Edris Jensen, 94, died Friday, Nov. 30, 2007, at the Liberty Medical Center in Chester.
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Chester. Burial will be in the Chester Cemetery. A luncheon will follow at the church fellowship hall. She was born Gertrude Edris Graham on July 15, 1913, at Dogden, N.D. to Myrtle Hanson and Wilford Graham. She spent a few of her early years in Tennessee before her family moved to Liberty County. Edris received her early education at the Bear Den and Roke country schools, then graduated from Chester High School in 1933. She married Walter F. Jensen on Dec. 15, 1934, in Joplin. They made their home in Chester where they raised a family of four. Her early employment included bookkeeping positions at Chester Trading Company, Svennunsgen Chevrolet, and Triangle Hardware. In 1951, Edris was elected the second assessor in the history of Liberty County. She served as the county assessor for 27 years until her retirement in 1978. The Jensens had been married almost 60 years when Walt died on May 23, 1994. Soon after, Edris moved to the Sweetgrass Lodge; in 2002 she moved to Wheat Country Estate. In June of 2007 she transferred back to the Lodge. Edris was a lifelong member of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church and W.E.L.C.A. In addition she served as the volunteer treasurer of Our Savior’s for 35 years. Edris was also active in the Eastern Star, the Business and Professional Women’s Club, and the Republican Women’s group. She was preceded in death by her husband, Walt; her father, Wilford; her mother and step-father, Myrtle and Harry Hoffner; a grandson, Douglas Walter Jensen; brothers, Arlo Graham and Donald Hoffner; and sisters, Mable Dafoe and Ruth Arletta Hoffner. Edris is survived by her daughters, Marilynn (Lyle) Whelchel of Albuquerque, N.M., and Arletta Nicholson of Havre; sons, Gary (Bev) Jensen and Carmen (Julane) Jensen, both of Chester; an unofficially adopted son, Gordon Nelsen of Conrad; a sister-in-law, Beth Graham of Chester; 17 grandchildren; 29 great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. Arrangements are by Rockman Funeral Chapel in Chester.
