  The gravesite “open mike” services will begin at 10:30 am. We hope that everyone there will want to reminisce about their times with Blaine. There will be no luncheon afterwards due to Covid.

Cory posted a tribute to his dad on facebook yesterday that was so beautiful I had to include it in his obituary:

“Sunday marked the end of my mortal journey with my father.  I could give SO MANY examples of what  made him the incredible husband, father, grandfather, and friend to many that he was…or I could simply say that he was the greatest man I’ve ever known!  I love you dad! With all of my heart!”