Patricia (Tricia) Joyce Jensen

We would like to announce the death of Tricia Jensen on February 5, 2016. Tricia died from a lifetime of good living and bad choices. She cooked the most excellent meals, took in all the orphaned children of the neighborhood and partied like a rock star. She preached feminism, held firm stances as a Democrat and didn’t like wearing a bra. She was brutally honest, crass and brash, but loved like only a mother could. She loved us all, one delicious meal at a time.

            The problem comes when you have to describe a life like Tricia’s. She wasn’t your average 60’s “flower child”, but she also wasn’t the “50’s housewife” like her mother. She was an elegant mix of both and it is up to me, her daughter Micky Curtis, to describe her. So this is my story.

 My mom loved dark eye shadow, cooking, crocheting, reading, drinking and shooting guns. She liked camping, hiking and fishing. She often bragged about hiking into the Grand Daddies while she was pregnant with my little brother Ben.  She liked long baths--I mean marathon style…seriously, 4-6 hours everySaturday morning--and reading (she always took a book or two into the tub with her and she went through books faster than toilet paper).

She was an avid golfer and loved winning the long drive contest at the Utah Idaho Grain Exchange golf tournaments.  She reveled in her victory over not only the women’s divisions, but also over the men’s division as well.  She loved cars. Not only did she speak often of the Fiat she drove in the early 80’s but she also loved the Camero her and my dad bought together in the 90’s.

The one activity my mom and I shared as I got older was shopping. This is ironic, because neither of us likes shopping. I think it was simply each other’s company that made it bearable. I would enviably get stuck and my mom would howl with laughter. We would read greeting cards together in the grocery store for hours, something I had forgotten about until her sister, Pam Kap, reminded me that they used to do the same things as kids.

Growing up my mom was on the cheerleading squad in Jr. High, but she never missed an opportunity to talk about how she could beat all the boys in baseball. She loved playing sports with her older brother Mike Reed. Later she played softball for many years as an adult, but it all started on the field with Mike.

Her strange sense of humor grew as her and her other older brother Steve Reed sat together many nights telling stories and jokes. Steve used to come home late at night from work and whisper words like “Ish-ka-beeble” and tell them if they could remember in the morning her and Pam could have a dollar. Steve said that my mom could always make him laugh and he doesn’t remember ever fighting with my mom.

There were lots of people that shared laugher with my mom, including her cousin Dana Harris. My mom loved Dana and often recounted the times they spent laughing together. In fact, that is one of my dad’s fondest memories of her.

My mom also had two wonderful parents—Joyce (Benedixsen) and Arnold Reed that preceded her in death. I am grateful for the loving family she was a part of as she has passed down that love and support to my brother and I.

Once my mom graduated from high school in 1969 she moved to Alaska with her brother Mike and his wife Anna. It was that year their child, Jared, was born. She worked at a flower shop (which later came in handy when her and Pam bought Cedar Village), spent the summer with them and helped care for Jared. Once she returned to Utah she started working and going to school. She married Riley Montgomery, who she divorced 10 years later.

In 1974 my mom started the career that would become part of the definition of who she was. She started in HR with Pillsbury and slowly worked her way up.  She created processes that would transform the way the Ogden mill processed grains. The Ogden mill became more efficient and provided “just-in-time” inventory to customers. Her employees have talked about her as being one of the best bosses they ever had. Powerful women were not common in the workplace and my mom carved a place for herself among the top. She loved figuring out puzzles and tough problems; she applied that skill and passion daily at work.

In 1984 she gave birth to her first child, me. She was married to my dad, David Florence for a short period, before meeting and marrying the love of her life, Tim A. Jensen. This part gets a little confusing, but when I refer to dad—aside from the one time proceeding my other dad’s name--I am talking about Tim. My parents would have been married for 29 years this June. My dad often joked that it was her lasagna that made him stay, but I think he just enjoyed having a dance partner as enthusiastic as my mom. They tied the knot on June 6th, 1987. And a year later my brother Ben was born in 1988. Together my parents built a home in what would soon become West Haven, UT.

My mother spent countless hours supporting my dad in building the West Haven City Park. You could find her every year, dutifully cooking the breakfast that would fund the creation of the park each year at the West Haven Days celebration.  We planted trees, made floats for the parade and ran the kids games until the park grew to what it is today.

My mom also loved animals. Although, my mom loved my dad, we all understood her first true love was Quincy. My mother talked endlessly about that dog. Our first family dog was a golden retriever named Sheba. Our house always had a variety of animals both inside and out. From reptiles (Jake the Snake), to a goat named Wilbur, we had it all. We had too many cats to name and a variety of fowl. Most of all, our house was always filled with kids.

I only mention my brother and I as her children, but truth be told she had many. She built lasting relationships every where she went. From neighbors to co-workers at Pillsbury, Cargill and Roberson Systems, she made friends with her hair dresser, people she golfed with and people she met through West Havendays. Every friend, neighbor or random stranger she met could find dinner, acceptance and love at our house.

My dad would like to give thanks to those that helped eased her pain at the end of her life. Thank you to those at Rocky Mountain Hospice Care: Brandy, Jeff, Judy, Candace, Andrea. Thank you for the comfort you provided to my family in a very difficult time.

In lieu of flowers please send donations to The Huntsman Cancer Institute. 

Private family services will be held.