Rachel Jacobs, the CEO of a tech education start-up in Philadelphia, was confirmed dead Wednesday evening after an Amtrak train derailment the previous day killed at least seven passengers and injured another 200.
Jacobs, who led ApprenNet, is survived by a husband and 2-year-old son. She lived in Manhattan, according to firm cofounder Karl Okamoto, a law professor at Drexel University.
The family of Jacobs, a native of metropolitan Detroit, released a statement Wednesday praising her qualities. Jacobs was known to take the train several times each week.
“This is an unthinkable tragedy,” the statement read. “Rachel was a wonderful mother, daughter, sister, wife, friend.”
Shortly before the crash, Jacobs sent a text to her husband confirming she had boarded the train as she headed home to New York, said Stacey Range Messina, a work colleague of Jacobs’ mother, Gilda Jacobs, at the Michigan League for for Public Policy. Gilda Jacobs is a former Michigan state senator.
“Rachel was loved and cherished by her entire family, her husband, her two-year-old son, friends and co-workers,” read a statement from the league.
Source: USA Today | Daniel Bethencourt and Niraj Warikoo , Detroit Free Press
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