This eulogy was written by Dawn Jensen Ackroyd and read by Dawn, Gaylene and Neil at Gayle's funeral on February 5, 2010..
Gayle Clark Jensen was born April 6, 1944. Those that know our dad know that when he decides to do something, he does it. His birth was no different. He wasn’t due for another two months, but he came anyway! He was born with the cord wrapped around his neck. Nana Jensen was a young and inexperienced mother and wisely enlisted the help of Dad’s Grandma, Maud Jensen. She nursed him back to health and began a fierce and loyal relationship with her grandson. Dad continued to be very close to his grandparents and all the Jensen cousins and aunts and uncles as he grew. He spent a lot of time at his grandparents and enjoyed going there to stay. He grew up in Taber and had plenty of cousins and aunt and uncles around and had a great devotion to family. He taught us how important family is.
Pat
When my dad was 6 years old his little
sister came into his life. He really did want a brother, but Aunt Pat was a
sweetheart so he was happy with her. He did, however, proceed to mould her into
quite a tomboy. She became the goal post for them and his friends when they
played hockey. Pat did very well at keeping up and became quite a good friend
to many of Gayle’s friends. They spent
many happy holidays together camping and traveling as a family.
My dad had a “fiery” personality.
One day while he was at his grandparents
they had a fire in the house. Grandma and Grandpa took Dad to safety and then
proceeded to fight the fire and try to save their home and belongings. Dad
didn’t seem too worried about the house, just about a little stuffed dog that
he loved dearly. He kept yelling at his grandmother, “Save my dog, Grandma!”
My dad was always good with money.
Well, maybe not always. He didn’t start out
that smart with money. When he was young his dad worked on an oilrig and they
lived in a trailer at the oilrig. His dad was at work and his mother was busy
cooking in the camp kitchen. Dad decided it was cold in the trailer so he
started to make a fire to warm things up. The only paper he could find was his
dad’s payroll stashed in the cupboard. He had just put the money in the stove
and was in the process of lighting it when his parents arrived and, um,
“suggested” he use something else.
His fascination with fire continued in
his childhood.
Another time he was home alone when they
lived on the south side of Taber. The lights went out so Dad decided to use a
candle for light. He sat the candle too close to the curtains in the living
room and they went up in smoke. Fortunately, the fire was caught and
extinguished before any more damage could be done.
Even later fire was fun.
He and his friends loved to play
knock-out-ginger, a game where you ring the doorbell on some unsuspecting
homeowners and run! One particular neighbor always made a big fuss when they
did this, so Dad and his buddy, Blaine Burbank, decided to fix home. They went
to the stockyards and found the biggest and freshest cow pie they could find,
wrapped it in newspaper, and put it on the man’s doorstep. Before ringing the
doorbell they lit the paper on fire and hid in the bushes to watch as the poor
man came to the door, discovered the fire and proceeded to stomp it out with
his house slippers – while they rolled in laughter behind a nearby bush.
The games of life
In my dad’s life sports weren’t a game.
Sports were life. Whatever the game was he’d stick with it until he got really
good at it. Even marbles! He started playing marbles in school and in even won
a marble championship in Grade 7. He always managed to be on the winning team
in the high school house leagues. He and Ron Conrad won the doubles ping-pong
every year he as in high school. His intramural team won the championship every
year in high school as well.
He started playing hockey at a young age on
an ice pond in the back yard. He started playing organized hockey in Grade 3
and hockey became his favorite sport. Some of his coaches were Frank Burbank,
Bill Westora, Alvin Bissett and Ted Allen. In Midget they went to the Alberta
finals. In Juvenile they won the Alberta Championship. He even managed to play
hockey on his mission with the Danish National Team. In Kelowna he coached a
senior men’s hockey team called The Kelowna Packers. I remember many a bus ride
with the Kelowna Packers.
He started playing baseball in Grade 6. In
Grade Seven he played on a little league baseball team that won the Alberta
Championship. They beat Lacombe 1-0. It was a one-man show as Ken Uyesugi
pitched a no-hitter and hit a home run. The team went to Trail BC next and lost
to them 6 to 3. Trail went on to the Little League World Series that year. He
continued to play sports in his adult years. He played ball in Lethbridge for a
team called the Lethbridge Financiers. Mom and dad made many good friends with
the players and wives on that team.
He made many friends through sports. In
Junior High he struck up a friendship with Blaine Burbank and they would play
baseball or basketball for at least 8 hours a day. They played baseball for
hours by batting the ball against the side of the elevator until they wore the
siding off one side. He has a number of friends he’s made through the years
that moved on to play in the NHL. For a number of years we had Junior Hockey
players in Lethbridge live with our family and we would attend all the games
together as a family. We learned that when the sports news was on the radio
we’d better be quiet, as well as whenever there was a power play on a hockey
game being broadcast on the radio.
He always encouraged us to play sports and
coached many of the teams we were involved with. Any vacation was made better
if it could include a professional league game of some sort. He was a walking
dictionary of sports trivia and would often start his Sunday School lessons
with a sports update or trivia question. He attended every game and continued
to do that with his grandchildren whenever we could. He was especially proud of
Taylor recently when she received the MVP award after a weekend of basketball.
He would travel for hours to watch a swim meet, or a soccer game, or any other
sport his grandchildren were involved in. He always had a couple tips for them
to help them get the edge and thrilled in their victories.
