Joan Jensen

Joan (Ostrom) Jensen, our beloved mother, passed away peacefully at her home on August 19th. She was 82 and enjoyed spending time with family and friends, reading and playing cards.  Joan was known for her thoughtfulness, loving-nature, inquiring mind, outgoing personality, and puzzle-solving abilities.   Throughout her life, she gave back through volunteer activities including organizing the Girl Scouts cookie sale, teaching Sunday school, tutoring students and participating in local elections.  

She was born to Gustaf and Elma Ostrom on her grandparent’s farm in Wisconsin and grew up in Duluth, Minnesota.  After graduating from Duluth Central High School, she worked as a secretary.  It was there that she met and married Charles (Chuck) Jensen. The two moved to Minneapolis and started their family.  They also lived in Indiana and then Michigan, where they had the youngest of their seven children. The family left the Midwest in 1974 when Chuck accepted a position at the Boeing Corporation. They lived the remainder of their lives together in Renton with much of their family nearby.  In each place she lived, Joan created a community and made life-long friends.  Joan took an interest in the lives of extended family (she loved being a grandmother) but also was an enthusiastic traveler visiting Costa Rica, Croatia, and many other places.   She maintained contact with her late sisters, Betty and Janice, and her brothers-in-law, Warren and the late Walter (Sonny) along with their spouses and children. She served as the gathering force for family reunions and holiday celebrations; a tradition carried on by her children.

She leaves seven children, Linda Jensen (Michael Shattow), Sam Jensen, Carol (Scott) Rose, Marjorie (Michael) McVeigh, Bill (Sandra) Jensen, Sarah Jane Jensen, and Elizabeth (Joe) Pendleton and nine grandchildren, Cody Jensen, Genevieve Shattow, Terra Rose, Shana Jensen, Max Rose, Madeline Shattow, Ryan Pendleton, Jack Pendleton, and Anna Pendleton and two great-grandchildren, Justus Van Luven and Mason Gist. She will be greatly missed and fondly remembered for her compassion, wit and enthusiasm. 

An interment service will take place at Tahoma National Cemetery on September 27th.  In lieu of flowers, remembrances can be made to Friends of Renton Schools in honor of the years Joan spent tutoring Renton students.