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John Jensen Obituary
John K. Jensen
February 10, 1948 - January 11, 2025
San Diego, California - John K. Jensen passed away Saturday January 11, 2025, in San Diego CA at the age of 76. Born in Moscow Idaho in 1948 where his father was attending college, John was a native of Idaho, graduating from high school in Boise and attending the University of Idaho Moscow campus, his father's alma mater.
He was the son and grandson of two Idaho statesmen - Berne K. Jensen and Grover Washington Jensen (Berne served on the Boise Airport Commission and the Boise City Council; Grover served in the Idaho State Senate and introduced to the Idaho State legislature the "Famous Potatoes" slogan on Idaho license plates).
He is preceded in death by his parents Berne K. Jensen and Evelyne Earle Jensen, and his sister Bernie Jensen Fouch. He is survived by his loving family: a beloved father to sons Alex Jensen and stepson Jake Culver, and devoted uncle to his beloved nephews Matt, Luke and Nick Fouch. John was also a loving and proud uncle to Nicole De Necochea Smith, Avalon and Devon De Necochea, and grandnieces Kaitlin Sachie and Samantha; and a loving cousin to his Earle/Jensen/Nixon family and a loving friend to lifelong schoolmates.
As one in the Boomer generation, he was part of the Free Love/Flower Power counterculture of the 1960s during the anti-establishment cultural revolution and political movement that this generation introduced. In his lifetime, he lived to appreciate significant social changes the effects of which brought momentum to the civil rights movement, voting rights, and the controversial Vietnam War. The generation was also responsible for a music revolution, of sorts, that turned John into a diverse melophile, beginning with records in 45s vinyl and LP formats, to the present-day streaming music on a cellphone with Spotify in his pocket 24/7.
He was a searcher always open to alternative ways of thinking and living. Early on, his rolling-stone hippie travels and free-spirit explorations in the Great Northwest, exposed him to new paths and new thinking (he was a vegetarian too, for about 15 minutes). His adventures unique and many from the Palouse mountain range of Moscow to smoke jumping or ski bumming in the mountains of McCall, Sun Valley and Hailey Idaho; then on to Colorado and the Puget Sound's Orcas Island, and Seattle in Washington State (including as his communal living there); to hitchhiking through Mexico headed to Guatemala in his 20s. He could share some great stories. On one occasion, his mother Evelyne, trekked from Idaho to Orcas Island on the Puget Sound in search of her son, who had not reported his status for months. She located him living in a teepee on that island off the coast of Washington State.
In the 1980s, John relocated to southern California (now in his late early 30s) and established an antiques shop in North San Diego County. He later worked as a Warehouse and Maintenance Manager for the San Diego Housing Commission, where he met his future wife of 34 years, Nicki and mom to son Alex. Later, he was employed as a Program Manager and licensed construction contractor, for more than 15 years with Richard Heath and Associates.
A 20+ year resident of the rural San Diego community of Jamul, he raised his family on a property with high desert wildlife, fruit and avocado trees, as well as not-so-wild beloved four-footed family members Sammy the Springer Spaniel, Vega the Rottweiler (who thought he was a Poodle) and Bella the family doodle.
An avid fishing enthusiast, he enjoyed river and lake fishing for trout in Idaho, Oregon, and California. He spent time in the Gulf of Mexico fishing from a panga for rooster fish, dorado in Baja, California, and open ocean fishing for tuna and albacore.
At his request, no memorial services will be held, and his remains will be dispersed at a later date, by family. In lieu of flowers and cards, the family suggest and encourage a memorial donation to his cousin Sue Nixon's daughter, Tessa Nixon's GoFundMe (https://tinyurl.com/tessa-nixon-transplant) (Tessa is a resident of Boise).
February 10, 1948 - January 11, 2025
San Diego, California - John K. Jensen passed away Saturday January 11, 2025, in San Diego CA at the age of 76. Born in Moscow Idaho in 1948 where his father was attending college, John was a native of Idaho, graduating from high school in Boise and attending the University of Idaho Moscow campus, his father's alma mater.
He was the son and grandson of two Idaho statesmen - Berne K. Jensen and Grover Washington Jensen (Berne served on the Boise Airport Commission and the Boise City Council; Grover served in the Idaho State Senate and introduced to the Idaho State legislature the "Famous Potatoes" slogan on Idaho license plates).
He is preceded in death by his parents Berne K. Jensen and Evelyne Earle Jensen, and his sister Bernie Jensen Fouch. He is survived by his loving family: a beloved father to sons Alex Jensen and stepson Jake Culver, and devoted uncle to his beloved nephews Matt, Luke and Nick Fouch. John was also a loving and proud uncle to Nicole De Necochea Smith, Avalon and Devon De Necochea, and grandnieces Kaitlin Sachie and Samantha; and a loving cousin to his Earle/Jensen/Nixon family and a loving friend to lifelong schoolmates.
As one in the Boomer generation, he was part of the Free Love/Flower Power counterculture of the 1960s during the anti-establishment cultural revolution and political movement that this generation introduced. In his lifetime, he lived to appreciate significant social changes the effects of which brought momentum to the civil rights movement, voting rights, and the controversial Vietnam War. The generation was also responsible for a music revolution, of sorts, that turned John into a diverse melophile, beginning with records in 45s vinyl and LP formats, to the present-day streaming music on a cellphone with Spotify in his pocket 24/7.
He was a searcher always open to alternative ways of thinking and living. Early on, his rolling-stone hippie travels and free-spirit explorations in the Great Northwest, exposed him to new paths and new thinking (he was a vegetarian too, for about 15 minutes). His adventures unique and many from the Palouse mountain range of Moscow to smoke jumping or ski bumming in the mountains of McCall, Sun Valley and Hailey Idaho; then on to Colorado and the Puget Sound's Orcas Island, and Seattle in Washington State (including as his communal living there); to hitchhiking through Mexico headed to Guatemala in his 20s. He could share some great stories. On one occasion, his mother Evelyne, trekked from Idaho to Orcas Island on the Puget Sound in search of her son, who had not reported his status for months. She located him living in a teepee on that island off the coast of Washington State.
In the 1980s, John relocated to southern California (now in his late early 30s) and established an antiques shop in North San Diego County. He later worked as a Warehouse and Maintenance Manager for the San Diego Housing Commission, where he met his future wife of 34 years, Nicki and mom to son Alex. Later, he was employed as a Program Manager and licensed construction contractor, for more than 15 years with Richard Heath and Associates.
A 20+ year resident of the rural San Diego community of Jamul, he raised his family on a property with high desert wildlife, fruit and avocado trees, as well as not-so-wild beloved four-footed family members Sammy the Springer Spaniel, Vega the Rottweiler (who thought he was a Poodle) and Bella the family doodle.
An avid fishing enthusiast, he enjoyed river and lake fishing for trout in Idaho, Oregon, and California. He spent time in the Gulf of Mexico fishing from a panga for rooster fish, dorado in Baja, California, and open ocean fishing for tuna and albacore.
At his request, no memorial services will be held, and his remains will be dispersed at a later date, by family. In lieu of flowers and cards, the family suggest and encourage a memorial donation to his cousin Sue Nixon's daughter, Tessa Nixon's GoFundMe (https://tinyurl.com/tessa-nixon-transplant) (Tessa is a resident of Boise).
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Published by Idaho Statesman from Jan. 14 to Jan. 17, 2025.
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