Floyd J. Jensen

Floyd J. Jensen, 95 a life time Devils Lake area resident, died early Sunday morning, July 24, 2005 at Mercy Hospital, Devils Lake Funeral Services for Floyd will be held on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Olaf Lutheran Church, Devils Lake. Rev. Harold Ovre will officiate and burial will be in the Devils Lake Cemetery. Military Honors will be accorded by the Neathery-Simensen Post #756, Devils Lake Veterans of Foreign Wars. Friends may call at the Gilbertson Funeral Home on Tuesday from 3:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. with the family present from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. Visitation on Wednesday will be at the church one hour prior to the funeral service. Serving as Honorary Casket Bearers will be Floyd’s Grandchildren: Steve Jensen, Susie Jensen Gebhart, Barbara Jensen Banker, Karen Jensen Stinton, Craig Jensen, David Dahl, Becky Jensen Karatsikis and Peter Jensen. Floyd Jensen was born in Devils Lake, April 5, 1910, the second of seven children born to 1907 Norwegian immigrants, Martin Jensen of Lillehammer, Norway and Rena Anderson Jensen of Lom, Norway He spent his childhood years in North Dakota until he enlisted in the United States Navy in 1927 serving his country as a Pharmacist Mate on the USS Relief and USS Medusa, with San Padre as a home port with tours in Honolulu and Nicaragua. He was honorably discharged in 1930. On June 15, 1932, Floyd was married to Mae Berg of Doyon, ND, a schoolteacher who taught in Bartlett, ND and Meeteetse, Wyoming. He was appointed rural mail carrier out of Devils Lake in 1931. In 1941, they bought a farm with an old house on it, two miles west of Devils Lake. After remodeling it enough to live in, the family of six moved into it just a week before Pearl Harbor. REA electricity was postponed for five years due to World War II, causing a difficult deprivation for their transition from the town to the country. During these years, Floyd farmed his land and served as mail carrier, driving over 750,000 miles in his career without an accident. Floyd also drove horses on the mail route and they were “borrowed” from farmers who “loaned” the horses to the mail carrier, for exceptionally hard delivery situations such as the hard winters of the 1930’s, especially the winter of 1936 when the temperatures were considerably below zero from January 12th to February 21st. Floyd retired from the postal service in 1966 after 36 years of service. Floyd and Mae traveled the US for a few years and then returned to the farm for several years. They moved into Devils Lake and eventually to the Lake Region Manor. Floyd and Mae were married for 69 years. Mae died on February 20, 2002. Floyd then moved to the Odd Fellows Retirement Home for 3 years. Floyd was Grand Worthy Master of the Odd Fellows and was deeply involved in the renovation of the current Odd Fellows Hall in Devils Lake. During his early years on the farm, he served as a 4-H Leader for ten years and also as a board member of the Creel Township. He was a member of the Farm Bureau and also a member of St. Olaf Lutheran Church. He is survived by his loving children: Ronald Jensen and his wife, Ruth, Hampton, Viriginia Gary Jensen and his wife, Bodil, Santa Rosa, California Douglas Jensen and his wife, Pauline, Chaska, Minnesota Sandra Dahl and her husband, Odin, Fargo, ND Eight Grandchildren Ten Great Grandchildren Brothers: Ralph Jensen, Mesa, Arizona Roy Jensen, Devils Lake Sisters: Evelyn Snider of California Amy Register, Tempe, Arizona He was preceded in death by his wife, Mae; grandson, Kirk Dahl in 1996; sister, Alice James and brother, Melvin “Bud” Jensen. Memorials may be directed to the Odd Fellows Retirement Home, Devils Lake. Friends may sign the on-line register book at www.gilbertsonfuneralhome.com