Alex David Jacobsen

Every time Alex listened to music, he requested Cat Stevens, and now more than ever, one of his song lyrics rings true:

“Oh very young, what will you leave us this time
You're only dancin' on this earth for a short while
And though your dreams may toss and turn you now
They will vanish away like your dads best jeans
Denim blue, faded up to the sky
And though you want them to last forever
You know they never will
You know they never will
And the patches make the goodbye harder still
Oh very young what will you leave us this time
There'll never be a better chance to change your mind
And if you want this world to see a better day
Will you carry the words of love with you
Will you, will you ride the great white bird into heaven”

On December 2nd, the anniversary of the death of his beloved grandfather, Larry Olson, Alex took his own life.

From a young boy, he always felt there was something different or off about himself. He was incredibly shy and lacked self esteem.

His adult life was plagued with mental hardship which included many diagnoses, among them high functioning autism and bipolar, that affected his relationships and his ability to do what others often found easy.

He had many passions in life that he enjoyed when he could.

He was a motorhead and enjoyed driving heavy machinery.

He had his CDL and loved to drive the grain truck and wagon, the tractor, the semi during farming season.

In the summer he mowed lawns and in the winter he ran the snow plow for Jacobsen Homes Corp.

Being on Lake Okoboji in his loud red boat with the sun on his back was one of his favorite pastimes as well as collecting all kinds of cars and trucks and campers and ATVs to park in his backyard on the Little Sioux River.

The Cummins motor was an obsession for Alex. Always Chevy over Ford but Dodge over overall.

He loved to get machines stuck in the mud behind his mom’s house.

He was kind of an in and out kind of guy, never staying long as he needed his time alone. He was both a quiet introvert that was soothed by the outdoors and an outspoken jokester that made people roll with laughter.

He liked to barter with people for deals and search Autotrader and Craigslist for vehicles and boats, many that didn’t even have motors.

During his young adulthood, Alex came to know the Lord. He was loyal to his family and always entertained and involved with his nieces and nephews and siblings.

He and his brother Drew were as close as brothers could be and no stone went unturned in our family’s attempts to save him from himself.

Alex graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in Entrepreneurism.

During his time in Iowa City, he drove the Cambus and would purposely drive through puddles to splash the students.

No stranger to pain, Alex often reached out to others.

He always wanted a large grove to keep all kinds of machines and we imagine him up there changing oil and filters and searching for and purchasing all kinds of vehicles.

He liked the Minnesota Twins, Iowa Basketball, country music, driving country roads and looking at acreages.

There was no one more hysterically funny and blunt on this earth. He could spew truth, sometimes the most haunting truth, sometimes the most hilarious, like nobody else.

He was an unparalleled prankster at his best.

He had a long haired Dachshund sidekick named Cletus that he loved immensely and comforted him and watched over him.

If we can learn anything from my Alex, it’s that mental illness is real, it doesn’t discriminate, and it takes some of the best people down in it’s ugly swirling drain.

Alex was troubled for a very long time and our family prays that he is finally able to see the beautiful man he was and is, to feel free from his almost daily pain, to laugh with the angels, and to rest.

In lieu of flowers, the family has established the Alex Jacobsen Memorial Fund to benefit mental health care in Clay County.

Your loving memories of Alex and sympathy are a great comfort to our family and we thank any and all whose path he crossed and showed him love and acceptance.

 Alex will live on in his mother (Julie and Randy Jorgenson) of Spencer, his father (David and Leann Jacobsen) of Spencer, Niki (Brandon) Conover of Iowa City, Brittany (Ben) Berger of Iowa City, Drew Jacobsen of Spencer, his Grandmother Shirley Olson of Okoboji, his five nieces and nephews and his dog Cletus.

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