Obituary courtesy of the Jacoby family.
Adrienne Byroads Jacoby, 87, of Redding, Calif., passed away on Sat., Nov. 2, 2024, after her kidneys, heart, and liver refused to cooperate any longer.
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!” – Hunter S. Thompson
Adrienne understood the assignment.
Adrienne was born on June 10th, 1937 to Vera Green Byroads and Harold Byroads in Stockton, Calif.
Shortly after her birth the Byroads family relocated to Thermal, Calif., in the Coachella Valley where her father was the superintendent of highways in and around the Palm Springs Area.
As WWII beckoned, her two older brothers, Vyrll and Mel, served proudly in the Air Force and Navy respectively. Adrienne would recount many stories of how her mother would invite the soldiers and colleagues of her brothers from the nearby Air Force base on Sunday evenings for a meal full of love, fellowship and hospitality during the lean times of WWII.
Her family relocated once again as she entered high school in the Escondido (San Diego) area.
They lived in Vista, Calif., while she attended and graduated from Escondido Christian Training School. From there she moved to Los Angeles for college in the late 1950s and attended L.I.F.E. . (Lighthouse of International Foursquare Evangelism) Bible College across from the Angelus Temple in Echo Park in the 1950s. She used to say she was Bapti-costal, which always got a great laugh. She jokingly said that in those days she went to college with the intention of getting an MRS degree — as in finding a husband. She found a husband, but not at college!
During her time attending college in LA she formed a girls trio called the Nor-Anna-Renee trio and they toured around Southern California churches and recorded 3 records of gospel and Christian music.
Adrienne said that she attended 9 different universities, and it took about 18 years from start to finish for her to finally complete her BA in Education from Illinois State University in Bloomington. Throughout it all she was raising a family, performing regularly as a singer, keyboard and bass player with her husband, Bill Jacoby and children J’Anna and Jayson while Bill finished his PhD in St. Louis in 1974.
Adrienne married Hugh William “Bill” Jacoby on October 13, 1962 in Santa Cruz, Calif., and they relocated in Paradise, Calif., where she and Bill owned and ran a music store on The Skyway.
They welcomed the arrival of J’Anna in April 1964, and Jayson in August 1965. In 1968-’69 Bill took a temporary position filling in as Head of the Music department at Shasta College in Redding, and the family relocated to Redding for one year. From there the family moved to Bloomington, Illinois, for Bill to work on post-graduate studies and Adrienne to complete her teaching degree. It was an exciting and fruitful time living in the Midwest from 1969-1974 where Bill and Adrienne performed nightly at the Holiday Inn lounges both in Bloomington, IL and St. Louis, Mo. They made great friends and had a wonderful musical following, but the California weather and landscapes pulled at both of their heartstrings and the family relocated back to Paradise after Bill and Adrienne completed their degrees around 1974.
In 1975 the Jacoby family moved to Redding, when Bill was offered a job in the Redding Schools to take over the district string programs. Adrienne started teaching at Parsons Jr. High School shortly thereafter and developed an exciting vocal jazz and show choir program.
She inspired countless students to love music. Many went on to pursue careers in music, performance, acting and teaching as a result of her passion and inspiration.
Hillary Hess, who continued Adrienne’s teaching legacy writes about AJ’s history as a teacher at Parsons:
“The hiring of Adrienne Jacoby completely transformed the music department at Parsons Junior High. In 1975 when she started, she taught a mixed chorus, Honor Choir, and guitar. In the late 1970s, a pivotal moment for the Parsons music department occurred when Adrienne attended the Reno Jazz Festival and was inspired by the show choir concept. This led to the initiative to establish a show choir at Parsons, marking the beginning of a vibrant musical tradition. “Parsons Jazz Chorale” dates back to the 1978-79 school year. By the mid-1980s, the group had rebranded itself as “Music in Motion,” which served as a foundation for future musical endeavors. Graduates from Parsons played a crucial role in advocating for a similar program at Enterprise High School, resulting in the creation of “Enterprise Starship.”
