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Ten days after former Ocean Township residents Franki Sue, Joshua, and Eric Jacobson were shot in Florida by Neal Jacobson -- their husband and father, respectively -- about 35 friends gathered Feb. 2 in Ocean to memorialize the family.

Neal, 49, remains in a Palm Beach County prison on three counts of first-degree murder. After he crashed his car on Saturday, Jan. 23, he admitted to authorities that he killed Franki, 53, and his twin 7-year-old sons in the family's Wellington, Fla., home. Neal also told paramedics that he had the Xanax anti-depressant drug in his system, and an open homicide investigation is ongoing, said Eric Davis, a public information officer for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

Bloomfield-Cooper Jewish Chapels offered its Ocean site for the memorial service free of charge. Albert Bloomfield, the chapel's manager, lived two doors down from the Jacobsons when they lived in Ocean and said he used to spend time with them at his home or at the beach.

"They were what appeared to be a loving, happy family," Bloomfield told The Jewish State.

Rabbi Michael Goldstein of Temple Beth Torah in Wanamassa, where the Jacobsons used to be members, led the memorial and stressed at the start of the service that the point was to share in sorrow together, regardless of what form that sharing took.

"I hope that you, who knew [the Jacobsons] in many different ways, through your children, their children, or their parents, will share with one another," Goldstein said. "It doesn't have to be formal, it doesn't have to be articulate."

However, reciting the Kaddish prayer together at the end of the service, Goldstein explained, was not an expression of sorrow, but rather a display of fortitude, faith, and the intention to make the world a better place.

After Rabbi Gordon Yaffe of Temple Beth El in Oakhurst read from Psalms, Sheryl Krupnick of Ocean read an anonymous poem that was posted on legacy.com, written from the point of view of the Jacobsons in heaven. Krupnick explained that she did not personally know the family and "was chosen to read this poem because I'm probably the only one who can get through it without crying."

"God gave us a list of things that he wanted us to do, and foremost on the list was to watch and care for you," the poem reads.

"We are closer to you now than we ever were before," it reads.

A photo montage included feelings that Joshua and Eric expressed about each other in school. Joshua said "I love my brother because he hugs me and we play together," and Eric said, "I love my brother because he is my best friend and I play with him."

The Jacobson brothers spent two-and-a-half years in the Center Play School at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Monmouth County in Deal Park. Randi Cohen, the center's director, was a primary organizer for the memorial.

"I think as I go through this, I feel the strength in our community," Cohen said after Goldstein asked the crowd to share their memories and other thoughts.

Even though they weren't deaf, Franki raised Eric and Joshua in sign language before they spoke English, and wrote a children's book called "Green Bean's Birthday Party" which recounts an outing with her sons and uses pictures to teach sign language. It was part of a series called "Sign Along With Me" that Franki was hoping to complete with her sister.

"When she had a passion about something, she went with it and she went forward," one of Franki's friends, who wished to remain anonymous, said during the sharing period.

The friend recalled that when the entertainment for her son's 4th birthday party never showed up, Franki saved the day by organizing a game of red light/green light with red and green peppers. Another friend remembered how Eric was an expert on airplanes, saying that "I feel, somehow, that he really soared." She suggested the donation of trees in Israel in the Jacobsons' memory, especially during the current Jewish month of Shevat, which celebrates the Jewish New Year for trees.

On legacy.com, Bonnie Joseph of Edison wrote that "I cannot begin to tell you how sad I am to hear about Franki, Joshua, and Eric's death. I have known Franki for over 20 years and know that she was one of the best mothers ever. From the time she carried those babies in her womb until the day they all died, those darling boys always came first. There are no words to convey my sadness about what happened to all of them."

Ro Tucker of North Brunswick wrote that Franki was part of her "earliest memories."

"I remember each time we lost touch with each other, and by some miracle you moved to the same neighborhood as me, or joined the same gym as me, you moved to NJ the same time as me, ...you switched careers the same time as me and even wound up in the same one," Tucker wrote. "We laughed till we cried, we cried till we laughed. I will miss you....4 ever and ever....."

Goldstein noted that Temple B'nai Jacob of Wellington has established a fund to offset the cost of the Jacobsons' burial. For information on how to make a donation, contact B'nai Jacob at (561) 793-4347.