Kermit Jacobson; Former Caltech Official

Kermit Jacobson, 79, who was 1976-77 grand master of California’s Masonic lodges and former director of capital projects at Caltech. A native of Volin, S.D., Jacobson began his Caltech career in 1938, and, until his retirement in 1984, supervised the purchase of everything from pencils and paper towels to snowshoes and platinum to keep the science and engineering school running smoothly. On Monday in Pasadena of undisclosed causes.