Navy veteran played role in Cuban Missile Crisis
George Jakabcsin knew how to keep a secret.
Before he became chief financial officer at several local companies, including Pittsburgh Brewing, Busy Beaver and Giant Eagle, Mr. Jakabcsin told his family he served as a Naval officer in the 1960s, but it was only in recent months they learned the details of his involvement in the Cuban Missile Crisis 58 years ago this week.
As a lieutenant aboard the USS Earle B. Hall, one of the ships that served as part of the U.S. blockade of Cuba, Mr. Jakabcsin was among those preparing to be part of the initial invading force during the height of the tense standoff between the U.S. and the Soviet Union from Oct. 16 to 28, 1962.
“He waited 20 years just to tell me he’d been there, and it was only in the past few months that he told me the details about his part in it,” said his wife, Mary Jakabcsin. “He was very involved but felt he had to keep it a secret.”
Mr. Jakabcsin, of Ross, died Oct. 11 of heart failure. He was 81.
He grew up on Perrysville Avenue on the North Side and graduated in 1956 from North Catholic High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting
from Duquesne University four years later.
Mr. Jakabcsin joined the Navy in 1961, shortly after a rather inauspicious first meeting with the woman who would become his wife of 55 years.
The couple were set up on a blind date by mutual friends and had a great time seeing the film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” before Mr. Jakabcsin committed the ultimate faux pas when he ran into some friends at the theater and stumbled as he tried to make introductions, his wife recalled.
“He forgot my name!” she said, laughing at the memory. “I mean, it’s four letters, and it’s very common. That was the end of that, I thought. I just forgot about him.”
But a few weeks later, he convinced her to accompany him to a play starring one of the most popular heartthrobs of the time.
“The only reason I said yes was because it was Farley Granger,” she said. “We started dating, and a month later, he went off to the Navy.”
During the 13-day confrontation off the shores of Cuba, his ship received a surreptitious radio call that kicked off preparations for a possible invasion of the communist nation, Mr. Jakabcsin told his wife.
“He said that it was a dark night when they slipped in line (as part of the blockade formation) around some fishing boats,” she said. “George’s ship got a radio call, and they were told to get ready for the mission. He recognized the voice and thought it was JFK.”
The sailors dressed in dark clothes and blackened their faces, expecting to go ashore into the jungle, where motor bikes that had been painted matte black would be hidden, Mrs. Jakabcsin said.
Before they could leave, the ship received another radio call.
“The call said, ‘This is Lone Eagle. Abort the mission, and let them know you’re there,’ ” Mrs. Jakabcsin said. “It was President Kennedy. So, they turned on all of the engines, which George said sounded like a million screeching cats, and they turned on all of their lights and moved forward, chewing up a lot of fishing nets in the process. Those men would have gone into the jungle if not for that call from the president.”
After his discharge from active duty in 1965, Mr. Jakabcsin joined the Naval Reserve, where he served for many years as a lieutenant commander.
Every year, the couple met other naval officers and their wives at annual reunions, and they loved to travel, especially on cruises, Mrs. Jakabcsin said.
Mr. Jakabcsin went on to work as an accountant at several retail stores, including Gimbels of Pittsburgh, where he rose to become vice president and CFO in 1981.
He later served as CFO at Pittsburgh Brewing, Busy Beaver and Giant Eagle before starting his own consulting and accounting business.
In more recent years, Mr. Jakabcsin worked part time as a tax consultant and would often provide his services gratis for underprivileged clients, his wife said.
“He would take on the cases that nobody else wanted to do,” she said.
Mr. Jakabcsin was also an ardent angler who fished everywhere from local rivers and lakes to deep sea charters.
“He was really into fishing,” his wife said. “He had fishing equipment from when he was 6 years old.”
He especially loved taking his children and grandchildren fishing and once reeled in a 75-pound mahimahi during a family vacation in the Bahamas.
“When he came into the hotel carrying it, everybody was so excited,” Mrs. Jakabcsin recalled. “The chef cooked up a great big dinner with it on a beautiful platter.”
A lifelong devout Catholic, Mr. Jakabcsin was also very active in his church, St. Sebastian in Ross.
More than anything, Mrs. Jakabcsin said she will miss everyday talks with her husband and just spending time together.
“I will miss our conversations,” she said. “We’d sit in the family room at night and talk about everything. He was a good man.”
Along with his wife, Mr. Jakabcsin is survived by three sons, Paul Jakabcsin, of Ann Arbor, Mich.; Mark Jakabcsin, of Jacksonville Beach, Fla.; and John Jakabcsin, of West Chicago, Ill.; and five grandchildren.
His funeral was Thursday, and a memorial is being planned for a later date.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. Sebastian Parish, 311 Siebert Road, Pittsburgh 15237 or at: https://mountcarmelpgh.