Phyllis Jensen, 1928-2017

Published 12:05 am Tuesday, December 19, 2017

A funeral service for Phyllis D. Jensen will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Alden. The Rev. Greg Ofsdahl will officiate. Visitation will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Bonnerup Funeral Service in Albert Lea, as well as one hour prior to the service at the church. Burial will take place at the Alden Cemetery.

Phyllis passed away on Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017, at Thorne Crest Senior Living Community. She was 89.

Phyllis Jensen

Phyllis Dorann (Hemmingsen) Jensen was born on Nov. 19, 1928, in Albert Lea to Harry “Wallace” and Sophie (Skov) Hemmingsen. She was baptized and confirmed at Danish Lutheran Church in Alden. She grew up and graduated from Alden High School in 1946. She obtained her nursing certificate from Naeve School of Nursing in 1949. On Sept. 3, 1950, she was united in marriage to Carrol Jensen at First Lutheran Church in Alden. The couple would call Alden home until 1985, when they moved to Carrol’s family farm outside of Hayward. Carrol passed away on July 2, 2001. She would continue to live on the farm another five years before moving to Albert Lea.

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Phyllis worked as a nurse at Naeve Hospital and later at St. John’s Nursing Home. She was a member of Naeve Nurses and Alumni Club, the Alden Legion Auxiliary, ARC of Freeborn County and enjoyed volunteering at the hospital. Phyllis was a very talented baker. She liked to play cards with her neighbors at the co-op. She enjoyed going shopping and doing puzzles with her daughter, Pat. In her earlier years, she enjoyed taking the family camping and fishing and liked to go on motorcycle rides with Carrol. Phyllis can be described as a loving mother and grandmother. She was very selfless, always putting others before herself. She will be deeply missed.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Carrol; son, Thomas; parents Wallace and Sophie; mother- and father-in-law Arnold and Alvina Jensen; brothers LeRoy (Dorothy) Hemmingsen and Bernard (Lois) Hemmingsen; and sister-in-law, Ardis Angell.

Those left to carry on her legacy include her children, Patricia Jensen of Albert Lea and Ronald (Valerie) Jensen of Albert Lea; grandchildren Taryn (Tyler) Ignaszewski of St. Louis Park and Danielle (Jeffrey Barto) Jensen of Duluth; sister- and brother-in-law Bonnie (Milan) Behr of Elysian and Robert (Marlys) Jensen of Waseca; as well as many loving nieces, nephews, extended relatives and friends.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the ARC of Freeborn County or the American Diabetes Association.