After fighting in World War II, William E. Jacobs, 80, battled polio and had to learn all over again how to walk. A resident of Barrington the past 42 years, the former publishing executive and entrepreneur died of heart failure Friday, Nov. 28, in Good Shepherd Hospital, Barrington. Born in New York City, Mr. Jacobs grew up in Scarsdale, N.Y., graduating from Scarsdale High School in 1940. A freshman at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg, Va., when Pearl Harbor was attacked, Mr. Jacobs finished the year and enlisted in the Army, serving in Europe and remaining in the military until the end of the war. He returned and finished college in 1948, marrying later that year. The following year he was stricken with polio. Told he would never walk again, Mr. Jacobs regained use of his legs after months of rehabilitation. He then went to work selling advertising space for Hitchcock Publishing Co. in Detroit. The company transferred him to its Wheaton office in 1961. Mr. Jacobs and his family took up residence in Barrington, and Mr. Jacobs rose to vice president and publisher of industrial trade magazines, including Woodworking Digest. In the 1970s he became the Midwest representative for Johnson Publishing Co., and at the end of the decade he left to start a general contracting business with his two sons, John and Edward. The company, W-E-J Inc., developed two subdivisions, Spring Creek and Cutter’s Run, in South Barrington in the early 1980s. In 1985, Mr. Jacobs and his son John launched Autoserve Inc. in Elgin, which operates two car washes and 36 Jiffy Lube franchises in the Chicago area. From 1994 to 1999, he volunteered as a mentor to people expanding or starting businesses through SCORE, a non-profit program of retired executives run through the Small Business Administration. His wife, Claire, died last week. In addition to his sons, other survivors include two daughters, Anne Regal and Cathy Jozwiak, and 13 grandchildren. Visitation will be held from 9 until a 10:30 a.m. service Tuesday in St. Anne Catholic Church, 120 Ela St., Barrington.
