Memories of Wade Jacoby

In memory of

Wade Jacoby

Provo, UT, USA

March 15, 1964 - February 29, 2020

Mar 15, 1964 - Feb 29, 2020

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Scott Sprenger

Wade Jacoby is without a doubt the smartest, kindest, wittiest and most generous soul I've ever known. Really. It was an honor to have been his colleague and friend. We spent a few good years together rebuilding European Studies at BYU after its hiatus, with Wade as director of the Title VI center and me as the director of the ES program. I think that it's secretly thanks to him that I got that position; and it's definitely thanks to him that my career and life took a turn for the better during and after that time. That was Wade's thing: he lifted everyone around him, he made us all better than we were before knowing him. And he did this effortlessly by quietly lending us his strength and inspiration rather than reminding us of our weaknesses. Though my contact with Wade became less frequent after I left BYU, we could always immediately pick up where we left off. In some ways, although I am older than Wade, he was like a big brother I never had. Once he showed up out of the blue at my door in Paris and ended up crashing there a couple of nights, just to say hello and catch up. The positive influence runs even deeper: it was in part because of Clementine's attendance at Stanford that my daughter, Anna-Marie, was encouraged to apply. Wade persuaded me that it was a truly life-changing experience and that it was not that expensive (that last part turned out not to be true!). When I received the news by text Sunday evening that Wade had died, it was received like a sucker punch to the stomach. I was literally breathless and uncontrollably grief stricken, especially because he had just reached out a couple of days before to say hello. I will forever miss Wade Jacoby. He was truly one of a kind, a model human being, a force of nature. My deepest condolences to the family.

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KINDRA JACOBY

Comments:

Pavel Černoch

“That was his thing: he lifted everyone around him, he made us all better than we were before knowing him.”... Read more “That was his thing: he lifted everyone around him, he made us all better than we were before knowing him.” Dear Scott, you nailed... Read more “That was his thing: he lifted everyone around him,... Read more

Nick Mason

Ditto with the Masons on Stanford. And the sucker punch. Beautifully put here, Scott. Ditto with the Masons on Stanford. And the sucker punch. Beautifully put here, Scott. Ditto with the Masons on Stanford. And the sucker punch.... Read more

Steven Orton

Wade was a remarkable teammate and opponent at early morning basketball. He always had a way to get the ball in the basket. I will miss his friendship, his quest for learning, and his insightful quips. He was kind and insightful. His early departure is heartbreaking to me and the rest of his basketball buddies. We are in shock and saddened. We pray for his family. God bless you!

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KINDRA JACOBY

Barbara Givens

Dear Kindra and Family-Please accept our deepest sympathy over the death of your beloved husband.
Sincerely,
Blue Rock Medical Family

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KINDRA JACOBY

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Ruth Eldredge

2012, Provo, UT

I was an early recipient of the Title VI scholarships that Wade brought to BYU. His advocacy for that scholarship money to come to BYU, and the fact he saw me as a qualified recipient, left an impression that I still feel almost a decade later. It's opened doors for me in ways that I'm still counting. Whenever I saw him around the Kennedy Center, he seemed a little superhuman. Now knowing more about him, I see that maybe he was.

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KINDRA JACOBY

Ron Linden

This is a terrible loss, for the profession and, more importantly, for his family, friends and colleagues. Wade was an insightful, thoughtful, creative and incredibly productive scholar, writing across a range of European studies, both east and west. Over decades in the field, as I would come across journal issues, books or edited volumes, my evaluation of their merit (and the likelihood of actually reading it) always went up when it included a contribution by Wade Jacoby. I knew what he wrote would not just be comprehensive and cogent but well written and usually framed in a creative way that stuck. This was the case with his seminal piece on the East Europe-EU relationship during these states’ accession. He characterized it as that of "Priest and Penitent" a perfect rendering of which I was decidedly jealous—something I told him whenever we met or when I would introduce him on a panel. I saw him most recently in Washington and Pittsburgh and I am sad to think I will not have that opportunity again, but feel fortunate to have known him and to know that he left behind so much good work, good works, and vivid memories.

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Pavel Černoch

KINDRA JACOBY

Sherrie Wilson

Acme and beyond

Always brilliant, with a little bit of devilishness, I wasn't surprised that he grew into that great brain and mind of his. I do have to say that how he grew into his heart and soul delighted me to no end. Kindra brought that out in him and it expanded exponentially with each of his amazing and wonderful daughters and now his granddaughter. We used to joke that it must have been karma that he ended up in a household full of women. Lucky him. Lucky them. My heart is broken for each of you and for Bonnie who also had her special bond with him, as well as great admiration. I know the rest of his family is heartbroken, as well. Love and hugs to you all. - Sherrie

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