Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....Jensen, John October 25, 1990
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Suanne Tasker stasker@cmsinter.net February 15, 2014, 5:40 pm

Ionia Sentinel-Standard, Sat., Oct. 27, 1990
John Jensen, 92, of Belding, the man who for decades made wooden gavels, cutting 
boards and bowls for literally hundreds of persons died Wednesday at Carson City 
Hospital.

Born Sept. 8, 1897, in Borneholm Denmark, the son of Waldemar and Marie Jensen, 
he came to Ionia as a young man and later said he was hired to work in the 
railroad car shops after a foreman saw the trunk he had built to carry his 
tools.  He was  a third generation sawyer and was regarded by many as a 
consummate craftsman.

He also worked as Michigan Reformatory as supervisor of the furniture making 
department and then, for many years, owned and operated a woodworking shop and 
sawmill near Ionia.

A senior member of Ionia Elks, he served as tiler for 37 years as the Ionia 
lodge as a state tiler for two years.

Year after year, he made presentation gavels for Elks' exalted rulers and even 
for grand exalted rulers.  Presidents of local clubs, mayors, and visiting 
dignitaries were among those who received Jensen gavels, which he often made in 
black walnut.

Former President Gerald R. Ford has a Jensen gavel, presented when he was a U.S. 
Congressman from the Fifth Congressional District and a frequent visitor to 
Ionia.

Jensen also made hundreds of bread boards and bowls for person in the Ionia 
area, many, perhaps most, of which he presented as gifts.  His bread boards were 
often laminated of various hardwoods, including maple, walnut, oak and birdseye 
maple which he specially prized. In some instances, his bowls and cutting boards 
have become so prized they are specific bequests in wills.

He is survived by his wife Eva; a daughter; two grandchildren and one great 
grandchild; and a brother.

Preceding him in death on April 2, 1989, was a son, Donald D. Jensen of Ionia.

Funeral services will be Monday at 2 p.m. a tthe Cook Funeral Home, with the 
REv. Kenneth Harger of Shiloh COmmunity Church officiating.

Immediately following, Elks from Ionia Lodge NO. 548, and Grand Rapids Lodge 48, 
will conduct the fraternal service let by George Hamblin and James Lewis.

Pallbearers will also be Elks.

Burial will be in Woodard Lake Cemetery.



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