With Adrienne’s induction of show choir into the music departments in Redding schools, some key individuals were led to start a local festival called R.A.V.E.S. (Redding Area Variety Entertainment Society) Jazz Festival. The R.A.V.E.S. Jazz festival ran from 1981 to 2003. Under Adrienne Jacoby’s direction, the Parsons Vocal Music Department flourished in the 1980s and 90s, with “Music in Motion” as its flagship group, alongside notable ensembles like the Vocal Jazz Ensemble “Special Concepts” and the traditional “Honor Choir.” Additionally, the inclusion of non-auditioned show choirs broadened participation in the music program, with creatively themed choir names adding to the department’s appeal. “Music in Motion” went by the nickname “M&Ms” so when she was naming these choirs she continued the candy theme with groups being called “Skittles,” “SweetTarts,” “Starbursts,” and “PopRocks!” The choir room is lined with trophies and awards from the decades that Adrienne spent molding and building this thriving program. There are thousands of individuals who owe their love of music and performing to the incomparable Adrienne Jacoby.”
Adrienne taught for 27 years at Parsons before retiring in 2002. She recently noted that where she lived at the Vistas since 2019 was also just off of Hartnell and she remarked that she has spent a significant amount of her adult life living just off of Hartnell Avenue.
After retiring in 2002, she continued to substitute teach and teach privately at various music studios around Redding, Anderson and Cottonwood. Her greatest joy after retiring was traveling and she went full-throttle until her body and “Byroads knees” (her maiden name) waved the white flag of surrender. She traveled to Russia, did several riverboat trips in Europe, saw Fjords, traveled through the Panama Canal on a cruise, traveled in China, saw the Great Wall, made at least four different trips to Italy. Her last international trip was to attend her granddaughter Charlotte’s wedding in July 2017 in England. She loved following her grandchildren and great-grandchildren through google photos and text messages. She loved to visit her grandsons, Kenneth and Jesse, and daughter in-law Rikako whenever she could. She visited them multiple times at many different Navy bases around the world that included Seattle, Japan, Italy, and Virginia.
Her knowledge of geography was unparalleled, and her ability to answer those Jeopardy quiz show questions was often astonishing. She had an incredible visual memory and tried to make us all think she was disorganized, but in reality she had an impressive filing system, both in her head and by her desk.
Adrienne was involved in the folk music and fiddle contest scene over the last 40+ years and often accompanied many fiddlers in competitions or on their recordings playing the stand up bass.
Sharon Barrett, who most recently worked with Adrienne at the Western Open contest, had this to say:
“Some of us may wonder what our purpose in life is …. But I have no doubt as to the reason God loaned us AJ. It was to bring joy, spready positivity, and share her love for music in all forms. She was one of the founding members of the Western Open Fiddle Championships some 41 years ago, and the list of her contributions is extensive. She sang in innumerable entertainment slots; MC’d our Jukebox competitions; encouraged fiddlers young and old; borrowed Tex’s bass once or twice; and was quite the repository for stories. I will miss those stories, but we have our memories of this dear lady.
She was certainly one-of-a-kind, and I am proud to be counted among the vast number of her friends. I was thinking about trying to summarize this great life that she lived and the larger-than-life character that she was, and, of course, a song lyric came to mind, that for me, summarizes our Adrienne: “You’ve got to ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, don’t mess with Mr. In-Between.” (Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer) It would be honoring to Adrienne if we all lived our lives in this way.”
In her later years Adrienne was involved with supporting the North State Symphony. Her dear friend Jim Malin describes her contributions:
“Adrienne Jacoby was part of a group of individuals who were the lifeblood of the North State Symphony League in Redding, California. The League is the volunteer group of individuals who support the North State Symphony providing flowers for guest artists, refreshments for musicians at the Masterwork concerts, and providing scholarship for area high school students each spring.
