Islander and World War II veteran Arthur Jacobson is celebrating his 100th birthday Tuesday, June 2.

The retired U.S. Navy Commander of 35 years was born in Tacoma in 1915.

Mechanically minded and always interested in flying, he helped out at the service stations that his father owned around town. At 16, he was flying whenever he could afford to pay for the fuel. He attended the University of Washington, working between semesters in the years after the stock market fell. He enlisted in the Navy and was sent to Florida for flight training in the late 1930s.

Just after the war, he and his wife, Lois Jacobson, moved to a home on Mercer Island’s south end, where they remain today. There they raised seven children and have been married for 47 years. They now have 14 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Lois Jacobson has taught piano on two grand pianos in the basement for many years and is still teaching.

The Reporter spotlighted Jacobson’s war efforts in a 2012 article by editor Mary L. Grady.