Mary Elaine Jacobson Interment
Donation protected
This fundraising effort is to raise money to pay for the interment of Mary Elaine Jacobson at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, California.
Mary was a Gold Star Mother. She and William Perkins had two children. Her older son, Corporal William T. Perkins, Jr., USMC, was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor. He was 20 years old when he was killed in action in Vietnam in 1967.
Tragically, Mary and Bill's younger son, Robert, died of cancer in 1978 when he was 25. Mary and Bill Sr. divorced shortly after Bob's death (William Perkins Sr. passed away in 2006). Mary remarried several years later to Larry Jacobson and moved to Kentucky from California. After Larry's death, Mary had no family left and she lived on her own for a while, but eventually illness and aging caused her to become a ward of the state in Kentucky. She spent the last two years of her life at the Bluegrass Care Home in Lexington, Kentucky.
In 2008, I was doing research on Marines who earned the Medal of Honor in Vietnam and contacted Mary to interview her about her son. We became friends and she "adopted" me in the following years. We talked regularly and exchanged gifts on all the major dates--or just because we saw something we thought the other would enjoy. She had excellent taste and liked to send me shirts from L.L. Bean. The last gift I sent her was a gold locket with photos of her sons in it. I flew back to Lexington to visit her twice.
About seven years ago, Barbara Schwenk, a very nice lady from the Lexington area, found out that Mary needed help getting groceries and such and volunteered to help her. She and Mary became very close friends and Barbara took wonderful care of Mary in her last years. "I credit God for bringing us together because she became such a good friend to me and it was a blessing to me to be able to help her," Barbara said. "She was a very special lady who loved her sons..."
Mary raised her boys in the San Fernando Valley and always considered that her home. Both of her sons, Bill and Bob, are buried at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, California. Mary's last wish was to be buried near her two boys.
Barbara and I were in regular communication over the years, particularly after Mary went into the care home and her health deteriorated.
When Mary passed on 28 December 2017, she was cremated, as is the practice for people who were wards of the state of Kentucky. Barbara worked to get custody of Mary's remains and shipped them to me in California. Barbara and I have spent the last year and a half collecting the necessary paperwork to have Mary buried here in California with her two sons.
There are no cremation niches available at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery--and there are no plans to build additional structures for them in the near future. This means Mary must be interred in a grave.
This fundraising effort is to collect the funds necessary to have Mary buried in the cemetery with her sons.
Mary was known as "Puz" to all her friends. She got the nickname from her beloved older brother when she was a little girl. Some of her fondest memories were of riding around Rochester in her brother's convertible when she was a young girl. She said her brother made her feel like the most important person in the world.
I feel supremely honored that Mary Jacobson and I were friends. She enriched my life in so many ways.
Some photos of the life of Mary Elaine (Perkins) Jacobson, "Puz":
A new mother: Mary and Bill in Rochester, New York, before they moved to Southern California.
Bill and his little brother, Bob, at their home in Northridge, California.
Mary's hero son, Corporal William T. Perkins, Jr. USMC.
Bill Perkins was a Marine Corps combat photographer. This is a photo of him filming a medical evacuation helicopter being loaded during Operation Medina about six hours before he dove on an enemy grenade and saved the lives of three of his fellow Marines.
Mary and Bill Sr. accepting their son's Medal of Honor from President Nixon in 1969.
This is a photo of Bill, Mary, and Bob Perkins at a ceremony to honor Bill Jr at Camp Lejuene.
Bob Perkins was a very talented aspiring artist. Unfortunately, he developed cancer when he was 24 and died when he was 25.
One of Bob Perkins's paintings.
Bob Perkins was buried with his older brother in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, California.
Mary and William Perkins were divorced in the years following Bob's death. They both remarried. William Perkins Sr. passed away.
This is me and Mary Jacobson at her apartment in Lexington, Kentucky in June 2015.
Mary loved her little bichon, "Gigi." She wanted me to hold Gigi to get her in the photo with us.
John Lang and Mary Jacobson at the Bluegrass Care Home in Lexington, in November 2017.
With no family to take custody of her son's Medal of Honor, Mary's last act was to donate his Medal of Honor and other possessions to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. I contacted the Smithsonian and they accepted Bill's effects. Thankfully, Mary lived long enough to see her son memorialized at the Smithsonian.
Frank Blazich from the the Smithsonian wrote the following article about Bill Perkins:
https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/combat-photographer-vietnam
This is the Corporal William T. Perkins exhibit at the Smithsonian's Museum in Washington, D.C.
The estimated expenses to put Mary to rest at San Fernando Mission Cemetery are as follow:
Burial Expenses:
Grave: $16,675.00
Interment Fee: $995.00
Granite Marker (with engraving): $1,011.87
Burial Permit: $75.00
Administrative Fee: $50.00
Total: $18,806.87
Go Fund Me administrative Fees: (Approx): $455.00
Total Goal: $19,261.87
This fund raising effort is being done by John B. Lang. John Lang is a retired U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and lives in the San Diego area.
