Bertrand (Bud) Aldon Jensen
July 12, 1920 — October 31, 2005
B. A. (Bud) Jensen, 85, of 100 Thompson Drive S.E., Cedar Rapids, died Monday, October 31, 2005, in Mercy Medical Center, Cedar Rapids, from an aneurysm. Memorial Service: 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, November 2, 2005, at First Lutheran Church, Cedar Rapids, by the Rev. Dr. Kay Slocum. The family will greet friends from 4-8 p.m., Tuesday, November 1, 2005, at Murdoch-Linwood Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Cedar Rapids. Entombment: Linwood Mausoleum with military honors.
A Celebration of Life for Kirkwood family and friends will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 20, 2005, at Ballantyne Auditorium at Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids.
Survivors include his wife, Margaret Ann; two daughters, Christine Marie Kindred of Norwalk, Iowa, and Cassandra Lee Jensen of Cedar Rapids; a son, Eric (Nancy) Jensen of Riverside, Illinois; a brother, Richard Jensen of Cedar Rapids; and a sister, Lyndell Huber of Cedar Rapids. Also surviving are three grandchildren, Matthew Stephen Kindred of Washington, Iowa, Dana Jensen and Robin Jensen both of Riverside, Illinois; and many many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; a daughter, Cheryl Ann Jensen; and two sisters, Lucille Gantz and Shirley Clark.
Bud was born July 12, 1920, in Cedar Rapids, the son of Jacob and Lucille (Armstrong) Jensen. On May 11, 1946, he was united in marriage to Margaret Ann Cook in Los Angeles, California. He served in the US Army Air Force during WWII as a radio operator/gunner on B-17 planes and received the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, Unit Citation, Good Conduct Medal, Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters and the European Theater Ribbon with 4 bronze stars. A longtime Cedar Rapids resident, he worked at Penick & Ford, and later founded B. A. Jensen Masonry Construction Inc., retiring in 1982.
He was a member of the Cedar Rapids Rotary, and was elected to the Cedar Rapids School Board for thirteen years, the last seven as president. In 1966 he was elected as the first chairman of the Board of Directors of Kirkwood Community College, where he served until 1984. Bud was often quoted from his famous "Hands of a Bricklayer? speech, which he made in 1965 to the Iowa Legislature which influenced passage of the legislation allowing area schools to offer the first two years of a four-year post secondary education. In 1967 he was elected the first president of the Iowa Council of Area School Boards and was elected to a three year term on the Governing Board of the National Council of Community Colleges. In 1972 Bud was elected the first vice-president of the American Association of Community College Trustees and was later elected president. He served as president of the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges in 1975 and received the M. Dale Ensign Award from the Association of Community College Trustees. He continued to remain actively involved with Kirkwood by serving on the Kirkwood Facilities Foundation Board.
This lifelong champion of education did not have the opportunity himself to attend college. In a fitting tribute, Kirkwood presented him with an honorary Associate of Arts, Letters and Humanities degree in 1984 and in 1989 named its new Kirkwood Hall Board Room in his honor.
Friends and colleagues are remembering the deep regards for education that was a hallmark of Bud?s life. They also recall him enthusiasm for "wild game dinners,? fishing, hunting and his constant promotion for the college, its students and mission to the community.
Military honors by the VFW Post 788.
Memorials may be made to the B.A. & Margaret Jensen Endowed Scholarship for deserving students, in care of the Kirkwood Community College Foundation, P.O. Box 2068, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52406.
A Celebration of Life for Kirkwood family and friends will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 20, 2005, at Ballantyne Auditorium at Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids.
Survivors include his wife, Margaret Ann; two daughters, Christine Marie Kindred of Norwalk, Iowa, and Cassandra Lee Jensen of Cedar Rapids; a son, Eric (Nancy) Jensen of Riverside, Illinois; a brother, Richard Jensen of Cedar Rapids; and a sister, Lyndell Huber of Cedar Rapids. Also surviving are three grandchildren, Matthew Stephen Kindred of Washington, Iowa, Dana Jensen and Robin Jensen both of Riverside, Illinois; and many many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; a daughter, Cheryl Ann Jensen; and two sisters, Lucille Gantz and Shirley Clark.
Bud was born July 12, 1920, in Cedar Rapids, the son of Jacob and Lucille (Armstrong) Jensen. On May 11, 1946, he was united in marriage to Margaret Ann Cook in Los Angeles, California. He served in the US Army Air Force during WWII as a radio operator/gunner on B-17 planes and received the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, Unit Citation, Good Conduct Medal, Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters and the European Theater Ribbon with 4 bronze stars. A longtime Cedar Rapids resident, he worked at Penick & Ford, and later founded B. A. Jensen Masonry Construction Inc., retiring in 1982.
He was a member of the Cedar Rapids Rotary, and was elected to the Cedar Rapids School Board for thirteen years, the last seven as president. In 1966 he was elected as the first chairman of the Board of Directors of Kirkwood Community College, where he served until 1984. Bud was often quoted from his famous "Hands of a Bricklayer? speech, which he made in 1965 to the Iowa Legislature which influenced passage of the legislation allowing area schools to offer the first two years of a four-year post secondary education. In 1967 he was elected the first president of the Iowa Council of Area School Boards and was elected to a three year term on the Governing Board of the National Council of Community Colleges. In 1972 Bud was elected the first vice-president of the American Association of Community College Trustees and was later elected president. He served as president of the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges in 1975 and received the M. Dale Ensign Award from the Association of Community College Trustees. He continued to remain actively involved with Kirkwood by serving on the Kirkwood Facilities Foundation Board.
This lifelong champion of education did not have the opportunity himself to attend college. In a fitting tribute, Kirkwood presented him with an honorary Associate of Arts, Letters and Humanities degree in 1984 and in 1989 named its new Kirkwood Hall Board Room in his honor.
Friends and colleagues are remembering the deep regards for education that was a hallmark of Bud?s life. They also recall him enthusiasm for "wild game dinners,? fishing, hunting and his constant promotion for the college, its students and mission to the community.
Military honors by the VFW Post 788.
Memorials may be made to the B.A. & Margaret Jensen Endowed Scholarship for deserving students, in care of the Kirkwood Community College Foundation, P.O. Box 2068, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52406.
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