Yale '62 - Obituaries - Jacob A. Toby



Jacob A. Toby

Born: July 13, 1940
Died: November 13, 1999

Jack Toby was born in White Plains, New York, and came to Yale from White Plains High School. Jack was a member of Saybrook, where he was on the council and soccer and hockey teams. He belonged to Pi Sigma Alpha, the Dramat, Challenge, the John Dewey Society, the German Club, Hillel, and Dwight Hall.

Jack majored in Politics and Economics, was on the Dean's List and was a ranking scholar, and was awarded the White Prize in 1960.

Jack was a quintessential New Yorker who enjoyed politics, culture, and working for the well-being of the community. He died suddenly while exercising at his home in Manhattan on Saturday, November 13, 1999.

Jack's commitment to public service was evident from an early age, when he was deeply involved in youth civic organizations and student government as a high school student, and in public affairs groups at Yale University. After graduating in 1962, he had a long career in education and public service, beginning as a teacher at the Mayflower School in Ikenne, Nigeria, from 1962 to 1964. Named a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, he took a degree in Economics at Stanford in 1966, after which he served in several public agencies in federal, state, and municipal government. In recent years, he taught public administration as an adjunct professor at several universities in the New York metropolitan area. He was an active member of the American Society for Public Administration, serving as president of the New York Metropolitan Chapter in 1992-1993.

Jack was especially committed to improving the education of young people, frequently volunteering his time to tutor inner-city children in math, science, and writing in the New York City schools. He had a deep and abiding interest in finding innovative ways of resolving conflicts through better communication.

A man of immense energy and passion, he was an avid skier, equestrian, and runner, this last a carryover from his days as a track and cross-county star at White Plains High School in the 1950's.

Jack was an avid reader of wide-ranging interests, as well as a writer of short stories, essays, and sketches. His most recent story, "Death and Violence on the Broadway Local," appeared in The Berkshire Review in Spring, 1999, and was posted on our class web pages. He was also an accomplished amateur photographer, and traveler, committed to the continual discovery of new places and new ideas.

Since 1984, he shared his journey of discovery with his wife, Anne Fribourg, a clinical psychologist in private practice in New York. He is also survived by his brother Ronald Toby, and his sisters, Nancy Grube and Martha Gooze. He had no children.