Advocate for Kenya girls’ education
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Patricia B. “Pat” Jacobs went beyond her own accomplishments — as a mother, a chemist, athlete and traveler — to focus on leaving a legacy helping girls in need living a world away, in Kenya.
“Pat was proud of the work she did in Kenya,” said her husband, Richard A. “Rick” Jacobs Jr., “and the fact that she will be an enabler of the next step.” Ms. Jacobs of Upper St. Clair died Nov. 19 of ovarian cancer. She asked that memorial donations go toward a school for girls at Hekima Place, southwest of Nairobi.
Born Jan. 10, 1947, in Lafayette, Ind., Ms. Jacobs met her husband when they were both at Rice University in Houston.She was a freshman and he was a junior; they married before she graduated. Despite her mother’s fears she would never earn a degree, Mr. Jacobs said, his wife went beyond expectations, eventually getting a doctoratein chemistry.
The couple had two daughters, Jennifer L. Fowler, now a public health epidemiologist near Boulder, Colo., and Bethany A. Wolf, a biostatistician at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
“She passed on her love of science and the love of the outdoors,” Mr. Jacobs said. “Other people went to Disneyland; we went camping. One of the things it teaches is you can be resourceful and have fun with what you have … It’s pretty hard to beat as a family experience, completely away from distractions.”
They moved to Pittsburgh in 1981 from Lake Charles, La. Ms. Jacobs became interested in running half-marathons after moving here and that, too, became a shared interest with her daughters.
Among her other hobbies were photography and genealogy. She traced her father’s side of the family back to 1100 in Scotland, her husband said, collecting family stories including one involving a magic pear given as a dowry back in the 12th century or so.
As a chemist, she worked for Bayer for more than 20 years, inventing improved polymers for industrial and automotive coatings and accumulating more than a dozen patents.
She and her husband traveled extensively, including trips to Antarctica, South America, Tibet and New Zealand, but it was her heart for mission that eventually led to her to Kenya, Mr. Jacobs said.
She had been active in Bower Hill Community Church in Mt. Lebanon, and made several trips to Haiti with the church to help install waterpurification systems.
Jim DiPiero of Mt. Lebanon and his wife met Pat and Rick Jacobs when they took their first trip in 2010 to Hekima Place.
“We became best of friends; we went on safari together that year,” Mr. DiPiero said. When they got back, Pat and Rick accepted positions on Hekima Place’s U.S. board of directors.
“You just knew you were in the presence of some pretty remarkable people,” Mr. DiPiero said. “They were world travelers, active in ministry — in Haiti as well as Hekima.”
Girls who are orphaned, abused or abandoned are referred to Hekima Place. Founded in 2005, Hekima Place now has six homes for more than 80 girls, ranging from infants to college students, and 25 house mothers and staff. Volunteers come to helpfrom around the world.
Mr. DiPiero, now president of the U.S. board, said Pat Jacobs volunteered to help after hearing Hekima’s founder, Kate Fletcher, speak locally.
“When Kate spoke at her church ... she touched an already loving person who said, ‘I can do more.’ [Pat Jacobs] must have made five trips to Kenya in the last seven or eight years. You get to know the girls. She fell in love with Maggie …”
The Jacobses sponsored Hekima child Maggie Wambui at the age of 14. She’s now 23.
“We’re working with her to set up a store or food kiosk where she can run a business,” Mr. Jacobs said. Her tribe is traditionally business people, he said, so she’s trying to be independently successful.
Mr. DiPiero said Ms. Jacobs knew the importance of education and had a deep desire to help the Kenyan girls.
At one point, she stepped in as acting executive director at Hekima when Ms. Fletcher had to spend 2½ months recovering from a car accident.
“It was important for someone from the U.S. to oversee operations,” Mr. DiPiero said.
“She was the one board member who had more experience — boots on the ground. She was the one who had been to Hekima, spent the most time with the girls, with the staff. That experience was invaluable, with insights into the operations, interactions with the director, withthe staff ... We will sorely missand can’t replace that.”
Mr. DiPiero said Ms. Jacobs hoped that seed money she left will launch further fundraising for a primary school that will give girls at Hekima and others nearby a good education. The school will have room for about 270 girls, from pre-kindergarten through ninth grade.
“The real outreach is to provide this kind of education to the communities where we are located. By building the school we will attract the local community children. ... It’s our way of giving back. Our girls live better than a lot of the local population.” About $4 million is needed, he said.
In addition to her husband and daughters, Ms. Jacobs is survived by brothers, Thorogood T. Broun III, of Cypress, Texas, and Robert C. Broun, of Lake Kiowa, Texas; and three grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 3:30 p.m. Dec. 9 at at Bower Hill Community Church, 70 Moffett St., Mt. Lebanon. There will be a Christmas concert 7:30 p.m. Dec. 9 at St. Thomas More Church, 126 Fort Couch Road, Bethel Park, with a collection for Hekima Place. Donations may be made to Hekima Place, 407 Morrison Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15216.