Dear Pat, Natalie, Rachel and the entire Jacobs family,   

We consider ourselves blessed to have known Robert, both professionally and personally.    Quite simply he enriched the lives of all he encountered; curious, kind,  compassionate ,  generous and accepting.  He was a stellar practitioner helping so many.    His life was purely a lesson in love.  May we all carry on, inspired by his example.  

May his memory be eternal and may God comfort you all at this time of loss.

Karen Taylor and Jim Soiles 

Dr. J came into our lives 20 years ago. He was a positive, invested and carrying man.  Several years ago I had the fortunate experience of working as a therapist in his dynamic training room.  While every day was different, each day he taught his patients and staff something new to learn, and think about.  Finding the best way to treat each of his patients was inherent to him.  He was the best boss, with a fantastic sense of humor, and built a wonderful practice.

Miss you much Dr. J, but am so grateful ...

Dear Pat and family,

Please accept my heartfelt condolences.  I will pray for Robert and for your family.  I had many good memories with Robert on and off the golf course.   He was also my son, Carlo's doctor and helped him tremendously with his vision.  We were together for his first hole-in-one and after the ball went in, I started cheering and went to give him a high five, he turned to me and said "is that it?"  Classic Robert, calm, cool, and collected.  We talked about everything while walking the golf course  for many years and I very much enjoyed his friendship and  will miss him very much.  A great Man.

 God Bless!

What can I say about Dr. J other than he has been an instrumental figure in my life.  I first encountered Dr J in the 1990’s at National Rehab Hospital where I was working as an OT with TBI/stroke pt’s.   He came to give inservices to our dept. on vision rehab.  I was taken with his knowledge and enthusiasm on the subject and how we could make a difference in our pt’s lives.  Fast forward to early 2000 my mom had a concussion with significant vision deficits limiting her ability to drive.  I suggested she see Dr J and as a result she returned to successful driving. Some years later I noticed my own vision challenges with driving and sent myself to Dr J.  My experience with him in v/t was his kind and gentle nature and his amazing insight into me.  As my OT career progressed I found myself gravitating toward vision rehab with concussion pt’s in an interdisciplinary team model.  Once again Dr J came into my world as a mentor and a referral source for our pt’s for glasses. He would go out of his way to assist me and my colleagues with our patients and really make us think out of the box for the best outcomes. I have recently retired from NRH and let Dr J know. Shortly afterwards he called to suggest I come work for J-N Vision as he thought I would enjoy the change. Needless to say I enjoy and value being apart of the vision team and all the positives it brings to our clients.  Dr. J you created something special! Thank you for all of your love and care!  You will be greatly missed and never forgotten! 

❤️Connie Guercin 

Dr. Jacobs will always be remembered by our family as someone who embodied the highest standards and aspirations of a medical professional! His warm, friendly demeanor allowed him to apply his sharp professional analytical skills to improve the daily lives of his patients, whether for physical, optometric or (the more subtle and abstract) visual processing issues. When sitting with Dr. Jacobs, one knows that he truly cared about his patients, his interest in them was sincere, and he would unselfishly devote all the time necessary to get to the root of any issue falling within his purview. How many people can say that about any of their doctors?

We consider Dr. Jacobs and his family as friends as well as professionals and that feeling is surely widespread among his patients. He was just the kind of guy whom you wanted to be around, and we are equally lucky to have Pat and Natalie working with him. His visual processing work had a lasting and meaningful effect on our son’s life for the last 20 years!

We recently saw Dr. Jacobs in the office for our glasses. As always, he treated us as if we were the only people and only concern that he had in the world at that moment. Amazing, brave, admirable! Despite his illness, his patience and gentle humor continue to shine through as he helped us. We are deeply saddened by his passing. He will be greatly missed, and we hope that Pat and his daughters can take some comfort in knowing that his legacy will live on, in our memories, as well as the impacts on the daily lives of his many patients!

Saddened by his passing, heartened by his example of service and humanity, we remain, sincerely yours,

The Hopkinsons

We are so sorry to hear of the loss of such a wonderful person. I’ll always remember learning and participating in therapy with him, as a child. His caring and enthusiastic spirit will be missed. All our love and prayers to the Jacobs family. 

-Mairin, Eilise, and the Moriarty family 

My deepest condolences for Pat, Natalie and Rachael as you carry on after such a heavy loss.

I have the great fortune of working in the Vision Therapy practice Dr. Jacobs built.

Lately at work I’ve been contemplating the scale of the impact of his legacy - the number of patients whose lives have been transformed due to his exceptional care and individualized vision training.

