Elvin and Cleo Jensen

Elvin Eugene Jensen and Cleo Lorraine Jensen passed away approximately 14 months apart very peacefully in separate Fort Collins nursing homes. They were together during courtship and marriage for 76 years. It was felt by the family that because of their long-term relationship it was fitting, since they are at peace with their God in heaven, they be honored here as a memorial to their constant, loving relationship. They are pictured above in their only professional photograph in celebration of their 30th wedding anniversary.

Elvin Eugene Jensen

Elvin Eugene Jensen was born March 2, 1920 near Maywood, Minnesota in Benton County. He was one of four children born to Ernest Emil Jensen and Lillian Augusta Magnuson. He had two brothers and one sister. Life was not easy on the central plains of Minnesota, and the family struggled during the time that Elvin was growing up. Elvin did not like school. Due to his shyness and probable boredom, he continued to complain to his father that he wanted to quit school. His persistence finally got him his wish, and his father put him to work in a granary loading 100 pound sacks of grain daily. Elvin was a physically strong young man and developed a strong body which served him well throughout his life of physical labor. His lack of formal education did not stop him from developing many skills. During his work at the granary, he met a very delightful lady, who teased this 6 foot 2 inch, 210 pound man, with his curly, platinum blonde hair. She captured his heart. Cleo Lorraine Hulett was his one and only love. She was a bubbly, fun loving young woman who was 6 feet tall and a country girl. She and Elvin made a perfect couple.

After being married in Michigan, Elvin and Cleo moved to a small, rented farm owned by Elvin's grandfather. They struggled for a number of years during the onset of World War II. During the early years of their relationship, their one and only son, Donald Eugene, was born. The small farm could not sustain the family, and Elvin was forced to take a job in Milaca, Minnesota as a mechanic at the Ford garage. He managed to run the farm and work at the garage.

The family moved to Milaca where they were both closer to their places of employment.

It was there Elvin worked as an apprentice learning the art of body work and painting automobiles. Cleo also worked in a retail store. Donald found it difficult moving from a one-room school house to a much larger school. Elvin progressed in the art of body work and painting cars by studying books and tapes. He became an artisan in his trade. He could take demolished cars, fix the outside and interior, and by the time they rolled out of the shop they looked brand new! Elvin and Cleo eventually started, in addition to his work at the garage, a small mom-and-pop restaurant.

The family then moved eight miles out of town to a 47-acre farm where, with the assistance of Cleo's brother and wife, they started a used car and auto salvage business. A number of years later Elvin and Cleo sold their interest in the business to her brother. Elvin went to work for another Ford garage in Princeton, a small community 13 miles south of Milaca. Cleo went to work once again after leaving her former job as bookkeeper of the auto salvage and used car business. Elvin became an accomplished mechanic, and Cleo became an instant hit as a waitress at a K-Bob’s, a popular restaurant in Princeton.

They built a beautiful ranch home in Princeton, but their residence there was short lived when Elvin was offered a job at Golden Ford Motors in Golden, Colorado. As was the case before, when Elvin and Cleo were together, they were always partners. They rented an apartment in Wheatridge, Colorado, and in a short time they became managers of the 100+ unit building. Cleo became the full-time manager, and Elvin helped her after coming home from his full-time job at the garage. Elvin was initially hired as a general mechanic, but studied books and manuals and developed into an automatic transmission specialist. It was a very technical and demanding job. He met every challenge head-on. He was extremely hardworking, intelligent and an accomplished person at everything that he did.

During his time in Minnesota, it wasn't all work and no play. They enjoyed the Minnesota State Fair, auto racing, fishing and long motor trips. Elvin raced his beloved 1947 Ford coupe on a quarter-mile track in Northern Minnesota. He helped designed and assisted in building the quarter-mile dirt track in Milaca, where in the first year he won the trophy for the most wins in the Trophy Race for the fastest car on the track. During all of the races in his career, he never rolled a vehicle and had only one minor crash.

Later in life, Elvin and Cleo moved from Wheatridge, Colorado to Fort Collins, Colorado, and then spent the next twenty years in Kingman, Arizona. During Elvin and Cleo's retirement in Arizona, they enjoyed the mild climate which was a wonderful respite from Minnesota's cruel winters. They also liked the visits from family and friends and as well as trips to the casinos in Laughlin, Nevada, only 38 miles from Kingman where they dropped a few quarters and enjoyed the reasonably-priced buffets.

