Francis Jacobs passed away peacefully in the Grande Prairie Hospital on November 3, 2025 with his wife, Liz, by his side, after coffee with the boys.

Born and raised in Beaverlodge, Frank was the oldest of seven Jacobs children. Sister Phyllis (passed away in 2024). Clem lives in Huallen, and Bob, Carol-Ann, Mike, and Jim all now make their homes in the Okanagan.

Frank and Liz were married for 54 happy years, together raising three amazing daughters: Jill (Jason), Karen (Jeff), and Jennifer (Marcus). They have ten beautiful grandchildren: Josh, Emma, Nicole, Finn, Fraser, Crispin, Josie, Mabel, Morgan, and Megan.

Frank deeply appreciated his family, friends, and neighbours; his coffee boys, museum gang, opera buffs, his road trip crew, and the local community he loved and supported.

Frank, Francis, Jake, or, for his girls and grandchildren, Dad and Grandpa. He was lovingly known by many names. Perhaps many names were needed for a man with such a quietly talented, wonderfully eclectic character. Mechanically-minded and entrepreneurial in spirit, he turned his hand to many different roles, from oil field security guard to town councillor. He owned several businesses in Beaverlodge, including the Laundromat and Car wash, Morgan’s Jewellery, China & Gifts (using Liz’s maiden name), an engraving business called ‘Jake’s Place’, as well as having residential rental properties in town.

He was an engineer. 

Having grown up the son of a trained mechanic, Frank learned by watching and doing. He found joy in figuring out how things worked and repairing what others threw away. Many of Frank’s labours of love have been donated to the South Peace Museum, including a Ford V8 Flathead engine he rebuilt, his 1968 VW Beetle he drove annually in the parade, and a restored 1970s Polaris Skidoo.

Just this September, Frank refurbished the dashboard circuitry for his 1991 VW bus, restoring it to showroom condition by researching old manuals, sourcing obscure parts, and watching YouTube. 

He was a teacher, history buff, and political junkie.  

Though his formal studies at Grande Prairie College were brief (Jill’s arrival threw a wrench in the plans to become a teacher), his curiosity of the world and love of learning never diminished. Many nights were spent around the kitchen table, discussing history, fiction or politics.

At home, Frank was an armchair traveller. Reading history, studying maps, and listening to music from around the world. He loved learning, understanding, and soaking it all in.

He was a music connoisseur.

At home, the Jacobs family listened to just about everything: Country, Opera, Classical, Rock... Sunday mornings, Liz and the girls were often woken by a booming Aria, coupled with the delicious smell of bacon, coffee, and pancakes, before Church.

Frank loved Opera, and often it was very loud. Daisy Brown once called from 2 houses over saying, ‘Play that one again, Francis!’ In 1992, discovering neighbour Rowe Harris was a fellow enthusiast, they inadvertently co-founded an Opera Club. Frank hosted the informal Tuesday Opera for 14 years before passing the baton to Barbara Nelson.

As of this moment, in the garage, aptly named `Jakes’ Place’, there is a Beethoven vinyl on a player complete with sound system. The record sleeve leans up against a toolbox, ready for us to drop the needle.

He was a storyteller.  

The original country tourist, Frank, loved nothing more than to get in a vehicle and cruise the countryside, recalling the names of the people who lived here and there and the rich stories he remembered of them. In fact, he took Liz on such a tour the day before he passed.

In 2020, he took on a different kind of project, this time as an author. He had a hankering to capture the epic adventures of his father Rudy’s immigration to Canada, and the life he lived. With Liz as IT technician and editor, and Jen as designer and formatter, Frank wrote a book you can now buy on Amazon. Search “A Firm Grip and a Calloused Hand: The Stories of Rudy Jacobs, Canadian Pioneer” if you’re interested.

He was a traveller.

He may have picked up an appetite for adventure from Rudy, working on the Microwave tower project across Western Canada. But from there, his wanderlust took him to Germany with his sister Carol, travelling England and France with the British Contingent, to Rome and Barcelona with Liz; through Southeast Asia with brother Mike; along the Alaska Highway with Jim Letersky; and soaking up the Derbyshire Dales with Jen and family. He joined Jill's yoga retreats and family holidays in Mexico and Montana and gathered for reunions all across Alberta and BC, often visiting Karen and family in Jasper, and the wider family in Kelowna, Salmon Arm, and Invermere.

Whatever he was doing, Frank was immersed, fully enjoying the experience. The content, satisfied look on his face, twinkle in eye, and subtle grin, this is the memory we hold of him.

If you knew him, you knew what we were talking about.

A Celebration of Life was held on Sunday, November 9, 2025, at Albright Hall.

Any memorial donations may be made in volunteer hours to the South Peace Centennial Museum.

Condolences may be sent to Liz and family by Post to Box 644, Beaverlodge, T0H 0C0.