John Marshall Jacobs
Phoenix - Maricopa County
Inducted in 2013
John Jacobs arrived in Arizona on Thanksgiving Day in 1934 with his family, $125.00 in his pocket, a new car towing a trailer, and $46,000 worth of debt. Through hard work, good farming skills, and plenty of business savvy, he became well respected not only as a farmer/rancher but as a businessman, friend of education member of the US agricultural team selected to tour the Soviet Union after World War II and the developer of the Deer Valley John Jacob Farms. His reputation as a man who never forgot his friends or those who helped him along the way followed him all his life.
A Hoosier by birth, John made his earthly appearance near Franklin, Indiana, on July 30, 1897, the second son of Bert and Amy Jacobs. His love of the land was part of his heritage. The family's agricultural roots are traced back to the 1600s, and his appreciation of education comes from his parents. They saw that the children went to school no matter what else was happening in their lives.
During World War I, he left his studies at Franklin College and enlisted in the Marine Corps. A service accident caused a vision impairment, which disqualified him from overseas duty. He requested a transfer to another branch of service. He secured a position with the Army Motor Transportation Unit. The Armistice was signed the week before his unit was scheduled to leave.
You never know when what you consider a small thing will be the springboard that changes your life. It was a trip to Canon City, Colorado, with John to check on his brother Art, who contracted influenza in 1917. That simple act started the string of events that brought about a permanent change in his life. After assuring the family back home that his brother's health improved, John found a job on a small farm in Colorado.
John married Hellen Shufflebarger in Indiana on February 2, 1921, taking his bride back to Colorado with him to start their new life—daughters Suzanne, Margaret, and Jeanne were born in Colorado before the family moved on to Arizona. The couple first came to Arizona to attend a Western Growers Association meeting, fell in love with the area, and started planning to move to Arizona. Then, a hailstorm wiped out the vegetable crops in the Wet Mountain Valley, where most of the produce was grown. At the same time, the banks closed. According to John's daughter, Jeanne Jacobs Jones. "Nobody could pay anything." With that double whammy, the plans to move to Arizona were expedited. John met with his creditors, promising them they would get every cent they owned if they didn't take legal action. They agreed, and John telegraphed his old produce customers out east, offering them a break of Salt River Valley fruit and vegetables. With an excellent reputation to his credit, he was able to begin building his business and was soon able to pay off the Colorado debts.
At first, John set up an office in the dining room of their rented home with the needed office equipment, a telegraph machine, and a secretary. The first year, they shipped 7,500 Santa Fe railroad carloads. By the next year, they were able to move into an office in the Securities Building at the corner of Central Avenue and Van Buren in Phoenix.
In 1940, he bought land in Deer Valley, an area he believed had potential. By 1946, he had 2,800 acres of vegetables, forage crops, and ten wells. His ranching operations had up to 1500 grass-fed cattle and registered Herefords. Eventually, he owned the 3,000-acre Deer Valley John Farms, Bar D Ranch, and the Red Lake Ranch in New Mexico.
In 1956, John was one of twelve men in the State Department who chose to be part of an agricultural team that shared farming methods with the Soviet Union.
John earned the "Broccoli King" title for bringing broccoli to Arizona. He had seen it growing in New Jersey and thought it would be a good crop there. However, broccoli that grew well in New Jersey would not do well in Arizona's hot desert climate, so he spent the next five years developing a strain he was happy with before taking it to market.
In an unusual move, John used Navajo field workers. Navajo women had worked for him on a leased farm in New Mexico during WWII and did an excellent job. Due to drought conditions, the government had killed off most of the Navajo income-producing animals on the reservation, and the people were starving. He brought them to the Deer Valley farm to help them provide for their families. They were excellent workers; the experiment worked well for everyone, and they worked for him until he passed away.
His other leading employee group was Hispanic. Due to ethnic differences, the two groups did not get along well living together, and to avoid clashes, he built separate housing for each.
As the city of Phoenix began moving North, John could see that farming would become less feasible. Moving with the times, he was instrumental in bringing General Electric and Sperry Rand to Deer Valley in the 1950s. Later, Honeywell bought the northwest corner of the ranch where the cattle feeding operations were. When the city annexed the farm in the 1970s, housing and light industries began moving in, spelling an era's end.
Always very community-oriented, John sat on the boards of several major corporations. He was one of the organizers of the Central Arizona Project. He was active in Arizona Public Service, Valley National Bank, Prescott College, the Board of Regents of Arizona State University, and various livestock and growers associations.
When urged to run for governor, John was heard to quip that he had about 15 minutes of free time and thought running the state would take a little more than that.
During his lifetime, John had two true helpmates. Hellen died in 1949. In 1952, he married Martha Dunn, another Hoosier, with whom he shared the rest of his life.
When John passed away in 1966, the Navajo people, who had great respect for him, honored him by holding a "Sing," and the Tribal Council wrote the following in his honor following in his honor.
In Memory of John M. Jacobs
The Navajo people who works for him
Are greatly shocked at the learning of the passing
Of a great man who had done much for them
In appreciation of his good deeds we
Offer this little token of gratitude with we
Never thought of at the time.
we are in Great sorry for him and mourn his loss.
May the Good Lord Bless him and receives him unto His Kingdom
Ha go anoy (so long)
Dene of John Jacobs Farm
(The People)
(Exactly as written by the Navajo Council)
Affiliations
Boy Scouts
Jane Wyman Home
Easter Seal Society - Campaign Chairman
Prescott College - Trustee of the College
Arizona State University - Board of Regents Board Appointed, 1951
Phi Delta Theta - Fraternity Member
Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree - Franklin College
Arizona Public Service - Board of Directors (1945) and Chairman (1955)
Valley National Bank - Director
Central Arizona Project - President and Vice President
Arizona National Livestock Show - Officer
Executive Committee Association for Applied Social Energy - Member
Arizona Selective Service Appeal - Board Member
Western Growers Association - Officer
Arizona Vegetable Growers Association-officer
Cattle Feeders Association- officer
Arizona National Livestock Show
National Highway Safety Association - Officer
Association for Applied Social Energy - Member
