Obituary: Rose Afton Jensen Whitehead

Rose Afton Jensen Whitehead 1933 ~ 2011

Rose Afton Jensen Whitehead, 77, passed away on February 11, 2011 due to complications from a stroke.

Afton (her preferred name) was born June 15, 1933 in Goshen, Utah to Charles Christopher Jensen and Emma Louisa Bale, as the youngest of nine children.

She was raised in Provo and graduated from Provo High School in 1951. She received secretarial training at the old Vocational School (now UVU). She was the school secretary at the Dixon Junior High School. She was a skilled seamstress making many of her own clothes.

She married Armand Toyn Whitehead June 21, 1954 in the Salt Lake Temple. They both grew up in the old 11th Ward of the West Utah Stake. Armand served in the USAF for 8 years so they resided in Texas, Mississippi, and England. They then returned to Provo while Armand went to BYU and then to Berkeley, California where he received his Ph.D. They lived in Orem for 42 years while Armand taught at BYU.

She is the mother of five children Steven Karl (Susan Law), Roseann (Ron Cram), Richard Ernest (Sandra Keller), Irene (Randy Lapp), and Mary Ann (Peter Overson). 15 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren lovingly remember her. Her parents and all her siblings preceded her in death.

Her church service included Gospel Doctrine Teacher, Relief Society President, Stake Relief Society Board, Ward and Relief Society Chorister. She and Armand have served full-time missions in Hong Kong, Albuquerque, NM, the Asuncion Paraguay Temple, and Fresno, CA. They recently served as service missionaries at the MTC in Provo. She was a very faithful servant of Jesus Christ.

She is fondly remembered for her love for people. She was very outgoing and interested in the welfare of all. She had a quick wit and a zest for life. She loved to go camping with her family. She loved her cats.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, February 19, 2011 at the Sharon Park 1st Ward Chapel, 100 East 300 North, Orem, Utah. Friends may call at the Berg Mortuary of Orem, 500 North State Street, Friday evening from 6 until 8 and at the church Saturday from 9:30-10:45 a.m. prior to services. Interment, Orem City Cemetery. Condolences may be sent to the family through www.bergmortuary.com.  In lieu of flowers, please donate to Primary Children's Hospital.

(The Daily Herald, Feb. 16, 2011)

Buried at Orem City Cemetery

Joseph William Jensen Obituary

c. 1941 Joseph William Jensen "Bill"

Joseph W. Jensen

June 14, 1945, Deseret News 

[No photo included]

            PROVO – Funeral Services for Joseph William (Billy) Jensen, 18 year old Provo youth, drowned Sunday at the mouth of Provo River on Utah Lake, will be conducted Friday at 1:30 p.m. in the Provo Second Ward chapel by Bishop J. Earl Lewis.

            Burial will be in the Goshen cemetery.  Friends may call at the Valley Mortuary Thursday evening, and at the family home 713 W. 4^th S. St. Friday prior to Services.

Youth Drowns in Provo River
(Published in the Ogden State Examiner, Ogden, Utah on 11 Jun 1945)

PROVO, Utah, June 11 (AP) - An 18-year-old Provo youth met death by drowning last night when his horse threw him while fording the Provo river.

Police said the animal apparently had pawed the boy, Joseph William Jensen, after throwing him into the stream.

Diving from a rowboat, Miss Norma Brown 20, swam 75 yards to where Jensen hit the water but was unable to locate him. She dived several times in an effort to bring him up but was forced to stop when the chill water numbed her body.

Buried in the Goshen City Cemetery, Goshen, Utah, USA

Bill, as his family called him, was very good with horses, but one day when he was only 18 he and his brothers crossed the Provo River when the spring runoff was torrential.  The undertow took the legs right out from under Bill's horse, and they both fell in the raging river.  Bill's horse made it, but Bill didn't.  He didn't know how to swim.  His youngest sister, Rose Afton Jensen, recalled how she stood with her mother on the banks of the Provo River as they dredged the river and brought up her beloved brother's body.  To add insult to injury, Bill was buried on Afton's 12th birthday, June 15th, 1945, in the Goshen Cemetery.  For the rest of her life, Afton never learned how to swim and was afraid of water, and all because of the impact her brother's death had on her.   She said that Bill was a character, her protector, and her greatest tormentor!  One day, Afton got so mad at Bill that, when she was about 11 years old she took the scissors she was using to cut article from the newspaper and hurled them at Bill for something he had teased her about; their mother walked in the room, just as the scissors nicked Bill's cheek and hit the wall.  Afton got a lickin' for that little stint, but she felt more badly because she realized how her actions could have led to disaster.  She said Bill didn't tease her quite as much after the scissors incident.

Death Certificate for Joseph William Jensen

Reese Jensen Photos (full name: Ernest Maurice)

I was recently reunited with some of my cousins on Facebook, and they asked if I had any photos of Reese and his kids.  Well, I am happy to say that I do (thanks to my mom!) and here they are.

(NOTE:  The information that I post with the photo is the info that my mom labeled for each picture.  I'm sure there may be some mistakes and if you catch these mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them.  Thanks!)


Ernest Maurice Jensen - aka Reese:
Birth:  31 Dec 1929 in Goshen, Utah County, Utah, USA
Death: 2 Dec 1984 in Mt. Pleasant, San Pete County, USA

Reese Jensen, School Photo

Reese, c. 1941

Clockwise from Top:  Billy, Reese, Afton, Emma.  Standing in front of Charlie and Emma's home in Provo. c. 1941

Another school photo.  He attended the Franklin School in Provo, Utah.

Reese, on the front porch of Jensen House in Provo. c. 1947

Reese, chopping wood by the shed. c. 1947

Reese,  February 1962

Michael Jensen, Reese's son, c 1956

Bobbie Jensen, Reese's son c. 1954

Michael Jensen, as a baby

Michael and Bobbie, Reese's sons

Afton holding Bobbie, Reese's son, and Reese. c. 1952

Armand Toyn Whitehead & Rose Afton Jensen

Armand Toyn Whitehead, 1953, while a basic trainee at Lackland Air Force Base

 

Rose Afton Jensen, 1851, Provo High School graduation picture

My mother and father; they have been married 56 years!  They have 5 children; I am the youngest.