Bertha Jacoby and the Hobart Animal Shelter

While skimming through the 1950s microfilm for non-Ainsworth reasons,[1] I have been coming across the history of the Humane Society of Hobart, including its organization and the construction of the shelter on Route 130. That is a subject near to my heart — in my 30+ years here in Ainsworth, I have adopted three dogs and a cat from the Humane Society of Hobart; and in the dozen years I have been volunteering as a foster, I suppose I've fostered hundreds of kittens, as well as a few adult cats and some puppies.

A 1959 newspaper article[2] about an "open house" event at the shelter included an off-hand mention that the shelter had been built on several acres of land donated by Bertha Jacoby in 1954. I had never heard that name before, so I thought I'd look into it.

And in the 1950 Plat Book, we do find the Jacoby name on a 28-acre parcel that includes the location of the shelter:



The initial, you'll notice, is J. So I looked for a Bertha Jacoby in conjunction with someone whose name begins with J, and found …


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Image from Ancestry.com.

… Joseph and Bertha Jacoby, living in Gary and running their own real estate firm.

They were both immigrants: Bertha from Austria,[3] Joseph from Hungary. I can't find information on when each came to this country, but Bertha was naturalized in 1938.


(Click on image to enlarge)
Image from Ancestry.com.

In 1942, we find them listed as the owners of those 28 acres on S.R. 130:


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"County Tax List," Hammond Times, 23 Mar. 1942.

In 1947, Joseph died. His obituary portrays an interesting man:


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"Obituaries," Hammond Times, 13 Nov. 1947.

From his death certificate, it appears that Jacoby/Jakoby was an Americanized version of Jakubik.

The 1950 Census shows the 53-year-old Bertha living in Gary, running her own real estate and insurance agency.

After that I don't find much information about her — aside from a brief mention of her sponsoring a Hungarian refugee in 1955[4] — until her death on March 19, 1972. She was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Gary, according to her death certificate, but although Findagrave.com lists her husband, I can't find a listing for her. I hope she is not lying in an unmarked grave.

So far as I can tell, she had no children.

But what motivated her to donate land to the Humane Society of Hobart? A tax deduction, maybe, for this practical businesswoman? But I'd like to believe that somewhere amidst all her business acumen, there was a soft spot for animals.

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[1] In a few months I hope to be able to return to my Ainsworth focus in this blog. I just have too much going on right now.
[2] "Humane Society of Hobart Open House This Sunday," Gazette, 24 Sept. 1959.
[3] Her death certificate gives France as her birthplace (with the informant being her brother-in-law), but the 1940 and 1950 censuses both state Austria.
[4] "Two Refugees Head For Calumet Area," Hammond Times, 20 Nov. 1955.