Barbara Jensen

Barb J. Jensen, 86, of Fort Dodge, passed away peacefully Saturday July 22, 2023, at the Marian Home, surrounded by loving family. Funeral services will be held at St Olaf Lutheran Church in Fort Dodge, Iowa, this Friday at 10:30AM with Rev. Emily Sauer officiating. Burial will follow at North Lawn Cemetery. A visitation will be held at Laufersweiler Funeral Home from 4-7 PM on Thursday evening. Barb is survived by her husband, Howard; sons Scott (Tiffany Chenault) Jensen of Boston, MA, Andrew (Stacy) Jensen of Marietta, GA; daughter Jolynn (Mike) Sunken of Fort Dodge; grandchildren, Nate (Candace) Sunken, Rebecca (Austin) Read, and Enzo Jensen; and great grandchildren Maren Sunken and Linden Read. Barb is preceded in death by her infant son, John Edward Jensen; parents Arthur and Alice (Bramer) Routledge, sister Pat Forsberg, brother-in-law Robert Forsberg, and nephew Will Forsberg. Barbara Jean Routledge was born on August 13, 1936, to Arthur and Alice Routledge in Sioux City, IA. She was raised and educated in Sioux City, graduating from Sioux City Central High School. She then attended Morningside College in Sioux City for a year before transferring to and graduating from Augustana College in Sioux Falls. During breaks from classes Barb worked as a secretary for several organizations, including a 9-month period in an office of the Pentagon in Washington DC, a job about which she often fondly reminisced. After having met Howard Jensen in English Lit class at Augustana, they were united in marriage on June 17, 1961. The couple lived in Omaha, Sac City, and Hampton until establishing their home in Fort Dodge in 1967. For several years, Barb worked for Social Security as a claim representative. She then worked for the Fort Dodge Community School District as the librarian at Hillcrest Elementary School for 15 years, where she and her colleagues were renowned for the friendly tricks they would play on the school principal. She formed many friendships within Hillcrest, and remained especially close with the ladies of the "Golden Girls" foursome, even after her retirement from the school system in 1996. She also owned and operated the Jensen Lettering Service in Fort Dodge for many years, becoming widely known and well regarded for the work she did in customizing the high school letter jackets in Fort Dodge and the surrounding area. Barb loved nature, and the Black Hills of South Dakota were a favorite and frequent vacation spot for Barb and her family. Following her retirement as a school librarian, Barb and Howard then spent 12 summers as tour guides at Custer State Park in the Black Hills, and especially enjoyed ending each volunteer season with the annual Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup. She was passionate about wildlife, including walking in nature, always on the lookout for any birds and animals that might cross her path. She loved to find small figurines of wildlife in the many shops in the Black Hills and elsewhere, but was especially enamored of glass birds that she could add to her collection. At home in Fort Dodge, she loved walking her dogs and spoiling her special cat, and could often be found strolling and working throughout her riverside property and its adjacent Nature Conservancy land. Barb was heavily involved in Fort Dodge civic organizations, including several community improvement projects such as the restoration and cleanup of Armstrong Park and the pond adjacent to the clubhouse used by the Fort Dodge/Phil Fox Izaak Walton chapter (which Barb was president of in 1999). Stories of her and Howard's civic activities would often make their way into articles in the Fort Dodge Messenger, and culminated with the two of them being named as the 2003 Fort Dodge Citizens of the Year and the Grand Marshalls of the 2003 Fort Dodge Frontier Days. Barb, along with Howard, were also tour guides at the Fort Dodge Fort Museum for many years, where she often expressed her enjoyment in leading children's tour groups. In her church, St. Olaf Lutheran, she was deeply involved in church activities, including having taught Sunday School, Bible School, led many facets of St. Olaf church circles, and she always looked forward to Scandia Fest, for which she would prepare numerous batches of lefse, kringla, and krumkake. At home, Barb was a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother, and was elated to become a great grandmother just months ago. She touched the lives of so many people with her warmth, generosity, humor, and kindness. She will be deeply missed by her family, friends, and indeed, all those who knew her. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in her name to the Almost Home animal shelter in Fort Dodge (https://www.almosthomeiowa.org/how-to-help). Visitation Thu, Jul 27, 2023 at 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm Laufersweiler-Sievers Funeral Home 307 South 12th Street Fort Dodge, Iowa 50501 Funeral Fri, Jul 28, 2023 at 10:30 am St. Olaf Lutheran Church