Carolyn Bekins “Tigger” Jensen 1933 - 2017

JENSEN, SLAGLE, BEKINS

Posted By: Connie Swearingen -Volunteer (email)
Date: 9/24/2017 at 09:23:50

Sioux City Journal
18 June 2017

Carolyn Bekins “Tigger” Jensen, 84, of Sioux City, was gathered into the arms of God for healing from Alzheimer’s on June 12, 2017.

Memorial services will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at First Presbyterian Church. The Rev. Dr. Tom Murray will officiate. Burial will be in Logan Park Cemetery. Visitation with the family present will be 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, at Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel. Online condolences may be sent to www.meyerbroschapels.com.

Tigger was born in Omaha, Neb., on Feb. 2, 1933, to Paul and Nancy Slagle Bekins. She married Irving F. Jensen Jr., on Nov. 1, 1954, in Sioux City, and was the loving mother to their five children and the best “Ger” her crowd of grandchildren and great-grandchildren could ask for.

Tigger, given her nickname for her energetic nature as a child, lived up to her moniker as an active member of her community, serving as president of the Clark Elementary School PTA, president of PEO Chapter LD, president of Portfolio Book Club, and president of Questers Antique Study Club. Tigger also was on the board of the Sioux City Art Center, Girl Scouts, was part of the Peace Project to beautify Sioux City by planting trees, an active member of the Junior League, and was instrumental in bringing the Freedom Train to Sioux City. She was a longtime member of the Okoboji Yacht Club and a champion Y class sailor. Tigger had been a longtime member of Our Saviors Lutheran Church and was currently a member of First Presbyterian Church. For her dedication to her community, Tigger was awarded an honorary doctorate from Morningside College in Sioux City in May of 2011.

She loved to play tennis and bridge, but most of all, Tigger loved children. An expert needle pointer, she needle pointed Christmas stockings for all of her grandchildren. She was involved in the Children’s Theater Project of the Junior League and taught children how to water ski in the summers. Every summer she hosted her ever-growing family in Okoboji for a week of fun she called “Ger’s Camp.” Her grandchildren will always remember these weeks as some of the best of their childhoods. Even as Alzheimer’s made communication for her difficult, Tigger always lit up when her younger grandchildren came to visit her, and when she was introduced to her great-grandchildren.

She is survived by her husband, Irving F. Jensen Jr. of Sioux City; daughter, Mia Jensen (Sean O’Malley) of Jackson, Wyo.; daughter, Juliana Mayne (John) of Sioux City; daughter, Carolyn Bender (Robert Garesché) of Dallas, Texas; daughter, Nancy Kent (Dean) of Sioux City; son, Irving F. Jensen, III (Melissa) of Dakota Dunes; her sister, Jane Meginnis of St. George, Utah; and grandchildren, Katherine Mayne Wheeler (Jack), Wiley E. Mayne III, and Juliana Marya Mayne; Erika Burton (Chris), Carolyn DeTrempe (Andrew), and Robert Bender; Nancy Nicole Vakulskas (Dan), Dean Alexander Kent and Christian Kent; Irving F. Jensen IV, Henry Jensen, Hayden Jensen, and Bennett Jensen; great-grandchildren, Elizabeth Wheeler, Charles Burton, and Samuel and Madison Vakulskas, and many brothers- and sisters-in law, nieces, nephews and cousins.

Tigger is preceded in death by her parents, Paul and Nancy Bekins; grandparents, Johannes and Dena Bekins, and Walter and Florence Lamson.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Morningside College or Hospice of Siouxland.