Adrienne was instrumental in revamping the scholarship program. Besides being a professional musician, AJ was a music teacher at heart. She knew that while there were many talented students out there, they should learn the responsibility as young adults to apply for a scholarship. High School applicants had to submit a statement as to why and how they planned to use the award if they were chosen. A letter of recommendation was also required from a music teacher. Once the material from each applicant was received a group of league members gathered to select the two students to receive the award. When the award reached $1,000 for each applicant the response from high school students was increased greatly. The task of selecting two outstanding students became more and more difficult as the quality also increased.
The culmination of this hard work was when one of the students from a local school was selected and asked to attend the Spring Gala held each April. One of the highlights at this event was when Adrienne Jacoby could personally hand over an Award Certificate and a check for $1,000 to a beaming high school senior. The smile of happiness on AJ’s face was as big as the high school student receiving the award.”
Adrienne had the greatest appetite for life. She loved her friends and family. She was always up for an adventure. She loved to travel, loved to perform and sing, loved to bring joy to others, always had a sympathetic ear to listen to your story, your heartache, your victories, or your career dilemmas.
She was whip smart, quick-witted and had a snappy comeback or rejoinder for any possible situation. She loved to read and loved language, as her impressive vocabulary reflected. She had an ongoing curiosity for new things in the world and was passionate about local and national politics.
As if she couldn’t reinvent herself any more, she was encouraged by Doni Chamberlain to start writing a small byline in the online newspaper A News Café and she contributed frequently between 2011-2019 with a column called “Just Sayin’.”
In the last five years of her life she still had other creative aspirations and she was fond of saying, “In my next life, I’m coming back as a…..(fill in the blank).” The last idea she semi-seriously would say is, “I’m coming back as a stand-up comedian.” I think she could have pulled it off, but for now I’m pretty sure she’s in heaven entertaining the troops with her beautiful voice and her ability to make people laugh and smile.
She died the day before Quincy Jones and we like to think she had to get up to heaven to rehearse with Quincy’s band before he arrived. All the sayings are true: she was one-in-a million; they broke the mold; there will never be another you.
Thank you, Adrienne, for your generosity of spirit and for your ability to always be present with a giant heart full of love that you gave so abundantly to your fellow humans. Everyone was touched by you. Now it’s time to rest.
Adrienne was predeceased by her mother, Vera Green Byroads Harms, her father, Harold Byroads, her step-father Russell Harms, and her brothers Harold Vyrll Byroads and Melvin Byroads. She is survived by her daughter, J’Anna Jacoby Harrold, her son, Jayson Jacoby, her son in-law, Steven Harrold, her daughters in spirit, Sheri Eby and Sherrie Alexander, her daughter in-law Rikako Jacoby, her grandchildren Jesse Jacoby, Kenneth Jacoby, Charlotte Harrold, James Harrold, and Carly Davis Harrold, and her great-grandchildren, Charlie Harrold, Giabella Baratta, Rory Harrold and Naomi Harrold.
Donations in honor of Adrienne can be made to the North State Symphony League, or any arts organizations, especially education-related and vocal-related arts organizations.
For anyone who would like to bid a farewell to Adrienne, an open-casket viewing and service of remembrance will take place on Fri., Nov. 29th at Allen & Dahl Funeral Chapel, 2655 Eureka Way, Redding, Calif., 96001. The open-casket viewing will last from 12:30 to 2 p.m.
The viewing will be followed by a service of remembrance, and a time to say goodbye, from 3 to 5 p.m. on the same day, Nov. 29th at Allen & Dahl. For this service we will have a closed casket and a bevy of photos celebrating her beautiful life.
The big giant funeral/wake celebration that she had a dress rehearsal for back in June 1987 will happen in February 2025. This will be a celebration to honor AJ in a fashion for which she is worthy, and in the spirit that she envisioned.
As all of you who loved her knew, she liked to live life with gusto, sequins, color, music, dance, delicious food and joyfulness.
My brother and I would be honored to see you at any or all events. – J’Anna and Jayson Jacoby
