Genevieve Schiltz Jensen

1927 - 2020

Genevieve Schiltz Jensen

Rockledge - Genevieve Schiltz Jensen, 93, of Rockledge, FL, passed away May 8, 2020 at Rockledge Regional Medical Center following a struggle with heart disease. She was born on Memorial Day 1927 in the small town of Fairbury,IL the daughter of the late Hilda Steidinger Schiltz and the late Albert Schiltz. Her mother gave birth to her alone because the only doctor in town had, since it was a holiday, gone fishing. After a difficult time during the Great Depression her family moved to the Minneapolis, MN area in 1941. World War II dominated her high school years. After graduating in 1945 she joined the US Cadet Nurse Corps at the University of Minnesota where she earned her RN. In 1948, she met and married Dr Adrian Jensen in Minneapolis. After many moves due to his training and military service, they settled in Rockledge, FL in 1960. He practiced surgery in the area for many years, with her assisting in his office for 17 of those years. Besides raising three sons, her interests included many creative pursuits at which she excelled such as painting, photography, photographic development, cake decorating, and even architecture, with her playing a major role in the design of the house she and her husband built in 1962.

In their later years she and her husband took tap dancing lessons at a local senior center, realizing a dream that was unfulfilled during her childhood due to the depression. The group did a number of public performances with her wearing costumes that she made, another creative pursuit.

She is survived by her husband of 72 years, Dr Adrian Jensen, three sons: Dr Richard Jensen, Ken Jensen, Jim Jensen, her brother Ray Schiltz, and five grandchildren. She is predeceased by her sister Pat Stearns.

A memorial with family and close friends is planned at a later date.