- Date Of Birth: May 31, 1931
- Date Of Death: August 26, 2016
- State: Nebraska
Loren Fred Jensen was born on May 31, 1931 on a farm just north of Nora, Nebraska to Hans and Lillian (Kotas) Jensen. Loren passed away peacefully after a long illness at the Good Samaritan nursing home in Superior on August 26th, 2016. He was 85 years old.
Loren was born during the Depression and farming was a struggle. His father, Hans, moved his family from rural Nora to a wheat farm near Delphos, Kansas when Loren was about three years old and then to Idaho five years later after Hans was told there were many jobs in that area. But Hans found good jobs were scarce and he moved his family back to Nebraska on what was known as the “Simic Place” before settling three and a half miles northwest of Oak where Loren would later farm in his adult life.
Loren last attended grade school and completed the eighth grade at the Carlin country school near the farm. Loren went on to high school and graduated in 1949 from Nelson High where he played football and was a starting guard on the basketball team. He also loved the agriculture classes and joined in nearly every extracurricular activity that was offered.
After graduating from high school, Loren joined the Marines as a Reserve and was called up in 1952. He was stationed at Cherry Point, North Carolina for two months, but his father’s failing health led to an early discharge for Loren so he could return home and help with the family farming operation.
On May 24th, 1953, Loren was united in marriage to Cloma King, daughter of Ivan and Luella (Kinnison) King of Angus. To this marriage was born three sons, Tom, Terry and Todd.
Loren and Cloma divorced and on May 2nd, 1980 Loren married Barb (Crouch) McLaughlin the daughter of Harold and Janet (Scroggin) Crouch. Loren and Barb resided in Millbrook, Alabama for nearly two years before returning to live in Edgar for a short time prior to buying a home in Nelson in which they lived 13 years. They left Nelson in 1994 to move into Barb’s childhood home after the passing of her parents and that is where Loren called home at the time of his death.
Loren had many interests and passions in his life. Number one was his family but a close second was all Husker sports, especially Nebraska football. In retirement, Loren became literally a world-renowned expert in increasing the population of Bluebirds. He maintained ninety-nine bluebird boxes, almost all of which he built, and it was not uncommon for him to oversee the hatch of 500 Bluebirds in a season.
Loren was extremely active in his communities, serving on many boards including at one time being the President of the Nuckolls County Extension Board and the Oak School Board.
Loren was a much sought-after master of ceremonies because of his easy style at the podium, deep speaking voice and his quick wit. He also announced many community events and was proud to be known as “The Voice of the Tigers” when he began announcing Nelson High School football games in the fall of 1966 which he would continue to do through the 1977 season including the 1975 state championship year.
One of Loren’s proudest accomplishments as a farmer was the establishment of a registered Shorthorn cow herd that grew from a single heifer to nearly 40 cows. It was something he shared with his brother, Eugene, who served as secretary of this business with the primary responsibility of coming up with registered names.
After marrying Barb, Loren gave up day to day activity on the farm and eventually sold his prized Shorthorns. This allowed Loren to scratch off most of the things on his “Bucket List.”
He was able to spend two months each winter at South Padre Island in Texas where he nearly put Oysters–his favorite seafood–on the endangered species list after trying to eat all of them at every restaurant in the area. His favorite place was an eatery called “Dirty Al’s” and one of Loren’s greatest accomplishments was getting a picture taken with Dirty Al himself.
Loren and Barb also traveled to Estes Park twice a year, attended all the Husker football home games and many bowl games too. They took several other trips as well including a trek to Las Cruces, New Mexico in 1986 to follow the Oak Softball fast pitch team play in the National Tournament. Loren and Barb were Oak Softball’s number one fans, and rarely—if ever—missed a game.
In his final years of being able to travel Loren really enjoyed going to all of Elkhorn High School’s football games to watch his grandson, Bryan, play. Loren never got to attend Bryan’s college games at Midland University in Fremont but remained Bryan’s number one fan.
He is preceded in death by his parents, sisters: Wilma and Betty and his brother Eugene.
Loren is survived by his wife of 36 years, Barb of Edgar; His sons, Tom and wife Jackie of Nelson; Terry of Nelson; Todd of Oak; step-son John McLaughlin and wife, Jodi, of Hastings; step-son Mark McLaughlin and wife Deb of Elkhorn; grandsons, Terrance Jensen, Vince Jensen, Josh McLaughlin, Bryan McLaughlin; granddaughters, Kaela Baumbach, Abby Jensen, Amanda Jensen, Ashley McLaughlin and seven great-grandchildren; brother Darrell Jensen and wife Donna of Superior, NE; nieces, nephews other relatives and his many friends.
PH 402 224 5315
