Marlys Jensen
Passed away May 29, 1976.
Written by Marilyn Jensen Hoffbeck.
Marlys Jensen ’58 in freshman year, 1954-55.
After graduating from Macalester, Marlys worked as executive secretary for David Lilly, president of Toro Manufacturing, while her husband, Roger Jensen, finished dental school at the U. of Minnesota. (She didn’t have to make any name changes). He entered the Navy as a navy dentist after his graduation and Marlys and a group of the other officer’s wives spent a great deal of that time following the ship from port to port and seeing the sights along the way. After his term in the navy was finished, they established a dental practice in San Clemente, Calif., where she assisted in his office until their untimely death in 1976.
This is the article that appeared in the paper:
“Mercy Mission Believed Ended by Irvine Crash”
Marlys Jensen ’58 at her wedding, Feb. 24, 1959.
IRVINE – Two couples who died in the crash of a light plane here Friday may have been carrying clothing and other items to an orphanage in Mexico, investigators have said.
Police said some small swimming fins, children’s clothes and other items at the crash site led them to suspect initially that a child may have been on board the craft.
But they learned later that the pilot, Dr. Roger Jensen, a San Clemente dentist, frequently traveled to Mexico to take clothing and other items to an orphanage.
Killed in the crash at California Avenue and Campus Drive were Jensen and his wife, Marlys, of 133 Avendia Granada; Jensen’s dental assistant, Deborah Pardoen, 28, and her husband, Peter, 29, of 235 Via San Andreas, San Clemente.
Marlys Jensen, taken just weeks before her death on May 29, 1976.
Cause of the crash remains undetermined, but there is speculation that a rear stabilizer came apart, sending the plane out of control and creating a force that ripped its left wing off.
The wing was found about 150 yards northeast of the crash site, along with parts of the stabilizer. Luggage, clothing, camping gear and wreckage were strewn through the field and along part of Campus Drive.
Investigators said “everything appeared to be normal” in the plane’s takeoff from Orange County Airport. The craft took off at 7:24 a.m. and make a left and a right turn before crashing.
The two couples were heading for a Memorial Day weekend in Mexicali, Mexico and apparently intended to stop at the orphanage during their stay, investigators said.
Neither of the couples had any children. Funeral arrangements for both are pending.