David Jensen, 88, Phoenix

David Charles Jensen died Sunday, May 11, 2025, at the Veteran’s Home in Phoenix. He was 88.

He considered Owatonna as his hometown. He was born on Sept. 12, 1936, to David and Leona (Mittelstadt) Jensen. He grew up in Owatonna, attended Roosevelt School, Owatonna Junior High and was confirmed at St. John Lutheran Church. He graduated from Owatonna High School in 1954.

He was a three-sport athlete at OHS, lettering in football, basketball and baseball. After graduation, he joined the Marine Corps and served in the United States, often as an honor guard at military funerals. He returned to Owatonna in his 1957 red Chevrolet convertible, played ball with the Owatonna Aces, helped with the construction of the new St. John Church and took up golf before enrolling in college.

He attended Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa and was again a three-sport athlete. He graduated with a degree in education in 1961. He and his young family moved to Blue Earth where David coached and taught at the Blue Earth High School for several years, before he joining Gopher Sports in Owatonna as a salesman. He often said he spend his career after teaching selling “socks and jocks.”

He worked at Gopher, living in Rochester, until he joined Champion Sportswear as a sales representative. He was later promoted to national sales manager. He and his family lived in Columbus, Ohio, Rochester, N.Y., and Des Moines, Iowa. He later moved to Florida and then to Annapolis, Md.

He is survived by his five children, Jeffrey, Jennifer, Jill, John and Julie, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all out of the area, his brother, Dale Jensen of Blaine, nieces and nephews, and four cousins, Sandi (Dennis) King, Owatonna, Janet Tippett, Owatonna, Lori (Paul) Benner, Mason City, Iowa, and Ted Mittelstadt, Owatonna.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his uncles and aunts, and his brother, Dean Jensen.

No local services are planned.