John Lukes Jacobus

John Lukes Jacobus. June 1, 1912 - September 7, 2011. , Born in Brooklyn, New York, John was turned over to the care of the New York Child's Hospital by his mother on July 22, 1912. At 2 ½, John was transferred to the care of the Children's Aid Society of New York. John was placed out in Ottawa, Kansas, on April 19, 1915 with Charles and Edna Jacobus. The Ottawa Herald reported the placing out and John’s unique arrival to the community. "John Lukes, aged 2 years, a particularly engaging little blue-eyed boy… friendly, too, for he insisted on shaking the reporter’s hand…”, In 1934, John graduated from Ottawa University with the intention to teach. He turned down a job offer at a country school paying a salary of $35 per month, returning home to Ottawa to work in the family greenhouse for a short time. In 1937, John accepted a job in Phoenix, Arizona, with the Sunshine Biscuit Company as a bookkeeper. He joined the Army Medical Corps in 1942 and served his last year of service in the Philippines., After the war John moved to Long Beach, California, where he joined the U.S. Postal Service as a mail carrier. In 1956, John met his future wife, Louise in Long Beach. Louise was the Baptist church secretary and John was the treasurer. Together they had one daughter, Judith Louise. After John's retirement from the Postal Service in June 1972, the family traveled extensively across the United States and the world. John's retirement was short lived; he began working at Stricklin/Snively Mortuary in Long Beach in 1974 and continued to work until he was 85. John passed away September 7, 2011, at the age of 99., ”While it seems that [John] was always extremely headstrong and wanted to 'do his own thing' as much as possible, he also learned the values of honesty, integrity, and faith early on which stood him in good stead his entire life. [John] was… an exceptional individual. His life has not been an easy one at times but his values are ones that have been passed along to me and I have always tried to pass those same values along to my second grade students while I was teaching and to others now that I am retired. That way, John Jacobus will live on and continue to be an influence on future generations." , Judith Louise Jacobus