Merlin Melvin Jacobson

Merlin Melvin Jacobson

lost his battle with cancer

at his home in Burnsville,

MN on October 4th, 2018

at the age of 78.

Merlin “Jake” was born

on April 19, 1940, in Bot-

tineau, North Dakota to

Melvin and Alta (Ehlke)

Jacobson. Growing up in

Minot, he was raised by

his aunt, Louise. Merlin

worked construction his

entire adult life working

on many of Minot’s not-

able buildings such as

Dakota Square Mall, Mag-

ic City High School, and

the MSU dome, to name a

few. He married Janice

Stebleton, the love of his

life, in 1963 and they

were married for 47 years.

They were blessed with

two children, Michael and

Lisa.

During his life, he was

an avid fisherman, en-

joyed hunting, and play-

ing games. He loved yard

games, board games and

casino slots. He was very

competitive when it came

to his games. If Monopoly

offered a rules verification

hotline, he would have

called it on many occa-

sions. There is still a fami-

ly debate about whether

you can collect $200

when you land on “go”

and again when passing

“go.” Jake believed you

collected on both. Don’t

expect him to ever take it

easy on you. He always

played to win. To play

games with Jake you had

to be thick-skinned and

able to dish back smack

talk, just ask his grand-

daughters. He often

closed out a game he’d

won by yelling out

“Gotcha!”

Anybody that knew

Jake quickly learned he

was a storyteller. He was

always looking for a new

audience to share them

with whether that was his

children’s spouses, their

in-laws or the checkout

person at Menards. One of

his favorite stories to

share was about the time

he was deputized. Micha-

el and some friends were

riding bikes back from the

water treatment plant

after a day of fishing.

Some hooligans, as Jake

referred the them later,

stopped the boys at the

railroad bridge, harassed

them and threw their fish-

ing poles in the river.

After dad and a female

officer arrived at the

scene, she attempted to

cuff one of the offending

kids but he was not

cooperating and punched

the officer in the face. At

this point she looked at

Jake and said, “I deputize

you, now grab him.” Ac-

cording to his story lore

that is exactly what he

did.

Merlin was preceded in

death by his wife, Janice,

on September 11, 2008;

and his parents.

Merlin is survived by

his children, Michael

(Stacey) Jacobson, Burns-

ville, MN, and Lisa (Scott)

Gira, Eagan, MN; grand-

children, Kacee Barrett,

Brainerd, MN, and Kate

Gira, Eagan, MN; and

great-grandchildren,

Theodore and Franklin

Barrett, Brainerd, MN.

The funeral is

scheduled for 10:00 a.m.

on Saturday, October 20,

2018 at Thompson Larson

Funeral Home.

Visitation: There will be

no reviewal, but friends

may sign the register book

one hour prior to the ser-

vice.

Memorials: are pre-

ferred to the Fairview

Foundation for Fairview

Hospice-Metro, 2450

Riverside Ave S., Suite

119, Minneapolis, MN,

55454. https://www.

fairview.org/giving.

Those wishing to sign

the online register and

share memories may ac-

cess the online obituaries

section at (www.

thompsonlarson.com).