They also enjoyed geography, video poker, listening to TV news reports, and they were both avid baseball fans of the Arizona Diamondbacks from the inception of the franchise. And later they became very interested in NFL football since their great-grandson, Ryan Jensen was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens and currently plays on the offensive line.

In 2008, Elvin and Cleo returned to Colorado for their remaining years to be close to family. Elvin passed away in the very early morning hours on March 7, 2013 in Fort Collins, Colorado, just five days after his 93rd birthday. He was preceded in death by his father, Ernest Emil Jensen; his mother, Lillian Augusta (Magnuson) Jensen; his siblings Arthur, Alfred and Mirth; and many friends and associates.

He is survived by his son, Donald Eugene Jensen; his grandchildren Deborah Tamez, Dean (Jane) Jensen, Sean (Valerie) Jensen, and Julie (William) Prehm; his great-grandchildren Tanya (Enrique) Soto, Steven Lopez, Seth (Haleigh) Jensen, Ryan Jensen, Cassandra Jensen, Kira Prehm, Jesika Prehm and William Prehm; his great-great-grandchildren Xavier Velasquez-Soto, Alexander Vasquez-Soto, Navaiya Soto, Naleiya Soto, Alec Jensen and Jerika Jensen; nephews, John (Carol) Hulett and Gary Hulett.

Cleo Lorraine Jensen

Cleo Lorraine Jensen was born on May 20, 1916 in Anoka, Minnesota in Anoka County. She was the oldest and only daughter of Alvah Orin Hulett and Stella Mae Groat. Cleo had three brothers, one of which passed away as a baby. Cleo, not unlike Elvin, came from a poor family that struggled to make a living while she was growing up on the farm. They moved from Minnesota to Wisconsin where her father farmed, and they grew produce to make a living. Cleo being the oldest child in the family did a lot

of housework and watched her brothers. She was always people-oriented and loved to talk to people, young or old. She was very attached to her father and mentioned many times how she missed him when he passed away at a fairly young age from cancer.

The family, while living in Wisconsin sold vegetables and melons on the roadside to tourists and city folks. Cleo enjoyed that part of the hard work,

but not taking care of her brothers, doing housework, washing clothes on a washboard and walking five miles each way to school. In spite of a tough work schedule, Cleo graduated from Partyeville High School in 1933. The school burned to the ground a few years after Cleo and the family moved back to Minnesota. The only evidence she had that she graduated from high school was a class picture and her diploma which years later was accidentally destroyed. Luckily, the group class picture with the name of each member’s name listed below their picture is the only proof that she graduated from high school.

Upon moving back to a small farm, north of Milaca, the story of the acquaintance of Cleo and Elvin took place. Cleo was a person of persistence. She was the peacemaker of the family. She was a woman of many talents, but she never thought of herself as a special woman, which is not how she was perceived by her family, friends and acquaintances.

Cleo stood beside Elvin from the time they met through their incredibly long marriage. She worked hard as a farm wife, restaurant owner, mother, bookkeeper, waitress, apartment manager and faithful wife.

As a young woman, she was a 4-H leader and guided young people in Wisconsin to many blue ribbons and several Grand Champions in gardening and livestock. She was loved by her 4-H kids and classmates. She was an inspiration to the young and in her later years to the elderly. She wanted to play athletics, but her mother said she had to stay at home and help out the family. When she was in high school, she showed her athletic ability with her height and long legs when she outran an angry bull on her walk from high school. She got to a wooden bridge that crossed a stream and she knew if she made it to the bridge that the bull wouldn't cross it as is the case with cattle in general. She told the story of how she felt the warm air from the bull's nostrils on her back as she was about to cross over the bridge.

Cleo was special in retail sales. She used to tell about how she waited on the Indians from up north that came into the little retail store named Brownlees. The male Indians always bought the clothes for their wives and they insisted that only Cleo waited on them. When she ran the M and M restaurant, some people would travel several hundred miles out of their way on their vacation trips just to stop at her little place and order her hot beef sandwich with gravy and mashed potatoes!

