Obituary - Allan Jensen

So sorry to hear Allan has passed .. His influence in Medicine Hat and the Pottery community will be forever remembered. Mr J was my first pottery instructer over 42 years ago at MHCC , bond was formed and our crew spent many hours Raku firing over winter months sharing food and laughs..He will always be remembered for his generosity , including the fruit trays he brought to Medalta for the artists in residence... always on a valuable collector ceramic plate made by some famous artist.

I am so sorry to hear this sad news. I always appreciated Allen's honesty as well as his encouragement. He was gifted and inspiring, cordial and gracious and we've lost a mentor and a friend. My heartfelt sympathy.

Allan Jensen - communicative, supportive and always a gentleman. I have many fond memories as a friend
and colleague in the Medicine Hat Art Community.
Allan you will be greatly missed by Diane and I.

Don

Allan is one of those people you think will live forever. For 40 years, I could turn around at any cultural event and there was Allan. An interesting conversation would then ensue. Curating endless exhibitions, supporting artists, and being such an important force in the cultural community of Medicine Hat, Allan will be missed,
Go well, Allan. May your creative energy feed the universe.

It saddens me to read this. Mr. Jensen was an amazing art teacher. He was the most gentle, soft hearted teacher anyone could ask for. He will surely be missed by many. Rest in sweet paradise Mr. J

One summer, Mr. Jensen entered one of my clay works in the Stampede without my knowing. I was surprised to see it in the Fall with a ribbon attached. That thing still sits in my house 40 yrs later & always makes me think of him. Coming from a sometimes troubled home life, the art room was so often a refuge & I thank him for always welcoming me.

My favorite art teacher! My condolences to family/friends & rip and thanks for everything you taught me.

RIP Mr. J. You were an amazing teacher at chhs and I also appreciate the time you took to teach the individuals at Core art and pottery ..you helped them explore and expand their creativity. You will be forever missed for your kindness and generosity. I'm thankful to have known you.

RIP Mr Jensen. You were an amazing arts teacher for so many kids. Thank you for your patience with me and the lack of art skills I had. I remember you always calling me a social butterfly. Your nice way of saying I talk to much lol. Your one of those teachers that stands out in my mind as your classes were fun and your kindness yet no tolerance for nuisance was an honour to be one of your students . You were a close friend of my Mums for so many years ..so say hi to her in heaven for me. Till we meet again.

My husband Kenton and I both had Mr. Jensen as our art teacher in high school. I have many fond memories of him and his classes even though I was not very artistic! Rest In Peace. We send our love and prayers to all who loved him. We will speak his name!

It was a sad moment for me to hear of Allan's passing. We worked together in the public school system. I just loved to sit in his classroom and watch his magic.

After his and my retirement, we often worked together in the Alberta Games or other ventures. Allan knew his art and art history, and was able to pass on his knowledge to so many people.

Sincerest condolences and sympathy is extended to all family members.

Ken Sauer

I was fortunate to have Mr. J as an Art teacher from grades 8 to 12 and then as a fellow member of the Hat Art Club as an adult, where it took me a long time to call him by his first name. He was generous, supportive and humble and I was thankful that my own children were able to take summer art classes with him. His encouragement of others and donation of time and wisdom to the arts community will not be soon forgotten. Medicine Hat has lost a treasured member of its arts community.

So sorry to hear of Allan’s passing. I met Allan years ago through the Hat Art Club. We shared many conversations and classes that he taught on design. I always looked forward to his classes. Always inspired by his experience, knowledge and kindness.
He contributed greatly volunteering his time and skills to everyone in the community. Mr Allan Jensen.... thank you and Rest In Peace. Sincere sympathy to the family.... may God comfort you at this time.

The Medicine Hat arts community has lost a guiding light- Allan’s passion for visual arts, his supportive and encouraging nature, his never ending enthusiasm for arts education, and his hard work setting up art shows for all levels of artistic talent have enriched our community for many years. He helped so many young budding artists, giving them courage to keep trying. 37 years ago - “ Yes , Linda , you can do it - I will help you” resulted in my first public art show in Crescent Heights High School. I consider myself blessed having such a wonderful and gentle man as a friend. I will hold my last visit with him in mid December near and dear. I will keep “ making art” in hopes of keeping his light aglow.

I always admired Allan as he had a passion that he embraced. That will always be with me and I truly will miss him. ☮️

I always admired Allan as he had a passion that he embraced. That will always be with me and I truly will miss him. ☮️

Allan Jensen and I have had a long acquaintance. We were both teachers and shared a lot of interests. Travel to Japan was how I first met Allan and later took a trip to Italy with his group. Allan was a true gentleman and a good friend. So much of Allan's time was spent on Community events and he contributed so much to the cultural development of the city of Medicine Hat. He will be greatly missed.

I had the pleasure of working with Allan with 2 different Art Exhibits at the Cultural Centre. He was always open to new ideas for exhibits and helped me design one for autism awareness. Allan’s creativity was endless and his passion for art was contagious. I will miss our exchanges, both personal and professional. Sincere condolences to his family and friends.

Allan Jensen was an inspiration to a level of humanity I’m not sure I will ever achieve. The Arts world is going to tremble for a while.

My deepest condolences to Allan's family and friends. As a BC artist I was so thankful for the help and encouragement that Allan gave me participating in shows at the Medicine Hat Cultural Centre. His very kind and generous nature will be missed and I will certainly miss stopping in at the Cultural Centre for a visit with him when visiting the city.

I had the privilege of being a student in Mr. Jensen’s high school art classes at Crescent Heights High School in the early 1990s. He trusted me and gave me a lot of freedom and access to the art room. Creativity and art have continued to be a part of life that I enjoy and relish in, and I am grateful for how he encouraged me and many others along.

A mostly forgotten aspect of Allan was his contributions to vertebrate paleontology. He worked at the small fossil museum in Drumheller around the mid-1960's. He found one of best best-known duck-billed dinosaur footprints known near the famous Drumheller hoodoos. He had a long and close association with the late multi-talented Hope Johnson (1916-2010) a Ralston/Medicine Hat amateur historian, artist/naturalist/paleontologist and many more. When I wrote her biography, Allan kindly provided information on her and wrote one of the forewords for the book. The project dragged on and on, Allan would regularly phone to see how it was progressing. The was so patient with me and my tardiness on the book project that was a ten year effort. I am glad he was able to see the book completed 14 months before he passed. RIP Allan.

Oh dear Allan. I have been thinking of you, only now to discover you have passed on to your next journey. We shared wonderful times during your planning of the Will James Gathering which was held in Medicine Hat. And we kept in touch in the years following. So many of the folks are gone now, but never forgotten. Spurs jingling, paint brushes in hand, writers logging memories. You were a true gentleman, Allan. A true gentleman. Safe travels, dear one. Was an honour to know you.

Dearest Mr Jensen, I know I know Allan... Allan.
It saddened me to find out today that you crossed over. Ive thought of you often, as my Art is throughout my house and my friends and families homes and when my creative ideas start to surface I start thinking , "What would Mr Jensen think about that? What would he advise?" Today I wanted to call you up and talk to about an big idea I've been trying to get going and well......I'm gonna miss you. It was an absolute honor having you as my teacher, and someone who actually probably respected and liked me genuinely as an awkward and weird art kid back in the day. I respected you right back and totally took your word as truth. You were a good man. It was an honor and a privilege having known you for as long as I got to.
As for your family Allan....I know you will watch over them. Don't know them.
If you're reading this letter to Allan....my condolences to you. You had a treasure.
Anyway Allan, I'll keep thinking, "What would Mr Jensen think? What would he advise? And I see you sometime....