Mary Lou (Madsen) Jensen, 94 of Rochester, WA and formerly of Springview, NE and Fairmont, NE passed away peacefully on February 12, 2023 at Silver Acres Adult Family Home in Centralia, WA. Mary was born on December 9, 1928 in Aurora, NE to Ed and Hannah (Nielsen) Madsen. Mary graduated from Hampton High School in 1946. A lifelong educator, Mary taught elementary students at a rural school near Hampton from 1946 to 1948. She continued her own education at Dana College in Blair, NE where she earned her elementary education teaching certificate in 1949.
Mary began teaching 7th and 8th grade in Fairmont, NE in 1948. Here, she met Victor Allen Jensen. They were married in her childhood church, Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church of rural Hampton, NE (now on the grounds of Grand Island’s Stuhr Museum) on June 4, 1950. The couple stood in the light of two stained glass windows that Mary donated in gratitude for her first teaching position a few years earlier. Mary continued teaching 7th & 8th grade students at Fairmont Public Schools and later 1st grade students at Geneva Elementary, a grade she especially enjoyed.
Mary and Vic resided in Fairmont, NE where they raised five children: Lorene, Shirley, Margaret (Meg), Charles, and William (Bill). Throughout her time in Fairmont, Mary was a generous volunteer and especially involved in the activities of Fairview Manor, the GFWC Fairmont Woman’s Club, and the Mount Moriah Chapter 38 Order of the Eastern Star. Along with Vic, Mary served for 25 years in numerous leadership positions with Boy Scout Pack and Troop 166 and trained hundreds of Scout Leaders on all levels from the national, local, district and council areas. She received many awards for her Scout leadership, including the Silver Beaver and the District Award of Merit.
Mary was a woman of deep, active faith and a pillar of the Fairmont Community Church where she regularly led Bible studies and Sunday school classes, and eventually served the congregation as Lay Leader and Lay Speaker. Sensing a call to ministry, Mary began attending classes at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, MO over the course of several years, culminating with her completion of the Course of Study on August 1, 2002.
Mary was appointed pastor of the United Methodist Churches in Springview and Long Pine on July 1, 1997. Mary and Vic quickly fell in love with the people and landscape of the Nebraska Sandhills and considered Springview their home. During her ten years of active ministry, Mary was wholeheartedly devoted to the people entrusted to her care. She helped countless people in northern Nebraska encounter God more deeply through her leading of Sunday worship, her preaching, officiating at baptisms, weddings and funerals, teaching, Bible studies, and the spiritual counsel she offered to many individuals. Her straightforward and confident faith was nourished by her daily prayerful reading of the Sacred Scriptures and her unwavering trust in Jesus.
Following Vic’s death on October 1, 2007, Mary moved to Rochester, WA to live near her daughter Shirley. During her 14 1/2 years in Washington, Mary was frequently called upon to preach, lead Bible studies and prayer groups, and to provide spiritual counsel for the people of the Rochester United Methodist Church and more recently The Beacon of Hope. She also assisted with several local initiatives including a community clothing closet, soup kitchen and thrift shop.
Mary was an accomplished needleworker and created many beautiful and intricate counted cross-stich, embroidery and crochet pieces for family and friends. She excelled in maintaining contact with countless family members and friends through her handwritten letters and even led a local card writing ministry.
Mary was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Edsel, two grandsons and her loving husband, Vic.
She is survived by daughters Lorene (Joe) Prorok of Lincoln, NE, Shirley Tripp of Rochester, WA and Meg (Mark) Becker of Exeter, NE, and sons Charles of Lancaster, TX, and Bill (Karen) of Loveland, CO; nineteen grandchildren, twenty-eight great-grandchildren and thirteen great-great grandchildren; numerous extended family members and friends.
A Memorial Prayer Service was held Saturday, February 25, 2023 at St John’s Church on the Campus of Creighton University, in Omaha, NE, for family and friends in Nebraska. On Saturday, March 26, 2023 a memorial service will be held in Rochester, WA at The Beacon of Hope, for family and friends in WA and OR. A memorial service will held in Springview on June 3rd and June 4th, 2023 Mary will be laid to rest next to her husband at Mount Hope Cemetery in Springview, NE.
Memorials are suggested to the family to be designated at a later date.
