March 3, 1990 - August 21, 2019 Alexander (Alex) John Jacobs died way too soon, at the age of 29, on Wednesday morning, August 21, 2019 in Monrovia, California. He was three weeks shy of completing the Luthier Program at the Musicians Institute of Hollywood, which was an intensive program involving night classes from six to ten, five days a week – and Saturday labs from eight until two. In addition to this training (and devoting much energy as a musician and guitar player), he also worked a day job, providing in-home behavioral therapy to autistic children. Better said, Alex shared his compassion, kindness, knowledge, patience, humanity and humor with these kids who truly came to love and trust him. Alex was born in Pasadena, California and lived his entire life in the Pasadena/Monrovia area. He attended Flintridge Preparatory School in La Cañada, CA, where he shared the honor of being class valedictorian in 2008. He then graduated from Brown University, with a degree in psychology. After graduation, Alex certainly was known as a "superstar" in his PhD program in psychology until sometime during the fourth year, when he realized that music and building guitars was his true passion in life. With courage, Alex followed his heart and changed the course and direction of his life by enrolling in the Luthier Program. Anyone who knows Alex knows him first and foremost for his kindness. As a child, he delighted his father and mother (and all of his extended family) with his enthusiasm for life. He so admired his father for his handiness as a fix-it-all kind of man in every way imaginable. Perhaps that influenced his decision to pursue the skills and steadiness required of a luthier. Of course there was so much more he looked up to in his dad. From Mom: perhaps his interest in the helping profession and his ability to deeply empathize with what others are feeling or going through was her gift to him. From Alex, we have all been gifted with the experience of a deepened realization of our own humanity and the importance of love. Alex is survived by his devastated parents, Dr. Diane Jacobs and Paul Gordon Jacobs, his stepfather, Walter Whitaker, and his stepmother, Beatriz Jacobs, his many step/half-brothers and -sisters, his grandparents John and Audrey Stecher of Rochester, New York, his aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and a universe filled with friends and people who love him. A celebration of Alex's life will be held on Saturday, August 31, 2019 at ten o'clock in the morning, at The Rose in Pasadena, 245 East Green Street, in the Paseo complex. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to: Children's Music Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization whose mission is to provide healing for the body and soul by engaging children in music-making and listening in order to reduce pain and anxiety while providing a much needed distraction from their conditions. They are dedicated to help children on their journey to a better life.