Melvin Henry Jacobi

T/SGT in Signal Co, Special : Inst & Maint; Telephone & Wire

Military occupational specialty: 641 (field lineman)

ASN#36243967

Born 1919 in WI, Died 2010

County of residence at enlistment: Marathon County, WI

Other residence(s): Holton, WI; Cassel, WI; Wausau, WI; Minocqua, WI; Woodruff, WI; Arbor Vitae, WI

United States Army, European Theatre of Operations

Occupation before the war: general farmers

Source: Unit Shipment 10143-D, 23d HQ, from le Havre 23 June 1945; WWII Army enlistment record; militaryyearbookproject.org/references/old-mos-codes/wwii-era/army...; photo courtesy Meg Lauber-DeLuca (taken in France in 1944)

Melvin Jacobi was born on October 10, 1919 in Holton, WI, the sixth of twelve children (three of whom died in infancy). His father owned a dairy farm in Marathon County in north central Wisconsin, and by 1940, Melvin, who had completed a grammar school education, was working 75 hours a week on the farm.

He registered for the draft on October 16, 1940 and enlisted on June 6, 1942. The following month, on July 19, he married Marion Wendorf in Joplin, MO. Their first child, a daughter, Nancy, would be born the following year.

Melvin also seemed to have somewhat of a dramatic inclination; in June, 1940, he (along with his younger sister) appeared in a play put on at the annual convention of the Marathon County Farmers’ Equity.

Records show that he went overseas with the Signal Corps in November, 1943, which was before the Ghost Army was activated. Melvin was eventually assigned to the Signal Company Special, and remained with the unit as a field lineman throughout the rest of the war.

He was discharged on September 26, 1945 with the rank of T/SGT and returned to Wisconsin. He and Marion became the parents of two more daughters born in the late 1940s: Barbara and Jane.

In 1950, the family was living in Wausau (Marathon County’s largest city) and he was working as a molder in an iron foundry, and also farming.

But at some point, shortly after that, he went to work for GTE, which was the “phone company” in Wisconsin at the time. A 1953 newspaper article shows him being re-elected to a role as a member of the bargaining committee for Local 1113 of the United Electrical Workers Union.

He would stay with GTE throughout the rest of his career. At various points he was living in Wausau and in Minocqua. A 1979 newspaper ad for GTE shows his image, says that he was working in installation and maintenance in Minocqua, and shares a quote: “Every GTE telephone we lease comes with a service technician—like me. If anything goes wrong, I’m there to fix it, fast. . . . I’m proud to be one of the people General Telephone is talking about when they say ‘We keep you talking.’”

Melvin and Marion loved to ride on their motorcycle, a hobby they continued well into their retirement. Marion had a stroke in 1999 and could not speak for the rest of her life, but she was still physically active. The couple lived in what is known as the “Lakeland area” in the Wisconsin Northwoods—Minocqua, Woodruff, and Arbor Vitae. The area is famous for its dense forests and thousands of pristine lakes—which must have given them a great playground in which to ride.

Marion died in 2006, and Melvin died on March 28, 2010.