Dr. Walter Jacob Jr.

Dr. Walter Jacob, Jr., died at his home in Queenstown, MD, on Thursday, September 2. He was 90. Born December 29, 1908, in Hoboken, NJ, he was the son of the late Walter and Marie Ruthenberg Jacob Sr. He graduated from Hoboken High School. He earned both his Bachelor (1928) and Masters (1930) degrees at Columbia University and a PHD (1935) from New York University. Dr. Jacob taught and rose to administrative posts in Ridgewood, NJ; Plainfield, NJ; and Jersey City, NJ. He was one of the youngest school principals in New Jersey, having held that position at nineteen years of age. Dr. Jacob served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Theater from 1942 - 1945 as a Lt. Commander. Upon his return, he became the Director of the American Institute for Mental Studies (AIMS) in Vineland, NJ. He retired in 1975, concluding almost 50 years of professional work as both an educator and administrator. Dr, Jacob married Nancy Schroeder in January 1950. He moved with his wife to Queenstown, MD, in 1984. During his tenure at Director of AIMS, Dr. Jacob stressed the continuing development of the professional programs and research efforts that had made the Training School of Vineland famous. The Institute’s "Vineland Day" conducted for the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs under Dr. Jacob’s direction brought nationally and internationally known personalities to the campus every spring to observe and promote clinical programs. Dr. Jacob entertained such dignitaries as James Michener, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, and Mrs. Hubert Humphries. As president of AIMS, Pearl S. Buck became a close friend and mentor. As an active writer, Dr. Jacob authored numerous articles on education, administration, delinquency, and mental deficiency. For over 25 years, he had been the Editor of the Training School Bulletin, a professional quarterly with a subscription list of over 10,000 names. He wrote "New Hope for the Retarded Child," a Public Affairs booklet that has become accepted reading for parents faced with that diagnosis. As part of a series of long-range plans, Dr. Jacob developed strong relationships between AIMS and many major universities and colleges for the purpose of bettering clinical and educational techniques to benefit the intellectually impaired. Much of this work was done with Rutgers, George Washington, and Temple Universities, as well as Glassboro College. He also structured resident programs for graduate students from European and Far Eastern schools. In 1967, he established the AIMS Metabolic Laboratory for Mental Retardation at New York University Medical Center, which was totally geared to research. Dr. Jacob is listed nationally in American Men and Women of Science, National Register of Prominent American and International Notables, Who’s Who in the East, Leaders in Exceptional Educational, the Compendium and Contemporary Authors. His international listings are included in the Dictionary of International Biography and Men of Achievement. He had been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Association on Mental Deficiency. Dr. Jacob was a longtime member and past president of the Vineland, NJ, and Easton, MD, Rotary Clubs. He is a former president of the New Jersey Veterans Association, member of the Committee on Counseling of the New Jersey Synod of the Presbyterian Church of the U.S.A. Dr. Jacob held executive positions with the YMCA, Salvation Army, and and Naval Reserve. He was a member of the Annapolis Yacht Club and Sailing Club of Chesapeake. In addition to his wife, Dr. Jacob is survived by four sons, Walter Jacob, III, of Mullica Hill, NJ, George S. Jacob of Pittsgrove, NJ, John Jacob of Deptford, NJ, and Douglas Jacob of Pittsgrove, NJ; two daughters, Christine Jones of Newark, DE, and Cordelia Spera of Queenstown, MD; 15 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, September 7, 1999, at the Old Wye Parish in Wye Mills, MD. Burial will be at the Old Wye Parish Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Hospice of Queen Anne’s Inc., 300 Del Rhodes Ave., Queenstown, MD 21658.

Dr. Walter Jacob Jr.

September 2, 1999