Linda Jeanne Jensen

Linda Jeanne (Day) Jensen died on Friday, the 20th of September 2019, at the Kansas City Hospice House following a long and courageous battle with brain cancer.

She is survived by her husband of 46 years, Kenneth Jensen II, daughter, Amanda; son, Aaron; daughter, Katy; her seven beloved grandchildren Kimberly, Connor, Nickolas, Madison, Matthew, Jonathan, and Benjamin, her mother Janeece Day; sister, Debbie Ray; and many relatives and close friends.

Born in Kansas City on the 14th of July 1952, the daughter of Leonard and Janeece Day, Linda grew up in the Kansas City area spending many weekends and summers at the “lake house” in the Ozarks with her mother, father, and younger sister.

After graduating from Ruskin High School in 1970, Linda worked as a credit authorizer at Sears. She married Ken on September 8th, 1973 and took great pride in her role as a stay-at-home mom and home maker after the first baby, Amanda, was born in 1976. Ken and Linda moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1984 following Ken’s work assignment. They returned to Leawood, Kansas in 1991 where the children completed high school and started their college careers. In 1996 Ken and Linda built their dream home in Stilwell, Kansas where Linda lived for the rest of her days.

Linda was always proactive in the support of her kids’ education, often volunteering at the children’s schools during their elementary school years. She was passionate about contributing to the family’s welfare through her extraordinary frugal approaches to running the household. She spent endless hours searching for bargains and making sure the household budget was used efficiently to maximize the benefit to her family. Taking great pride in her ability to stretch a dollar, she often referred to herself as the “coupon queen” which was just another expression of her wry sense of humor.

Besides her routine household activities, Linda enjoyed the satisfaction of knitting, crocheting, and quilting, especially when making something for a family member. She was always ready to pitch in and help with any home project whether it was working on one of Ken’s car projects, fixing a home appliance, or working in the garden. She loved her house plants and in later years treated many of them as her own “kids” with an uncanny ability to make them thrive.

The entire Jensen family would like to extend a very special thank you to all of the capable and compassionate doctors and nurses at the University of Kansas Medical Center Neuro ICU and the staff at Kansas City Hospice House for their love and attention that made Linda’s last weeks so much easier and for the comfort they afforded her family.

Linda loved all animals, but she could especially bond easily to a friendly dog. She often expressed outrage and sadness for the inhumane mistreatment and plight of unwanted pets; so in lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests, with gratitude, that memorial contributions in her name be directed to Wayside Waifs or the KC Pet Project in Kansas City.

A graveside service will be conducted at the Floral Hills Cemetery in Raytown, Missouri at 11:00AM on Thursday, September 26th, 2019. Immediately following, a reception for Linda’s friends and family will be held at Linda’s home for reflection and to celebrate her life.

Obituary For Newspaper