John Thomas Jacobs

John Thomas Jacobs, 89, died in Bartlesville, Oklahoma on May 22, 2020. He was born on October 16, 1930 in Purcell, Oklahoma to Ila Kilpatrick Jacobs and Harden Reynolds Jacobs. He graduated from Purcell Highschool and then went on to study at Oklahoma Baptist University and East Central University. John served in the United States Army and fought courageously during the Korean War. He married Margaret Coots on August 1, 1956. The couple was married for 63 years and raised four children together. John was a hard-working, family man who raised not only his children but his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He often worked several jobs at a time to support his family which included working 34 years at Oklahoma Natural Gas. John was preceded in death by his mother, Ila Jacobs, father, Harden Jacobs, sisters Cleo Bailey, Sally Northcutt, Elizabeth Alexander, brothers Bob Jacobs and James Jacobs and son, Steven Thomas Jacobs. John is survived by his wife, Margaret Jacobs, daughters Gail Seward and husband Jeff of Broken Arrow, Lisa Phillips and husband Brian of Claremore and Cathy Witherow of Bartlesville, grandchildren Kylee Hamlin, Tanner Henry, Aaron Phillips and wife Grace, Jed Phillips, Mona Allain and husband Michael, Wyatt Seward and wife Necia and Jordan Seward and wife Cierra, great-grandchildren Riylee Shields, Daly Shields, Kylynn Shields, Jax Allain, Riya Seward, Koen Seward, Liby Seward. Rosary will be held at 9:00 A.M. and 10:00 A.M. Mass Wednesday May 27, St. John Catholic Church in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Interment will be at the Hillside Cemetery in Purcell, Oklahoma. A tribute from John's children: How do you say goodbye to the person who has been with you since your first breath? John Thomas Jacobs was a great man --- strong, wise, humble, kind, selfless and honery. He loved life and everyone in his life, family and strangers, and OU football. But what was special was the Way he loved everyone – Unconditionally…Never ever giving up on anyone, with the patience of Jobe. He loved our mother for 63 years – totally, faithfully, with every fiber of his being. Together they raised 4 children and helped raise 2 more generations. They created a home full of happiness, love, and Jesus. I remember every night growing up seeing them on opposite sides of the bed kneeling and praying. They taught us right and wrong, how to work hard, and always believed in us. They told us we could be anything we wanted to be, and we believed them. If we fell, Dad would ask us if we hurt the floor…If we said something was hard, he would say “Nothing to it.” And if we ever felt sorry for ourselves, he would tell us to “Quit taking yourself so serious.” But when we were really worried, he would tell us to just to take it one day at a time, and if not a day… an hour, and if not an hour… one minute at a time. We believed we could do anything because he believed in us and we also knew he would be there if we needed him -Always! Dad was strong and he was a fighter. He beat lung and brain cancer. And when the doctor said he only had 3 months to live, Dad told us God kept telling him everything would be alright. And it was--- Dad was 89 when he died, (or as he would say, “a young 89”), but he told us several years ago he had prayed, and God had given him extra years. His father had died at the age of 82 and Dad thought he would too. We think God must have given him 7 extra years, and 7 is the perfect number in the Bible. He was so humble—He served in the Korean War and always laughed that he was glad he could type because they needed him in the office. But he always downplayed the time he was on the front line and they heard a noise in the bushes ahead of them. His commanding officer told him to go ahead and see what it was –Dad said it was only a mother cat and her kittens –But He Went! I don’t think he ever realized how much courage that took. He worked at ONG for 34 years – and often had a second job to make ends meet. He sacrificed his whole life to give us a better life. The sweetest thing I’ve heard this week was from his great-grandson. The day Dad passed away he said, “This will be all over the news tomorrow!” It wasn’t, but it should have been. The world didn’t know one of the greatest men that ever lived just left us…. But not for long! God gave my sister this verse: John 11:4 says “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” So, thank you Daddy for loving all of us unconditionally – we Saw and we Know Jesus because of you!

John Thomas Jacobs

October 16, 1930 - May 22, 2020