Mary was a Gold Star Mother. She and William Perkins had two children. Her older son, Corporal William T. Perkins, Jr., USMC, was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor. He was 20 years old when he was killed in action in Vietnam in 1967.
Tragically, Mary and Bill's younger son, Robert, died of cancer in 1978 when he was 25. Mary and Bill Sr. divorced shortly after Bob's death (William Perkins Sr. passed away in 2006). Mary remarried several years later to Larry Jacobson and moved to Kentucky from California. After Larry's death, Mary had no family left and she lived on her own for a while, but eventually illness and aging caused her to become a ward of the state in Kentucky. She spent the last two years of her life at the Bluegrass Care Home in Lexington, Kentucky.
In 2008, I was doing research on Marines who earned the Medal of Honor in Vietnam and contacted Mary to interview her about her son. We became friends and she "adopted" me in the following years. We talked regularly and exchanged gifts on all the major dates--or just because we saw something we thought the other would enjoy. She had excellent taste and liked to send me shirts from L.L. Bean. The last gift I sent her was a gold locket with photos of her sons in it. I flew back to Lexington to visit her twice.
About seven years ago, Barbara Schwenk, a very nice lady from the Lexington area, found out that Mary needed help getting groceries and such and volunteered to help her. She and Mary became very close friends and Barbara took wonderful care of Mary in her last years. "I credit God for bringing us together because she became such a good friend to me and it was a blessing to me to be able to help her," Barbara said. "She was a very special lady who loved her sons..."
Mary raised her boys in the San Fernando Valley and always considered that her home. Both of her sons, Bill and Bob, are buried at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, California. Mary's last wish was to be buried near her two boys.
Barbara and I were in regular communication over the years, particularly after Mary went into the care home and her health deteriorated.
When Mary passed on 28 December 2017, she was cremated, as is the practice for people who were wards of the state of Kentucky. Barbara worked to get custody of Mary's remains and shipped them to me in California. Barbara and I have spent the last year and a half collecting the necessary paperwork to have Mary buried here in California with her two sons.
There are no cremation niches available at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery--and there are no plans to build additional structures for them in the near future. This means Mary must be interred in a grave.
This fundraising effort is to collect the funds necessary to have Mary buried in the cemetery with her sons.
Mary was known as "Puz" to all her friends. She got the nickname from her beloved older brother when she was a little girl. Some of her fondest memories were of riding around Rochester in her brother's convertible when she was a young girl. She said her brother made her feel like the most important person in the world.
I feel supremely honored that Mary Jacobson and I were friends. She enriched my life in so many ways.
Some photos of the life of Mary Elaine (Perkins) Jacobson, "Puz":
A new mother: Mary and Bill in Rochester, New York, before they moved to Southern California.
Bill and his little brother, Bob, at their home in Northridge, California.
Mary's hero son, Corporal William T. Perkins, Jr. USMC.
Bill Perkins was a Marine Corps combat photographer. This is a photo of him filming a medical evacuation helicopter being loaded during Operation Medina about six hours before he dove on an enemy grenade and saved the lives of three of his fellow Marines.
Mary and Bill Sr. accepting their son's Medal of Honor from President Nixon in 1969.
This is a photo of Bill, Mary, and Bob Perkins at a ceremony to honor Bill Jr at Camp Lejuene.
Bob Perkins was a very talented aspiring artist. Unfortunately, he developed cancer when he was 24 and died when he was 25.
One of Bob Perkins's paintings.
Bob Perkins was buried with his older brother in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, California.
Mary and William Perkins were divorced in the years following Bob's death. They both remarried. William Perkins Sr. passed away.
This is me and Mary Jacobson at her apartment in Lexington, Kentucky in June 2015.
Mary loved her little bichon, "Gigi." She wanted me to hold Gigi to get her in the photo with us.
John Lang and Mary Jacobson at the Bluegrass Care Home in Lexington, in November 2017.
With no family to take custody of her son's Medal of Honor, Mary's last act was to donate his Medal of Honor and other possessions to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. I contacted the Smithsonian and they accepted Bill's effects. Thankfully, Mary lived long enough to see her son memorialized at the Smithsonian.
Frank Blazich from the the Smithsonian wrote the following article about Bill Perkins:
https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/combat-photographer-vietnam
This is the Corporal William T. Perkins exhibit at the Smithsonian's Museum in Washington, D.C.The estimated expenses to put Mary to rest at San Fernando Mission Cemetery are as follow:
Burial Expenses:
Grave: $16,675.00
Interment Fee: $995.00
Granite Marker (with engraving): $1,011.87
Burial Permit: $75.00
Administrative Fee: $50.00
Total: $18,806.87
Go Fund Me administrative Fees: (Approx): $455.00
Total Goal: $19,261.87
This fund raising effort is being done by John B. Lang. John Lang is a retired U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and lives in the San Diego area.
Organizer
John Lang
Organizer
Carlsbad, CA