Allen Jensen

Allen Lee Jensen, 82, passed away June 3, 2013 after a brief but difficult battle with cancer. He was born February 6, 1931 to Leah Viola Wilson and Thorvald Arthur Jensen.

He was a proud resident of Lyman, Wyoming all of his life. During the Korean Conflict he served honorably in the US Army. He was trained in Hawaii and Maryland before being transferred to Paris, France to work as a mechanic for NATO.

He married Gwynda Anne Lindsey June 5, 1964 in the Salt Lake Temple. Had he lived, they would have celebrated their 49th anniversary this week.

He was a faithful member and High Priest in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He held numerous callings in the church, as a counselor in two bishoprics, as executive secretary, ward clerk, High Priest group leader and home teacher.

He had a rugged face, a muscular build and hands toughened by decades of labor. Yet any who knew him knew his longsuffering, uncomplaining spirit, his selflessness and sensitivity, his kind and gentle heart.

His lifelong career as a mechanic began at the age of 10 when Slade Motors, a local dealership, hired the boy to clean auto parts. 72 years later, just weeks before his death, he was still at work.  For over two decades the Uinta Country School District #6 employed him as fleet mechanic. Well into his seventies he maintained the buses and vans that safely transported countless children all over the state of Wyoming. His auto-body work, his painting and detailing skills were impeccable. He kept his business, Jensen Automotive, open and the vehicles (and radiators) of Bridger Valley painted and running until the end.

The man was a gifted carpenter and craftsman. He single-handedly built an A-frame addition to his home without a plan or blueprint. He designed and welded the addition’s wood-burning stove and spiral staircase. He proudly lived an active, healthy life. He loved exercise, running, biking and hunting, but his great passion was waterskiing. He taught his children, their friends, his nieces and nephews how to ski. He kept his classic ski boat with its outboard Mercury motor running from 1960 to the present. He last water skied at the age of 76 and for his 75th birthday snowmobiled by himself to the top of Two Top Mountain in Island Park, ID.

He leaves behind his wife, Gwynda; children, Shane and Hollie Jensen of Santa Clara, UT, Melani and Randy Smith of Idaho Falls, ID, and Jon Jensen of New York, NY; his brother and sister-in-law, Craig and Judy Jensen of Lyman; sisters-in-law, Gloria Jensen of Lyman and Sharon Jensen of Mountain View; and his beloved grandchildren, Lindsey, Jacqueline, Mitchell, Brooklyn and Emery; and numerous nieces and nephews.

His son, Benjamin, his mother and father, his brothers, Udell, Rodney and Sherman and his sister, Eileen preceded him to the grave.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, June 8 at 2pm at the Lyman LDS Chapel. A viewing will be held an hour and a half prior to the services. Interment will follow services at the Lyman Cemetery.