Dr. Thomas Edwin Jacobsen, DDS, age 79, of Sitka, died September 7, 2026.
Tom was born December 27, 1946, in Sioux City, Iowa, the son of Donald and Marian Jacobsen. He earned an undergraduate degree in general science from the University of Iowa in 1969 and a doctor of dental surgery (DDS) in 1973 from the same university.
Fresh out of dental school, Dr. Jacobsen joined the Indian Health Service, stationed at Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital in Sitka, where he served as the itinerant dental officer for three years, traveling via float plane to remote Southeast Alaska villages to bring dental care to Native Alaskans. In 1977, he joined Sitka Dental Clinic, beginning a dental career that would span more than five decades.
He married Margaret (Peggy) Fedoroff, a life-long Sitka resident, in 1981 and had two daughters, Laura and Kelsey.
Known widely as “Dr. J.,” Tom practiced general dentistry at Sitka Dental with specializations in endodontics and orthodontics, and was published in Dentistry Today for a novel procedure he developed. His broad range of skills was invaluable to the residents of Sitka.
He retired from the practice in late 2023, but continued caring for his ongoing orthodontic patients until the year of his death. He was a member of the American Dental Association and Academy of General Dentistry, taught seminars on dental photography nationwide, and was an active member and past president of the national Academy of GP Orthodontics. He volunteered with Alaska Mission of Mercy to provide dental care to underserved people.
His love of the outdoors began with Boy Scout trips to Colorado and grew into a lifelong passion for mountain climbing and backpacking. He summited Annahootz, Rainier, and Denali and trekked across Baranof Island. He spent much time backpacking in California’s Eastern Sierra, completing the 240-mile John Muir Trail two and a half times between the ages of 63 and 70, including scaling Mount Whitney twice. Some of his favorite adventures were those he shared with his daughters, from the time he carried them in a backpack through their adulthood. At the conclusion of each trip, Tom would proclaim with his characteristic humor, “Well, we cheated death again!”
Dr. Jacobsen contributed to many local organizations and beyond. He was a founding member of Raven Radio in the 1970s, obtaining state support for a local public radio station that later became KCAW. Around the same time, he developed a deep commitment to environmental conservation, including through his support of the Sierra Club. He volunteered as an election official; was in mountain search and rescue efforts; and helped carve Thanksgiving turkeys at the community dinner at the ANB Founders Hall. For more than 40 years, he gave an inspirational introduction at the annual Julie Hughes triathlon as well as assisting with course set-up and participating in the swimming portion of the event.
Tom was an accomplished swimmer, beginning in his youth as a team member at Sioux City Central High School and continuing competitive swimming in earnest when his daughters joined the Baranof Barracudas Swim Club. He became involved in swim coaching, officiating, and refereeing swim meets, and was for decades a pillar in the statewide Alaska Swimming community, often traveling to referee meets and training other officiants. He was a fixture at Blatchley Middle School swimming pool, attending early morning practice as a member of Alaska Masters Swimming, where he proudly held ten individual and three relay records. He was looking forward to setting the record in the 200-yard butterfly for the 80-and-over age group, and was pleased that he didn’t even have to beat anyone—he simply had to finish, because no one in that age group had yet completed the event.
In his youth, Tom was a skilled basketball player and expert sailor, well known in the Inland Lake Yachting Association of the Midwest. He later served as a referee for high school basketball in Sitka.
Photography offered Tom another way of seeing the world. He was an avid photographer, often rising before dawn for the possibility of catching an atmospheric sunrise at one of his favorite photo spots in Sitka.
Tom was preceded in death by his parents, Donald and Marian, and his two sisters, Anne Jacobsen and Margo (Jacobsen) Flanigan.
He is survived by his daughters, Laura Jacobsen (Paul Buxton) of North Bend, Washington and Kelsey Jacobsen (Brian Donohue) of Vista, California; his brother, Robert G. Jacobsen of Los Angeles, California; his former wife, Peggy Fedoroff of Sitka, Alaska; and his companion of 16 years, Carolyn Witte of Charleston, South Carolina. Tom and Carolyn shared many travel adventures and countless games of gin rummy.
He leaves behind a lifetime of places explored, trails conquered, patients cared for, challenges undertaken, images captured, knowledge accrued, personal records set and, most importantly, the memories of those fortunate to have known him.
A celebration of Tom’s life will be held in Sitka on November 8. His final resting places will be in Logan Park Cemetery in Sioux City, Iowa, and in the mountains surrounding Sitka.