Mission
In September 1963 dad went on a mission to
Denmark for three years. His ancestors immigrated to Utah from Denmark when
they learned about the church. He was thrilled to be able to learn the language
and developed a great love for Danes. He always told us many interesting
stories from his mission. Some of our favorites were the group he arrived in
Denmark with. There were 12 Elders and one sister. They became known as Sister
Dunn and her 12 Apostates. I think that’s because he always believed in having
a good time no matter what he did and that continued in his mission. He had
great success on his mission. He traveled with a group of Missionaries called
The Singing Mormons who helped the church became more known there. He made many
friends there and continued those friendships through the rest of his life. We
had the opportunity to have two girls from Denmark come live with our family at
different times: Christhel Neilsen and
Lina Andersen and we continue to keep in touch with them as well as their
families. Lina lives near us now in Magrath! He has kept in touch with a number of his companions and the people he
taught. We’re thrilled that one of his companions is even able to be here
today: Richard Dorsey from Utah. Thank you for coming. He took mom back to
Denmark a number of times and Dawn even got to visit Denmark with him. He
always told us that Danish is the language spoke in heaven – so we’re sure he’s
speaking in Danish now.
Marriage and Family
Mom says some of her earliest memories of
dad were when he was in Grade Two, crouched on the ground with his friends,
playing marbles. Mom remembers admiring his curly hair. They lived near each
other and their families knew each other. In Grade 7 they went on their first
date to an Air Cadet dance. They danced one or two dances and then mom says she
danced and visited with all sorts of people. When Nana picked mom up from the
dance and didn’t see Gayle anywhere she asked where he might be. Mom said she
had no idea! It wasn’t until years later that she found out he had gone to the
shooting gallery and then home to watch wrestling that night.
They did continue dating and mom waited for
dad while he was on his mission. They got married on July 15, 1966. They had
three children: Dawn, Gaylene and Neil. Throughout their married life they’ve
had the opportunity to travel extensively and enjoy many adventures together.
Mom says she always felt like she was blessed with the most wonderful husband
in the world. Her dad once said that he knew that if she married Gayle she’d
always be well taken care of, and he was right.
Mom cared for dad while he was ill and took
great care to make sure he was comfortable and happy. I’m sure he’ll continue
to watch over her and care for her. He was concerned about leaving her and
voiced this often to his son-in-law and we promise him that we will take good
care of her.
Work
Ever since he was old enough to work Dad always
had a job. He worked for Skyway Air Spray Company as a flagman. He worked on
farms doing combining and swathing. The major in Taber hired him in high school
to take care of his garden and yard. He drove a school bus for the school
division when he was in Grade 12. He drove the route that took him past Uncle
Arley’s and Aunt Edna’s houses. He only left his cousins a couple of times,
much to his Aunts’ dismay. When dad came home from his mission he went to work
at Thomas Cook Travel. As a result he had the opportunity to travel
extensively. He returned to Denmark several times a year. The head office for
Thomas Cook Travel was in England and when he would travel to the head office
he would often make a stop in Denmark. While working for Thomas Cook mom and
dad traveled to Russia, China, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Malasia, Kuala Lumpur,
Foromsa, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii,
Mexico, the Caribbean, Bahamas, Brazil England, Scotland, Holland, Luxenburg,
Belgium, France, Spain, Morocco, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, West Germany, East
Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and many places in the USA. He also had the
opportunity to fly on many of the inaugural flights for different airlines. He
took the inaugural flight with KLM airlines from Amsterdam to Stockholm, the
inaugural Air France flight from Paris to Moscow, and the inaugural Qantas
flight to the South Pacific. One of his most memorable flights was aboard the
Concord during its inaugural flight from Paris to Rio de Janeiro. He moved up
through the managerial chain at Thomas Cook until he realized the next move
would be to a bigger city like Toronto or Vancouver and so he started to look
around for different options.
Thanks to his hard work ethic and
business-minded ways he often worked one or two jobs and had a business on the
side. He was able to build up a nest egg from the office cleaning business he
and mom started. We would go as a family and help vacuum or clean ashtrays and
empty garbages. He wanted to venture out on his own and after much thought and
research ventured towards the motel industry. Mom wasn’t that keen on the idea
until she read the life history of President Kimball. He told of how he had
attempted and became successful in many different businesses and did very well
in some, and lost his shirt in others. Mom decided that if a man as great as
President Kimball could try things and accept defeat often, we too could stand
the risk. Dad was just waiting for mom to give him the green light because when
she told him she was willing to go the hunt was on for a motel to buy. They
found one in Kelowna called The Four Seasons and off we were for a new
adventure. We all worked in the motel. We cleaned rooms, mowed grass, cleaned
pools, worked on the desk and answered the night bell and more. We’ll always be
grateful for the good work ethic our dad taught us.
They spent many years in Kelowna until they
decided to move back to Alberta to return to friends and family. Dad continued
in the hotel management industry though and had the opportunity to manage
hotels in Lethbridge, Jasper, Calgary, Peace River – but his favorite was
Waterton’s Prince of Wales Hotel. It was a beautiful property with a cute
little house just down the hill. The staff for the hotel lived in dorms right
by their house and they spent their summers enjoying the students that would
come work there. His last hotel he
worked at was in Peace River and he always said he was sorry he took so long to
find that company as they treated their employees amazingly well and had a
great business. He took a leave from the hotel in Peace River when he became
ill. He made many friends there and kept in touch with them through his
illness.
Dad loved the gospel and served wherever he
was asked to serve. He particularly enjoyed teaching. When he was first married
he taught early morning seminary at Bowness High School in Calgary. He spent
many years as a Gospel Doctrine Teacher and also as a Gospel Essentials
Teacher. He served in the Bishopric, in the Stake Sunday School presidency and
on the High Council in different ward and stakes he lived in. He knew the
scriptures well and loved to quote them and teach from them. We know that he is
happy now. As he slipped away into the next life he had a big smile on his face.
I have a friend of another faith who says that her pastor says that people who
are ready to meet God always smile when they pass on. I think she was right.
He would want us to work hard, to be
committed to the gospel, and to family, and to have fun along the way. We are
grateful for his example.
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