Carole Diane (Braden) Jensen (1939-2023)

JENSEN, BRADEN

Posted By: Mark Christian
Date: 8/24/2023 at 17:03:55

From Grandon Funeral and Cremation Care, Ames, Story County, Iowa.

Carole D. Jensen, 84 years, of Cedar Falls and Ames, Iowa, died peacefully on May 2, 2023 with her beloved husband of sixty three years, Harold M. Jensen, at her side.

A Remembrance gathering will be held at 1:00 PM Saturday, May 6 at Grandon Funeral Home, 414 Lincoln Way, Ames, Iowa. Memorial Service at 2:00 PM. Internment will be at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery at a later date.

Carole Diane Braden Jensen was born on January 6, 1939, in Independence, Iowa. She was the daughter of Kenneth and Alta Braden, and the loving older sister of Robert Coe Braden. She grew up on a farm in Winthrop, Iowa where she was an active member of the school and the community. She was related to so many of the other people in the town and the countryside that she always said that one had to be cautious of what they said about each other because it was probably a cousin of hers.

Carole earned her teaching degree and certificate from Iowa State Teachers College (now University of Northern Iowa) in 1958 and taught in Manchester, Iowa for two years. During the summer of 1958 she met her true love, Harold Marius Jensen, at the Old Settlers Days in Maxwell, Iowa. At the time they danced together he told her that "this was much easier than pushing a wheelbarrow," so she wasn't exactly sure if she should be flattered or not, but he sent a postcard to her from Denmark a few weeks later and decided he was someone special.

Harold and Carole married on June 5, 1960, at the First Congressional Church in Winthrop, Iowa. The two of them had three children, Dean, Diane, and Daniel. She was the loving mother-in-law to Julie and Kim. She was the grandmother of Christopher/Selene, Kathleen, Brittany, Alyssa, Kayla, Maya, and Dayton. She was the great grandmother of Orrin, Oliver, Brooks, Camden, and soon to be two more.

They lived in various towns and cities, but spent most years in Cedar Falls, Iowa and Ames, Iowa where they made many wonderful friends and served their communities in multiple ways. Carole was a very caring, loving and civic minded friend and family member. She was always quietly making sure that everyone felt supported, and that if there was a job that needed to be done, it was done. She was involved in many organizations including Boy and Girl Scouts, Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, camping with the Scouts and volunteering at the school for her children. She continued being involved in the community running historical sites like the Little Red School House in Cedar Falls and Hoggatt School in Ames. She was a Poll Worker and volunteered for the Story County Emergency Management coordinating and teaching volunteers for emergency disasters such as the occasional floods. She was a member of Altrusa and PEO which involved service projects for the community. She was a woman whose life made a large and loving impact on those who knew and loved her.

She is survived by her husband, children Dean (Julie), Diane, and Daniel (Kim), 7 grandchildren, 3 great grandchildren and brother Robert Braden (Virginia).