Wallace G. Jacobs
Wallace G Jacobs, age 90, passed away peacefully on Friday, December 15th, surrounded by family.
Wally was born on October 27th, 1933, at his grandmother’s home in Sugar City, Idaho to Glendon and Alice Jacobs. His birth was greatly anticipated and celebrated, being their first child after 5 years of waiting. After the 8th grade, his parents moved to Weiser where they ran a rest home. During high school, Wally contracted polio while in high school and ended up with spurs in his back that stayed with him his whole life.
After high school, he spent four years in the Navy, covering 10,000 miles, traveling to the Philippines, Hong Kong, and serving in the Korean War. After leaving the navy, he married Eloise Jean Bateham, in 1957 and had two girls. While married to Jean, he graduated from Ricks College with an associate’s degree in Welding, which helped him find work throughout his life. Jean and Wally separated in 1963 and were later divorced.
Wally met Elva Guadalupe Guerra and the two were married in 1967. After trying for five years, they were able to have four children, three boys and a girl. They lived in Pioche, Nevada, and Tucson, Arizona, before finally settling down in Grace, Idaho in 1978, where they lived until his death.
Work was an important part of Wally’s life. From milking cows, hand pumping water, and putting up hay on horse-pulled wagons, as a child, to a variety of jobs throughout his life, he was known as a hard worker wherever he went, and then carried that work to fixing up every house he lived in. The gospel was another important part of his life. He had a strong testimony of tithing and always erred on paying too much if there was ever a question. He attended the temple frequently and made sure the gospel was taught and passed on to his children.
Wally was naturally generous. Nobody came to his house without being offered something to eat (often several times if you didn’t say yes to the first). Several times people needed a place to stay, and he happily opened up his home, often for months at a time. He loved ice cream, had it with several meals a day, and made sure it was offered to anyone close by.
He is survived by his wife Elva, four children Nancy, Bonnie, Kevin, and Karen, 12 grandchildren, and 8 great grandchildren, his siblings Kenneth, Ronald, Joseph, and Joann. He is proceeded in death by his parents Glendon and Alice, his sons Mark and Ryan, and his brothers Max and Gale.
Funeral services to celebrate his life were held on the December 28, 2023 at the Grace Stake Center, 404 S Main St, Grace, ID. The internment was held at the Grace Cemetery.
