Obituary of Jacob Joffee

Born on June 23, 1918, in Rochester, NY , one of six brothers. He and his brothers grew up in the Jewish Children’s Home. Jacob went to high school in Rochester at Edison Tech and then went to college at Washington State University, where he earned a B.S. degree in agronomy. As a youth he was a member of Hashomer Hatzair and thought he might make aliyah to then Palestine and live on a kibbutz, hence his studying agronomy. But after college WWII led him into the US Army where he was in the Air Force (then part of the Army before becoming a separate branch of the military). In the Army he was a tail gunner in a B17 and flew 51 missions against General Rommel in north Africa, earning an Air Medal and a Distinguished flying Cross. On returning stateside Jacob married Reva Nagan, whom he knew from high school and Hashomer Hatzair, and after the war they resettled in Rochester. On returning from the war Jacob worked with his father-in-law and brother-in-law at their second-hand store on North Street until the State bought the building to make way for the Inner Loop. After that Jacob had some new professions, including repairman, refrigeration servicer and eventually computer programmer. He retired as a computer programmer from Blue Cross. Jacob and his wife were members of Temple Beth El in Rochester. Jacob was predeceased by his parents, his wife Reva, and all 5 of his brothers. He is survived by his son Irving, his grandchildren, Atara, Micha and Danielle and his great grandchildren Hayden, Isobelle, Nora, Gabriel, Abigail, Claire and Patric. Graveside services will be held FRIDAY, 2:30 at Mt. Hope Cemetery (we will gather at the main entrance at 2 PM). Shiva will be observed in New Bern, NC. Please consider a donation to the Jewish War Vaterans in honor of Jacob.