R.I.P. Coach Jacobs

Longtime Forest Hill AD, football coach dies

By Marcus Nelson, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Jerry Jacobs, the longtime Forest Hill coach and athletic director, died Monday after being diagnosed recently with cancer.

He was 71.

Mr. Jacobs spent 33 years working for the Palm Beach County school system — including 30 years at Forest Hill High School, where he was the AD from 1967 until he retired in 1991.

Mr. Jacobs also served as the Falcons' football coach and track and field coach.

"He was just terrific," said track and field coach Dick Melear, who coached against Mr. Jacobs for years at Palm Beach High, Twin Lakes and Palm Beach Lakes. "He was very tough, but people just loved him."

Mr. Jacobs was the football coach of Forest Hill from 1965-74, during which the Falcons were 50-46-4.

Among the athletes Mr. Jacobs coached were former NFL players Ottis Anderson and Ken Stone.

Mr. Jacobs also coached Harry Winkler, the most decorated athlete in Forest Hill history. Winkler, who graduated in 1963, was an all-state basketball player, state champion in shot put and decathlon, and played both sports at Florida.

An accomplished athlete himself, Mr. Jacobs was a four-year starter on the Florida State football team and also lettered in track and field for four years for FSU.

Before his educational career, Mr. Jacons served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Japan.

After he retired, Jacobs was a substitute teacher at Forest Hill, current Athletic Director Patricia Jozayt said.

Jozayt started her career in 1974 at Forest Hill under Jacobs as a girls volleyball and basketball coach.

"He was stern, but fair," Jozayt said.

Mr. Jacobs was inducted into the Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Fame in 1997 and received the Palm Beach County Sports Commission Service Award in 1995.

"He left an imprint on a lot of people," said former Forest Hill Athletic Director George Wood, who played for Jacobs from 1965-67 and also was an assistant coach on Mr. Jacobs' staff — the start of a 32-year career at Forest Hill. "There's not a player who didn't respect him because he treated everybody the same."

Mr. Jacobs is survived by his wife, Beverly, of West Palm Beach, and two sons, Greg, of Tampa, and, Scott, of West Palm Beach.

Visitation is set for 5 p.m. Friday at Quattlebaum Funeral Home with a 6:30 p.m. scripture service.

A memorial Mass is set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Juliana Catholic Church.

Copyright © 2006, The Palm Beach Post.