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MEMORIAL ARTICLE
Published Assembly Sep '93
Gordon Ross Jacobsen No.15852 Class of 1946
Died 14 June 1992 in Sarasota, Florida, aged 68 years. Ashes
Scattered over the Caribbean Ocean.
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Gordon Ross Jacobsen was born 3 August 1923 in
Salt Lake City, Utah. He was the oldest son of Twila and Ross
Jacobsen and had a younger brother, Douglas. Gordon lost his
father when he was twelve years old, but an extended family of
loving aunts, uncles and cousins helped his early development.
He spent many happy summers on a farm in Ephram, Utah with his
cousins. Gordon often regaled his family with a funny incident
from his childhood. It seemed that Gordon was scheduled to have
his tonsils removed. As was often the case in those days, the
operation was to take place in the Jacobsen home. When the doctor
arrived, he had to chase Gordon around the house before finally
catching him and putting him on the kitchen table for the tonsillectomy.
Gordon survived that and many other childhood trials
to graduate from East High School in Salt Lake City. While in
high school, he was on the rifle team and played saxaphone in
the band as well as participating in the Army ROTC program. From
there, he entered the University of Utah for two years before
receiving a Senatorial Appointment to West Point. He also participated
in the Army ROTC program at the University. Gordon was thrilled
when he received the telegram telling him to report to West Point
on 1 July 1943 to join the Class of 1946.
Cadet life was not too difficult for Gordon. His
ROTC experience in high school and college helped get him through
Beast Barracks, and his desire to succeed carried him over the
rough spots with the System. Academics were no great problem
for him. Gordon participated in several cadet activities. He
was a member of the Cadet Chapel Choir each of his three years
at West Point and belonged to the Camera, Skeet and Weight Lifting
Clubs. At graduation, Gordon pinned on the gold bars of a second
lieutenant in the Field Artillery.
Fort Sill, Oklahoma was Gordon's first duty station.
There he attended the Artillery Basic Officer's Course. From
Oklahoma, he traveled to Japan, where he was assigned to the
77th Field Artillery Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division. He held
many positions in the battalion, including battery commander.
After two-and-a-half years in Japan, Gordon resigned from the
Army to try his hand at civilian life. Gordon married Eleanor
(Ellie) Livingston on 12 January 1979 at Hana, Maui, Hawaii.
Classmates and close friends, Minor Kelso and Roland
Kline, related the details of Gordon's foray into civilian life.
Gordon's first position after leaving the Army was with an air
conditioning company in San Francisco, California. It was while
with that organization that Gordon became increasingly interested
in the engineering problem associated with reducing the noise
generated by high velocity air in air conditioning ducts as the
air encountered a 90 degree elbow or turn. His quest for a solution
to this problem led him to the Stanford University Library. There
he discovered, almost by accident, an obscure paper written by
a British engineer on airfoils and aerodynamics. That paper became
a key part of Gordon's design of a precise airfoil contour for
a turning vane to be installed in air conditioning ducts. The
turning vane reduced generated sound power levels to a remarkable
degree. With his design in hand, Gordon formed his own company,
AERO/DYNE, and set out to produce and market his invention. Of
course, the principal problem was financing. With his home mortgage
payments six months in arrears from spending all his time perfecting
his design, Gordon hit upon a unique financing scheme. He borrowed
eight hundred dollars from his bank and headed for Las Vegas,
Nevada. Gordon parlayed the $800 into $5,000 at the "21
Table." With the loan repaid and his mortgage payments up
to date, Gordon was able to begin production of his AERO/DYNE
vanes. His ingenuity, courage and perseverance were rewarded.
AERO/DYNE prospered beyond Gordon's wildest dreams. He expanded
with real estate holdings in California, Arizona, Hawaii and
Florida. Gordon operated AERO/DYNE for twenty-eight years.
Gordon developed RP (retinitis pigmentosa), a progressive
degenerative disease of the eye that left him virtually blind
the last ten years of his life. Although his vision was limited,
the spirit and competence with which he pursued his goals in
his early years never diminished. He just changed his focus from
business to other pursuits that were of vital importance to him.
He actively supported environmental issues and fought against
those who would destroy the environment. The out of control national
debt was one of Gordon's major concerns. He used all his energies
to attack, verbally and in writing, the irresponsibility of government
that seemed to ignore the problem. Gordon and Ellie had moved
from California to Arizona after he left the business world.
In 1990, they moved again to Sarasota, Florida. On 14 June 1992,
Gordon Ross Jacobsen died. He is survived by his wife Ellie and
one son, Steve.
The Long Gray Line can be proud of Gordon Jacobsen.
Her ranks are peopled with those who served with distinction
in the ranks of the Army and those who chose to pursue success
in the competitive world of business and industry. He chose the
latter, for it was not his nature to conform to the structured
life of the soldier--something he admired but had the courage
and insight to know was not for him. His brilliance and strength
of purpose brought him deserved rewards. He was eloquent in his
denunciation of those who did not fulfill the mandates of trust
placed in them and full of praise for those who did. He imposed
this same high standard on himself.
His wife Ellie expressed a tribute by which she
knew he would be remembered among those closest to him: "Gordon
was a warm and caring person, who always was keenly interested
in the environment, politics and world peace, and one who will
be dearly missed by his family and many friends." Gordon
enriched the lives of all who knew and loved him. The Class of
1946 joins Ellie and Steve in saying, "Well Done, Gordon;
Be Thou At Peace!"
'46 Memorial Article Project and his wife, Ellie
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