Kristian Bro Jensen 1927-2011

JENSEN LUSHER

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 4/15/2011 at 17:19:50

Sioux City Journal
16 February 2011

SIOUX CITY -- Kristian Bro Jensen, 83, of Sioux City passed away Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011.

Abiding by Kristian's wishes, private family interment in Memorial Park Cemetery will take place in the spring. Nelson-Berger Northside Chapel has assisted the family with arrangements.

Kristian was born March 5, 1927, in Jetsmark, Denmark, and grew up the only brother of four older sisters near the village of Ingstrup. As a teenager during World War II, he was a member of the Danish Resistance Movement, and together with his brother-in-law, smuggled Danish Jews in fishing boats off the mainland to Sweden during the Nazi occupation. They were arrested by SS officers and retained in a prisoner of war camp, then exiled to Sweden to avoid execution until the end of the war, when Kristian returned to Denmark before immigrating to the United States.

In 1952, Kris's Uncle Jens paid his way to the United States to work on his farm near Audubon, Iowa, for two years. There, he learned some English before moving to Storm Lake, Iowa, to live with his Uncle Niels, where he went to work at Vilas and Company. It was there Kristian met Alice Dell Lusher in the egg breaking department. The two were married on June 2, 1956, at the Assembly of God Church in Storm Lake. Together they played in The Shane Train, a country western band that toured Northwest Iowa. Kris played drums, and Alice played rhythm guitar and accordion. Kris and Alice made their home in Storm Lake for nearly 50 years.

There he worked in the refrigeration department of Bil-Mar Foods, where Alice also worked. Kris enjoyed his coworkers, who gave him many colorful nicknames. He also enjoyed activities with family, including fishing, playing cards, attending sporting events, and walking his dog, Sandy, to the lake.

Kris was a member of the Moose Lodge and St. John Lutheran Church. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in June 1985, an accomplishment of which he was particularly proud. Kris and Alice traveled often to be with family, taking trips to Virginia, California, North Dakota, Alaska, and Colorado. Over Christmas 1971, he and Alice traveled to Denmark to visit family, where he was received as a hero. Wherever they traveled, family and friends (and waiters and taxi drivers) bought them beer and gave them souvenirs to bring back to America. He was able to make the trip again in the summer of 1992 with his Uncle Niels. Kris and Alice moved to Sioux City in 2000 to be closer to family. They celebrated their 50th anniversary in the presence of friends and family. After Alice's death in 2006, Kris moved into the Fairmount Park Retirement Community, where he enjoyed socializing with the other residents. Kris will be remembered by all who knew him for his good humor, his singing and dancing, and his giving nature.

Kris is survived by his sister, Karen Christiansen of Ornborg, Denmark; a sister-in-law, Reba Walston of Sioux City; daughter, Lyn Dell Dinkel and her husband, Glenn of Sioux City; granddaughter, Ann Ross and her husband, Terry of Creston, Iowa; grandson, Jonathan Lindsay of Sergeant Bluff; granddaughter, Megan Cook and her husband, Bill of Lincoln, Neb.; three great-grandchildren, Kristin Shaw of Sioux City, Aaron and Jefferey Shaw of Creston, Iowa; as well as many nieces and nephews and their families in both the US and Denmark.

Kris was preceded in death by his parents, Ane Marie and Otto Jensen; two sisters, Margrethe and Ellen; and his wife, Alice.