While of course he had a lasting impact on the countless patients fortunate enough to have walked through the doors, he also enriched my own life experience. I’m grateful for the opportunity to have learned from a legend in Neuro-optometry  and to continue to be of service to his patients.

I miss Dr J’s smile, kindness and zen-like presence in the training room. He would say Vision Therapy was not only good for the patients, it was good for the therapists, too. He was correct. I do not take for granted the value of the gift of Vision Therapy - to Dr J’s (and Dr N’s) patients and to me.

Thank you for all the pictures here - it truly warms my heart to see his magnificent smile! I’ve added one of my daughter receiving the best Optometry exam of her life!

Rest In Peace, Sir. We will do our best to carry on your legacy.

With much love,

Teresa Brendler 

Dr .Jacobs was so instrumental in helping our son James love school again. He understood the intricate ways that made James’s brain tick and helped us (as his parents)  best support him. James said it best, “going to vision therapy was always pretty hard, but it was also pretty fun.” Thank you for sharing your expertise and insight with our family, our deepest regrets that we only learned of your phenomenal practice recently.

We will miss Dr. Jacobs and appreciate all of his support. 

Pat & Family,

Although I went to high school with Robert I didn't know him during those years. Some years later when we were living in Great Falls I got to know Robert  and Pat through our youngest daughter (Maggie & Natalie) in the late 1990's.  Over the ensuing years my wife Liz and I had many dinners with Robert and Pat. We always had a great time and I got to know Robert better and the caring person that he was. We last saw Robert and Pat in Park City a few years ago. He even gave me a golf lesson that I still have on video. In reading many of the condolences its clear to me that everyone who knew Robert was grateful for the experience.

Bruce Bowen

I met Robert in 2006, early in my vision therapy career, through our IBO group. He was a wonderful colleague over these many years. We had many interesting discussions over the phone, at the IBO group, and at various optometry meetings. Robert was always giving me insights and food for thought, yet always treated me like an equal--  even early on when I barely knew anything!

He was such a caring and giving man, and he will be missed greatly. I hope his memory provides you with comfort.

Dear Pat, Natalie, Rachel and family, 

My deepest condolences to you. Sending you hugs during this difficult time. 

I first met Robert over 25 years ago, then reconnected shortly before I moved to the DC area from Philly. I was 8 months pregnant and needed an OBGYN. Marion Kraskin gave me Robert's number and said call him. He has kids, and will help you. I called, and Robert never hesitated to help. He quickly checked with Pat and gave me the contact info for the doc. We bonded over that simple connection. 

I wanted to share this email below that I sent to colleagues shortly after I heard the news about Robert. 

Robert practiced not far from my office, in McLean, Virginia. His father was an Optometrist, and Robert knew he wanted a Vision Therapy practice. Perhaps it was being a patient in Dr. Bob Kraskin’s office or the influence of the large VT OD community in the Washington DC area. Robert was dedicated to learning, and expanding his horizons to better help his patients. Taking Syntonics and Postural Restoration courses right before the pandemic. We had a number of mutual patients, and it was always a pleasure collaborating with him.

Robert was part of our local IBO study group that meets the first Monday evening of the month. For years we carpooled to the meetings when they were held in Jeff’s office. Often I would be the one to text or email Robert and Duc that morning to ask if I could join them, not just because it easier for them to park their sedan in DC than for me to park my minivan. I looked forward to our drive together and our discussions, which ranged from specific patients to incorporating movement, Postural Restoration PT, Syntonics, playing golf and insights gleaned from the days when he was at the NFL Combine.

When my dad was diagnosed with cancer last year Robert and I would talk, knowing that he was facing his own battle. As my dad declined, our conversations about when to push for treatment vs hospice at home held a special poignancy as we both knew that he might have to face the same decision soon. I will always appreciate his support when my father passed away over the summer.

Robert’s legacy is not just his family, but his patients and the many professionals in the area with whom he collaborated with over the years, building awareness of the role of vision in our lives.

Sorry for the rambling post . . . I feel as though I have lost not just a colleague, but a close member of my family.

May his memory be a comfort to his family and all those who knew him.

With sympathy,

Dr. Kavita Malhotra

I met Dr. Jacobs about 20 years ago.  We shared many mutual patients over the years.  A most common theme among them when they spoke of Dr. Jacobs was how caring, generous and truly interested in their well-being he was. He had an insatiable curiosity, a kind heart and a willingness to go the extra mile for people.  A true quiet leader by example…he will be greatly missed!  My condolences to Pat and his girls, whom he was extremely proud of!