Naomi D. Jakobsson (born September 28, 1941) was a Democratic member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

, who represented the 103rd District from 2003 to 2015. The 103rd District encompasses Urbana, and

Champaign Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in the state outside the Chicago metr ...

Early life, education and career

Jakobsson earned her bachelor's degree from the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

in 1977 and went on to earn her master's degree in Teaching English as a Second Language in December 1979 from the same institution.Naomi's Background
/ref> From 1979 to 1984 she worked as an

English as a Second Language English as a second or foreign language refers to the use of English by individuals whose native language is different, commonly among students learning to speak and write English. Variably known as English as a foreign language (EFL), Engli ...

teacher for the Urbana School District. Jakobsson began her public career in 1984, when she was elected Champaign County

Recorder of Deeds Recorder of deeds or deeds registry is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate ownership that provide persons other than the owner of a property with real rights ove ...

. She would serve as Champaign County Recorder of Deeds from 1984 to 1996. From 1996 to 1998 she served as the executive director of A Woman's Fund, a domestic violence shelter, and from 1999 to 2002 she worked for the university

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

and the university

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

first as development officer and then as executive director.Illinois House Democrats Naomi Jakobsson Homepage
/ref> As of 2002 Jakobsson served on the board of the Illinois Children's Home and Aid Society, as the Urbana Human Relations Commissioner, and on the board of the Champaign County

Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a U.S. non-governmental, and tax-exempt 501(C)(3) Christian nonprofit organization which seeks to build affordable housing. The international ...

Illinois General Assembly

Naomi was elected to represent the 103rd District in 2002. Jakobsson chaired the House Human Services Committee. Additionally, she served on the House Committees for Higher Education, Adoption Reform, Appropriations - Elementary and Secondary Education, and Appropriations - Higher Education. As a legislator Naomi has been active in sponsoring and supporting legislation that concerns the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

, the

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

, and

women's health Women's health is an example of population health, where health is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". Often treated ...

. She voted against HB 148.

Personal life

Naomi is married and is the mother of eight children, two by birth and six by adoption. Her son, Garret, died due to

frontotemporal dementia Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), also called frontotemporal degeneration disease or frontotemporal neurocognitive disorder, encompasses several types of dementia involving the progressive degeneration of the brain's frontal lobe, frontal and tempor ...

, a neurodegenerative disease, in 2013 aged 46. Jakobsson had been at vigil by his bedside when she received word that a poll of members of the Illinois House showed that she was needed to cast the decisive vote in Springfield on the marriage equality bill she had co-sponsored. Her husband drove her to Springfield to cast that vote. During her drive to Springfield one member shifted his position, so the measure actually passed by two votes. Garret died approximately fifteen minutes before her return to him.

References

External links

Representative Naomi D. Jakobsson (D) 103rd District
at the Illinois General Assembly **By session
98th97th96th95th94th93rdNaomi Jakobsson for State Representative
*

at Illinois House Democrats {{DEFAULTSORT:Jakobsson, Naomi D. Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives 1941 births Living people Politicians from Somerville, New Jersey Women state legislators in Illinois University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni American Presbyterians 21st-century American women politicians County officials in Illinois 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly