Mary Louise Jacobsen, 93, of Shell Lake, passed peacefully on Sept. 16, 2024 at Glenview Assisted Living Center. She was born Jan. 18, 1931 in Chicago, Illinois to Peter and Cecile (Wons) Lund.
Mary grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin with her younger brother, Peter. They vacationed in Cumberland, Wisconsin where they loved riding the farmers’ cows. She graduated from Mary D. Bradford High School in 1948. She got her bachelor’s degree in primary education from U.W.-Stevens Point, in 1953, and a master’s degree from U.W.- Madison.
Mary and Ed were married in 1954. During their marriage of 67 years, they lived in Lawton, Oklahoma; Madison, Wisconsin; Istanbul, Turkey; Lawrence, Kansas; Madrid, Spain; Nairobi, Kenya; Manzini, Swaziland (now Eswatini); Paris, France; Siren, Wisconsin and Shell Lake, Wisconsin. In most of these places Mary taught elementary and preschool.
In Istanbul, her daughters, Ann Louise and Lisa were born. Mary and Ed were living in the dorms at the college where Ed taught, as he was House Master. Mary would joke that they had a hundred babysitters, allowing them a fun night life. There was a curfew at the time from a revolution, so they had to sneak home from parties, trying to hold back their giggles. In Kansas, their third daughter, Greta was born. In Madrid, Mary had her hands full with a newborn, a two-year-old and a four-year-old.
In Kenya, she volunteered to teach English to kids in a shanty town. In Eswatini, Mary, a firm believer in equal rights, tried to boycott goods from neighboring South Africa. She came home from the supermarket with nothing but a bag of sugar and a pineapple! In France, she discovered her love of writing. She joined her first writing group there.
In Siren, Mary and Ed enjoyed retirement in a dome house in the woods, where she continued her writing. In Shell Lake, at the Glenview Assisted Living, she loved telling her stories to the staff and residents.
She is survived by daughter, Lisa Jacobsen Rockwood and her husband, Jeff; daughter, Greta Jacobsen Strobel; five grandsons, Steve Rockwood, Sean Murray, Nick Murray, Jesse Strobel (Katie) and Jake Strobel; great-grandson, Malachi Strobel; and many friends. Mary was preceded in death by her husband, Edward; daughter, Ann Louise Murray; and brother, Peter Lund.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, at Skinner Funeral Home in Shell Lake, Wisconsin, with Chaplain Dennis Peters officiating. Visitation will be from one hour before the service.
Skinner Funeral Home of Shell Lake, Wisconsin is serving the family.
