June 27, 2023, 93, Goldsboro —

Cole Gore Jacobs, 93, of Goldsboro, departed this earthly life Tuesday, June 27, 2023, at Kitty Askins Hospice Center.

The funeral service will be Friday, June 30, 2023, at 10 a.m. in the chapel of Howell Funeral Home & Crematory in Goldsboro. Burial with full military honors will follow at Wayne Memorial Park in Dudley. The family will receive friends prior to the service from 9 until 9:45 a.m. at the funeral home.

Mr. Jacobs was born in Columbus County on June 1, 1930, to the late Noah Dillon and Carrie Gore Jacobs. He was a professional baseball player and later retired from the United States Air Force.  He and his family attended Seymour Johnson AFB Chapel. 

After retirement from the Air Force, he became grounds director at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro and later served as Athletic Facilities Director at the University of Mt. Olive.  While there, he also served as the pitching coach. In his spare time, he loved to spend time with his dogs and trained them for hunting.

He is survived by his loving wife of 72 years, Mary Lloyd Jacobs; one daughter, Deborah Gray and husband, Robert of Raleigh; three sons, David Linwood Jacobs and wife, Mary Charles of Goldsboro, Ronald Dillon Jacobs of Goldsboro and Develon Ray “Jake” Jacobs and wife, Karen of Winterville; daughter-in-law, Lainey Jacobs of Goldsboro; eight grandchildren, Anna (Zack), Ian, Noah (Jamie), Tara (Edwin), Dylan (Haley), Cole, Tucker (Camden) and Bryson and nine great-grandchildren. 

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by one son, Richard Cole Jacobs, and two sisters, Lorena Ganus and Gladys Pearl Wright.

The family is in the care of Howell Funeral Home & Crematory in Goldsboro.