Leslie Jensen, age 85, of Alpena, passed away Friday, March 17, 2023, at the Huron Regional Medical Center.

His funeral service was held at 11:00 AM, Saturday, March 25, at the First Presbyterian Church, Huron. His service was live-streamed through our website.

View Les' Funeral Folder

Burial was in the Rest Haven Cemetery, Alpena, with military honors.

Visitation was held from 1:00 to 7:00 PM Friday at the Kuhler Funeral Home, with his family present from 5:00 to 7:00 PM Friday evening. A prayer service was held at 6:30 PM. His prayer service was live-streamed through our website.

Memorials may be directed to the United Parish of Alpena.

Leslie LaVerne Jensen was born September 24, 1937, to Clifford and Nellie (Heggen) Jensen at Mitchell. The family lived at Storla for the next 5 years. They then moved to Alpena where Leslie attended all 12 grades of school. While in high school, he participated in basketball, track, yearbook and class officer. In track, he pole-vaulted at the State Track Meet for several years, including the year he had to hitch hike to the meet.

Les continued his education at Blair, Nebraska where he played basketball for a short time.

He was a proud Marine, as he served his country from July 31, 1956 to July 30, 1958 at Camp Pendleton, California. One job there was to drive people around, which included Matt Dillon and Miss Kitty from Gunsmoke.

On January 27, 1963, Les married Mary Louise Elliott at Woonsocket. They made their home at Alpena, where they raised their family for 60 years.

Leslie played with the Alpena Amateur Baseball team and later managed the team. He also played with the Alpena Independent Basketball team, played slow-pitch and bowled.

Professionally, Les was a truck driver, livestock producer, corn shelling in all weather conditions, bonded cattle order buyer sitting for hours at sales and partner in owning Jensen Grain. He loved being around cattle all his life and watching horse races especially #3.

Les and Mary Louise enjoyed traveling 35 states, following their grandchildren's activities, watching basketball all over and watching the birds and squirrels out the window. He had an extensive collection of red birds, moose and hats. They also enjoyed making multiple trips wherever Leo would send them. Les was famous for his statement "sleep on it."

He was preceded in death by his parents, Clifford and Nellie Jensen; siblings and their spouses, John and Barbara Jensen, Lloyd Jensen, Marian and Martin Anderson, Jr. Ardis and Les Grace, Nellie Jensen at birth, Willis Jensen, Betty Jensen, Bobby Jensen; his parents-in-law, Orval and Sarah Elliott; and brother-in-law, Charles Elliott.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Mary Louise; two daughters, VaLynda (Todd) Weller of Aberdeen and Brenda (Alan) Schmidt of Huron; one son, Leo (Annette Bowen) Jensen of Alpena; three grandchildren, Kirby Weller of Jamestown, North Dakota, Sabrena (Robert) Brooks of Huron and Tabitha (Dylan) Unruh of Redfield; four great-grandchildren, Nolyn Weller and Ezekiel, Ezra and Eliza Brooks; two bonus children, Kyle Uttecht and Kelly Uttecht; one sister-in-law, Ruth Jensen of Wessington Springs; his in-laws, Howard Elliott of Avon, Gary (Rita) Elliott of Jefferson City, Missouri and Ethel (Kenneth) Kruger of Papillion, Nebraska; as well as nieces and nephews that Les always enjoyed seeing, including the greats, great-greats and great-great-greats.

View Les' Floral Arrangements