That was the way it was with Cleo. When her son Donald was ill for four weeks, she would walk four blocks from the restaurant every noon to deliver her wonderful hamburger, chocolate malt and a comic book to him every day until he got well. Donald was her special and only son. Donald’s favorite story was when he wanted to take swimming lessons when he was in 5th grade during the summer at the Municipal pool. She said, ""Don, I don't want you to go to that pool. You might drown!'

Cleo always was a worrier, but outside the home, you never would have known it. She loved people, and they loved her. She was fun-loving and enjoyed dancing with Elvin's uncle. They used to steal the show whenever they danced. It was unfortunate that Elvin never danced and was much more reserved and quiet in social surroundings. Cleo was an excellent cook and taught her son to cook as well as dance. She also enjoyed canning, and she was an avid baseball and football fan. There are so many stories about the good things that Cleo did for her son and for others. In the nursing homes, she was known as ""Miss Cleo!” Even close to her last weeks on earth, she kept her smile, laugh and dignity. She passed with dignity as did Elvin. She said she wanted to go home to the Lord and to her beloved husband and family. She did not want to leave her family here, but she knew at her 98th birthday that time was drawing close.

Her legacy to Colorado seniors is a Bill that passed with the help of a wonderful Senator from Fort Collins, Senator John Kafalas. That Bill is Cleo's present to the current seniors and those to come forever. It is a result of Cleo having her I.D.s lost in a medical office, and the problems that she had getting the I.D.s replaced. It took 9 months! She presented the problem to Senator Kafalas who wrote the Bill that passed both the House and Senate of Colorado without a single negative vote. The Bill allows seniors to replace a lost or renew their Colorado I.D. without going through the Motor Vehicle Division. Cleo's and Senator Kafalas work affects the lives of over 150,000 seniors currently and thousands more in the future.

Yes, Cleo Lorraine Jensen affected the lives of people she never will know. Her family was affected greatly, and especially her only son.

Cleo passed away at the age of 98 on July 26, 2014 in Fort Collins, Colorado. She was preceded in death by her father, Alvah Orin Hulett; her mother, Stella Mae (Groat) Hulett; her step-father Irvin D. Nye; her Aunt Irma Cooper; her husband of 76 years, Elvin Eugene Jensen; her brothers, Robert Arthur Hulett and Harry Hulett; her sisters-in-law, LaDonna Hulett and Arleen Hulett; and her special friends, Alberta and Clifford; and Loren.

She is survived by her son, Donald Eugene Jensen; her brother, George

Ivan Hulett; her grandchildren, Deborah Tamez, Dean (Jane) Jensen, Sean (Valerie) Jensen, and Julie (William) Prehm; her great-grandchildren Tanya (Enrique) Soto, Steven Lopez, Seth (Haleigh) Jensen, Ryan Jensen, Cassandra Jensen, Kira Prehm, Jesika Prehm and William Prehm; her great-great-grandchildren Xavier Velasquez-Soto, Alexander Vasquez-Soto, Navaiya Soto, Naleiya Soto, Alec Jensen and Jerika Jensen; nephews John (Carol) Hulett, Gary Hulett. Elvin and Cleo’s special friends, Marion, Robert and Millie, Lois, Rob and Cathy, Louise and Mark, Saralouise and Judd, Jeanne, Joan, Joanne, Sandy and Steve, Suzanne and Tom, Ron and Renee, Sam and Myrtle, Deb and Bo, Connie, Rose, John and Beth, Samantha and Steven, Donna, Janet, Mary Lou, Troy, Bob and Jill and Ruth.

Elvin and Cleo Jensen to some were just plain folks, but to many they were honest, hard-working people with great integrity. They will be greatly missed! Now, after years of work, they have found the peace and rest they both deserve with their Lord and passed family!

Cremation has taken place and a private memorial service will be held at a later date.

The family would like to thank Dr. Xavier Herrera and Dr. Diana Medgyesy and the staff at Front Range Cancer Center, Pathways Hospice, and the staff at the Columbine Nursing Homes and the Spring Creek Health Center for the care of Elvin and Cleo.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Elvin and Cleo Jensen Memorial Fund or Pathways Hospice, in care of Allnutt Funeral Service, 650 West Drake Road, Fort Collins, Colorado 80526.