Read Wade Jacoby's Obituary & Leave Condolences

In memory of

Wade Jacoby

Provo, UT, USA

March 15, 1964 - February 29, 2020

Mar 15, 1964 - Feb 29, 2020

In lieu of flowers

Please consider a donation to the Wade "was never a big flowers guy" Jacoby Memorial.

Learn more & give
Help keep everyone in the know by sharing this memorial website.

Share

Photo

Wade Anthony Jacoby died on February 29, 2020. While mountain biking with his friends in Southern Utah, he suffered a heart attack—which came as a shock to all, given that he could usually be found wrestling his grand-daughter, playing aggressive early morning basketball, or charging steep canyons in pursuit of wild game.

Wade was born March 15, 1964 in Palmer, Alaska and grew up on a dairy farm in Acme, Washington. As a high school athlete, he was a triple threat, lettering in football, baseball, and basketball. He attended BYU on an athletic scholarship, but, after realizing he wouldn’t get much playtime as a quarterback on the same team as Steve Young, he turned his focus to academics.

His transformation from small town jock to erudite Europeanist began when he studied abroad in London. Starting there, he used the world-class hitchhiking skills he had honed in Whatcom County to explore the continent that would broaden his worldview and define his career. After graduating from BYU in 1987 with a BA in European Studies, Wade returned to Europe as a Fulbright Scholar. Wade wrote his thesis at the University of Bonn while quarterbacking the Bonn Jets American football team in the German national league.

Studying abroad introduced him not only to theater and doner kebabs, but to Kindra Nelson, the love of his life. Wade and Kindra were married in Idaho in 1988, but instead of honeymooning, Wade had to scurry back to Germany to lead his team to a national championship. Together, Wade and Kindra were the complete package—not just a power couple, a Renaissance couple. Together, they could tackle anything.

Wade’s relentless curiosity led them to Cambridge; Wade was a Ph.D. student in Political Science at M.I.T.; Kindra attended P.A. school at Northeastern. Pursuing simultaneous graduate degrees wasn’t enough, so Wade and Kindra welcomed their first two daughters, Taylor and Clementine—they built custom bunk beds to fit in their dorm room closet. In 1995, Wade accepted an Assistant Professor position at Grinnell College. In small-town Iowa they were joined by third daughter, Kendall, and Wade launched his academic career amid familiar agricultural trappings.

In 2000, Wade accepted a professorship at BYU, where he quickly became a cult-classic. Students saw him as a dedicated mentor who gave his full attention, expected much, and brought out the best in them. Colleagues admired his uncommon wit and wisdom. He was a passionate defender of women faculty and students and a persistent critic of bureaucratic excesses. His work ethic was unparallelled. In 2003, he secured a Title VI Grant to found BYU’s Center for the Study of Europe and over many years led study abroad programs in Washington, D.C. and London, all while steadily publishing outstanding scholarship that shaped the study of European politics and international affairs. The academic community mourns this tremendous loss.

Wade loved life and lived more in 55 years than most do in 100. He was a devoted fan of the Seahawks, who often tested the limits of his unconditional love. He was a careful reader of all genres and could verbally spar with experts in many fields. He hosted an annual MLK party that called his friends to learn more about civil rights. He loved “projects”—gutting houses, trimming trees, welding junk-metal sculptures. He could often be found fishing, hunting, hiking, and biking, which allowed him to spend time in “rugged country” and with elk, “North America’s most majestic mammal.” He was a spiritual, emotional, and intellectual giant who was always ready to help those around him—old friends, complete strangers, or “knucklehead” youth. He was never too busy to edit an essay, fix a sprinkler system, or take an eager kid fishing.

He had a rare gift for language, inventing countless aphorisms, reviving vintage phrases, and synthesizing complicated ideas into elegant formulations. His lectures and Sunday School lessons were the stuff of legend. He told stories like no one you’ve ever heard in a dialect that was all his own. He will live on forever as all who knew him strive to retell his stories with the same panache.

Above all else, Wade loved his daughters, his wife, and his grandbaby, Beatrix. His girls were an unending source of joy; he never tired of talking about them. And for them, he was chief architect of the moral universe, their rock in hard times, and their source of inspiration.

Wade is survived by his wife, Kindra, children, Taylor (Kurt Hepler), Clementine (Joshua Essex), and Kendall, granddaughter Beatrix, and parents, Bonnie O’Connor, Duane Jacoby, and Pamp Maiers. A beloved brother and uncle, he is also missed by his siblings, Eric, Darin, Jeni, Stephanie, Christina, Staci, and Pamp Jr., and by his nieces and nephews. He is reunited with his sister Jena, who preceded him in death.

Order a beautiful PDF you can print and save or share.

Get the PDF

Get notified when new photos, stories and other important updates are shared.

Please consider a donation to the Wade "was never a big flowers guy" Jacoby Memorial.

$12,200.00

of $1 goal

1220000 %

Learn more & give