William F. Gross

William Lawrence Jacob

Passed from this life into the next on the morning of Monday, August 5, 2024 at home surrounded by his precious family.  Bill is survived by his cherished wife Barbara Jean, his six children; William Jacob (Janet), Jennifer Patterson, Daniel Jacob (Nellie), Catherine Krajewski (Kaz), Gregory Jacob (Ashley), Elizabeth Kirstein (Joel) as well as 12 grandchildren.

Bill was born December 10, 1938 in the Pittsburgh suburb of Homewood, son of Barbara Walburga Hubert and Vincent Byron Jacob; brother of Vincent Jacob, Patricia Strawser, and Barbara Fritz.  Bill attended Holy Rosary grade school and served in the church as an altar boy.  After graduating from Central Catholic High School, he earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and later earned a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon, followed by achieving his Professional Engineer license.  Early in his career, Bill experienced the thrill of working as a test engineer for Pratt and Whitney Aircraft and Boeing. After jobs in West Palm Beach, Florida, Seattle, Washington and East Hartford, Connecticut, Bill returned to Pittsburgh for family reasons which gave him a chance to grow close to his nieces and nephews. While working at Westinghouse, Bill met and fell in love with Barbara Jean Sapovchak, a beautiful mathematician and computer programmer who became the love of his life.  They married December 21, 1968 and were steadfastly devoted to each other for over 55 and a half years.

Bill Jacob was an exceptional human being, blessed with a great many talents which he used in service to others, to the glory of God, and to the inspiration of his wife and family.  A talented Professional Engineer, and honorable in all his business dealings, Bill launched Jacob Engineering and Sales in 1970 with Barbara, who played a pivotal role in its success for many years.  Bill's creativity and engineering prowess resulted in several of his inventions being awarded patents for novel technologies which benefitted many industries.  Bill and Barbara made a great team, steadfastly committed and continually appreciating each other's personal traits and growing talents, all the while modeling devoted love and mutual respect throughout their time together.

Bill and Barbara were blessed with six children, and together they raised their close-knit family with boundless love, enthusiasm, a great sense of humor, Faith, hard work, good sportsmanship, selflessness, and constant encouragement.  Bill had a strong relationship with God starting in childhood and continuing through life, recognizing and declaring God's hand in his meeting and marrying Barbara, guiding him in his business endeavors, providing direction at critical times and answering prayers.

Among Bill's many talents which included fine art painting and drawing, semi-professional baseball, water skiing, biking, woodworking, gardening, fishing, reading, and building complex engineered testing models and prototypes, Bill possessed great storytelling ability.  Drawing on his remarkable memory, Bill entertained us all with his detailed stories and recollections of childhood adventures, career highlights as an aeronautic test-engineer, technical challenges faced in his professional career, harrowing scuba diving adventures, whiteout driving conditions while traveling to a daughter's basketball games, and much, much more.  Bill was a very active and engaged father and grandfather who enthusiastically supported all of his children and grandchildren in their endeavors, attending countless sports meets, theater performances, and school activities.  Bill instigated much fun with his family, organizing rag ball and card games, trips to the Carnegie library, bike rides, hikes and water-skiing on the local rivers in his wooden Chris-Craft motorboat.  Bill continuously learned and welcomed new experiences like motor biking and courageously revisited his former scuba skills after he retired. Barbara's constant and capable caretaking of Bill and the family made all things possible and enjoyable.

Despite a healthy lifestyle, Bill experienced multiple heart attacks and strokes which took their toll.  His health declined over the past several years making life physically difficult but Bill's wit and optimism persevered and he was able to rally many times.  As he relied more and more on others, particularly his angel caregiver Barbara, Dad's sweet expressions of gratitude were overflowing.

Husband, Father, Grandfather, Uncle, friend, and child of God, Bill Jacob will be deeply missed by all those who knew and loved him so well.

Friends received at William F. Gross Funeral Home, Ltd. 11735 Frankstown Rd. (at Rodi Rd.), Penn Hills Thursday, August 8, 2024 from 9 a.m. until the time of Funeral Prayers at 10 a.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow at St. Joseph the Worker Parish, St. Maurice Church, 2001 Ardmore Blvd., Pittsburgh, PA 15221 at 11 a.m.