1674-1 Jacobs Family 2 of 64, 2 Terms
mh GRACE JACOBS, SOCIALITE, HOTEL DEVELOPER'S WIDOW, AT 85 03/10/1993
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1993, The Miami Herald
DATE: Wednesday, March 10, 1993 EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: 4B LENGTH: 46 lines
ILLUSTRATION: photo: Grace Jacobs (n)
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: DONNA GEHRKE Herald Staff Writer
MEMO: DEATHS
GRACE JACOBS, SOCIALITE, HOTEL DEVELOPER'S WIDOW, AT 85
Grace Jacobs mixed with the likes of Al Jolson, Jimmy Durante and Jack
Benny at the posh Tarleton Hotel in Miami Beach.
Her death Sunday marked another end to a glamorous era of Miami Beach
history. Jacobs was 85.
She married into the Jacobs family, pioneers who started some of the most
elegant hotels -- including the Tarleton -- on Miami Beach.
Jacobs' husband, Albert, was the quiet, behind-the-scenes, power. In
1958, he and his brother, Walter, built the Dupont Plaza Hotel in downtown
Miami for the then-princely sum of $11 million. It was the beginning of the
new Miami skyline.
Amid the excitement, Grace Jacobs entertained hundreds -- from Jolson to
Joseph Cotten -- and ran major charity fund- raising drives.
"She was quite a lady," said her son, Carl. "Very classy, very
strong-willed, very powerful woman. She had a great impact on people. She was
extraordinarily charming."
He said his mother raised money for Brandeis University. She served as
president of the Brandeis University Women's Committee of Greater Miami. She
also helped Mount Sinai Medical Center and the Hebrew Home for the Aged.
Jacobs was a career woman with a family. Before she married, in 1941, she
served as creative director for her brother's advertising company in Hartford,
Conn., and helped edit a newspaper on conservation.
"That was before the word ecology was used," said her son.
After her husband died in 1964, Grace Jacobs started a new career. In her
60s, she took over her late brother's automotive supply business in Hartford.
"She was a female executive in a male-dominated business," said her
son. "She was in her glory. You couldn't get her out of the office. "
The family sold the business in December 1986, when Grace Jacobs was
nearing 80.
Still, she refused to slow down. Just a few months ago, she took on
swimming lessons -- three times a week.
In addition to her son, Jacobs is survived by her daughter, Rosaleen
Horn; long-time companion Albert Joseph Pitre and a granddaughter.
Funeral services will be today at 12:30 p.m. at the Weinstein Mortuary in
Hartford.
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