MOTOR sector figures from across Australia will pay tribute to Border vehicle supremo Lionel Jacob on Friday.
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The patriarch of the Jacob Group of Companies will be celebrated at a thanksgiving service at St Luke’s Lutheran Church in Albury from 3.30pm.
Mr Jacob, 92, died last Saturday after suffering a stroke.
The Australian presidents of vehicle companies, Toyota and Hino, will join mourners today, with Wodonga’s Jacob Toyota and other family enterprises closed from 3pm for the service.
Son Neville Jacob said up until earlier this month his father continued to visit workers at the dealership every Wednesday to say g’day and share jokes.
“He would still give us leads,” Mr Jacob said.
“The business never really left him, I think that helped him keep active.
“Dad was brilliant in business.
“He had a number of passions and one of the biggest was people.
“He loved people and loved life and that contributed tremendously to the business, because he thought every day was a good day and people should be happy.”
Lionel Jacob was born in 1925 and attended school in Adelaide before returning to his hometown of Walla.
In 1942, he joined his father Harry under the banner of H.A. Jacob & Son Pty Ltd and they sold tractors and headers.
In 1975, the firm became a Toyota franchise with dealerships in Albury, Wodonga, Henty, Walla and Corowa by 1986.
Mr Jacob had married his childhood sweetheart Joyce Schilg on February 11, 1946, at St Luke’s in Albury.
“We were in love even as young kids,” Mr Jacob told The Border Mail at the time of their 60th wedding anniversary in 2006.
“Before we married Joyce worked as a nanny and on a farm and then worked as a cook at the Walbundrie and Brocklesby hotels."
Mr Jacob retired from full-time work shortly after the company transferred operations from Walla to Wodonga.
He kept busy through membership of the Probus service club and reading to residents at the Lutheran Aged Care home in West Albury.
Mr Jacob also remained a keen driver, using his Corolla to ferry friends.
Mrs Jacob died in 2006 with Mr Jacob survived by children Carolyn, Neville and Donald, six grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.
