Lawrence O. Jensen, 1925-2014: Home-building manager was city councilman

1/7/2014

Jensen

Lawrence O. Jensen, 88, a former project manager for a custom home builder and land development company and a former Perrysburg councilman, died Jan. 1 in Waterford at Levis Commons, Perrysburg, where he lived for several years.

He died of complications from Parkinson’s, said his son Michael. Diagnosed in 1998, Mr. Jensen had a positive attitude despite his struggles with the disease, his son said.

“He maintained a sense of humor and never let it get him down,” he said.

Mr. Jensen worked in project management for more than 20 years for Nicholas G. Beresky Co., which specialized in custom home design, building, and land development. Its projects included Bentbrook Farms in Sylvania Township, Belmont County Club in Perrysburg Township, and Corey Woods.

Mr. Jensen was born May 10, 1925, to Anne and Oscar Jensen. He attended St. Rose School and Perrysburg High School.

Before he graduated with his class in 1943, Mr. Jensen enlisted at age 17 in the Navy during World War II. He served at a naval hospital base in the South Pacific on New Caledonia and on the USS Pocono in the Atlantic Ocean.

After his discharge in 1946, he enrolled at Bowling Green State University, where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business and was president of his graduating class in 1950.

He met the former Jean Martin, also of Perrysburg, at a local movie theater in 1947, and they wed Nov. 23, 1949. She died May 1, 2000.

After college, he worked for Libbey-Owens-Ford Co. in the accounting department for several years before going to work for the home builder.

Mr. Jensen was elected to Perrysburg council in 1956 and served two terms. His family said he assisted in development of the Elm House, federally subsidized housing for the elderly and disabled that opened in 1966, and was on the agency’s board. He also served on the city planning commission.

After leaving Nicholas G. Beresky Co., Mr. Jensen was a sales manager for about 12 years at BioFit Engineered Products. He worked at corporate sales at Hayes Travel Agency before retiring and moving to Hilton Head, S.C., with his wife in 1986. He moved back to Perrysburg in July, 2003.

Surviving are his sons, Michael, Craig, and Patrick; daughters, Anne Jensen Schmidt and Nancy Jensen Arndt; 12 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Saturday in St. Rose Church, Perrysburg, after which the family will receive friends at the Carranor Hunt and Polo Club, Perrysburg. The Witzler-Shank Funeral Home in Perrysburg is handling arrangements.

Tributes are suggested to a hospice care organization of the donor’s choice or the Parkinson’s Research Fund, in care of Dr. Lawrence Elmer at the University of Toledo Medical Center, formerly the Medical College of Ohio.