Irene Jorgensen

Irene Fenner Jorgensen, 97, passed away on July 26, 2018, at Charter House in Rochester, Minnesota. She was born on November 15, 1920, to John and Augusta (Schwandt) Fenner in Milbank, South Dakota. She was baptized into the Christian faith at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Milbank. Irene was raised on a farm, the youngest of four children where she had various chores to do. Irene graduated from Milbank High School in 1938 with her sister, Dorothy. She then spent one year at college in Aberdeen, SD with her sister, Ruth. After teaching rural school in Grant County, SD for a year, she attended Nettleton College in Sioux Falls, SD. Her first job was in a bank, but most of her career was with the Federal Housing Authority. On June 26, 1954, Irene married Clifford Jorgensen in Colorado and they lived in various cities, including Golden, CO, and Richfield, MN. After Cliff's death in March of 1973, Irene spent her winters in Belleair Bluffs, FL near her longtime friend, Florence, and her summers in Rochester, MN near her sister, Ruth. Later she moved permanently into Charter House in Rochester. She was a member of Redeemer Lutheran Church. For leisure pursuits she enjoyed leather tooling, fishing and camping with her husband, golfing with her sister, Ruth, traveling with her sisters, playing the organ and daily crossword puzzles. When in Florida she would do a lot of walking and volunteering at a hospital. Her most fervent complaint was that her coffee wasn't hot enough. She enjoyed reciting poems she learned as a child and also singing songs, sometimes making up her own lyrics. Irene was proceeded in death by her husband, Clifford Jorgensen; her brother and sister-in-law, Victor and Sylvia Fenner; her sister, Ruth Fenner; her sister and brother-in-law Dorothy and Gerry deBot. She is survived by her nephew, John (Audrey) Fenner of Rapid City, SD and her niece, Ellen (Eric) Stahlecker, Casper, WY. Interment will be in Fort Snelling National Cemetery at a later date. Arrangements are with Ranfranz and Vine Funeral Home, 5421 Royal Place, NW, Rochester MN, 55901. www.ranfranzandvinefh.com