Thomas Leecle Jacobs

Thomas (Tom) Leecle Jacobs, 80, of Bartlesville, OK, died on October 22, 2025. Born on March 29, 1945 in Watonga, OK, he is survived by his wife of 58 years, Cheryl Delane (Herd) Jacobs, his daughter Stephanie Jacobs, Manhattan, KS, his son Jerod Jacobs and wife Andrea, Bixby, OK, and two grandchildren, Madison Jacobs-Morris, Manhattan, KS and Aiden Jacobs, Bixby, OK. Tom was very close to his in-laws and is survived by five men whom he considered his brothers, Steve, Stan, Stewart, Sid, and Chad Herd, and their wives and children. Tom is preceded in death by his father Cecil Thomas Jacobs, his mother Wanda (Mitchell) Jacobs, brother David Jacobs, and his mother-in-law and father-in-law DeWayne and Dolores Herd. Tom met his wife, Cheryl, at Dearmores dance club in Wichita, KS. She had come to town to visit her cousin, and met a vibrant city boy along the way. Tom said he saw her across the room glowing in the light of the juke box, and her eyes drew him in. They danced that night and got engaged one month later, married on February 4, 1967. Tom and Cheryl had a flowing banter that took them through many years and challenges and losses and gains, and they stayed together because of their shared vision and mission for all they wanted to create and accomplish. After graduating from Goddard High School (Goddard, KS) in 1963, Tom began his career at Cessna, and used the money earned to buy the first 1964 ½ Ford Mustang sold in Wichita, KS. He also worked in the restaurant business for a few years and this eventually led to his ownership of the restaurant, The Cottonwood Cottage, in Protection, KS in the 1980’s. Tom was an entrepreneur at heart and a free- spirited soul who was able to solve problems by improvising and making do with whatever he had. He used those skills to run successful auto glass businesses in Dodge City, KS (Santa Fe Trail Glass) and Woodward, OK (Auto Glass Specialists) for 35 years. Tom was a man of integrity who generously supported his employees and was known to hand money to strangers when they shared their story of need. Tom, along with Cheryl, had a gift for creating homes filled with art and comfort and love. He would repaint a room on a whim and regularly rearrange the furniture to alter the space just enough to give it fresh energy. Tom had a specific passion for creating beautiful landscapes filled with trees and rocks and bushes that he’d gathered from the nursery, or sometimes from the side of the road, again using what was on offer to fill a space and make it what he had imagined it to be. His connection to nature evident in those spaces and also in his love for the horses he’d owned across his life, his dog, Bella, and his way of looking across wide open spaces and finding connection to himself within it. Tom inspired anyone who knew him. He had a fire, a passion, an inner drive that, even at 80 and ill with cancer, could not be stopped. If he decided he was going to do something, he did it. His motto was “just do it” long before it appeared in ads. No matter the odds working against him or the pleas for him to set limits, he did what he believed needed to be done. He loved loud rock music, lush green plants, college football (OU Sooners), and his family who respected all he was and all he gave to those around him. He is deeply missed. Memorial contributions can be made to the Arbor Day Foundation, EQUUS Foundation, the American Cancer Society, or the American Heart Association.

Thomas Leecle Jacobs

March 29, 1945 - October 22, 2025