Joseph Manning Jensen Jr.

Joseph Manning Jensen Jr., 89, Moses Lake resident, passed away Friday, May 1, 2009, at Samaritan Hospital.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m., Tuesday, May 5, 2009, at the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints, Nelson Road Chapel, with Bishop Dennis Stoker officiating. Interment will follow at Pioneer Memorial Gardens. Family will greet friends at the funeral home Monday evening between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., and at the church on Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.

Arrangements are in care of Kayser’s Chapel and Crematory, Moses Lake. Please sign the book or leave a note for the family at www.kayserschapel.com.

Joseph was born Jan. 3, 1920, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Joseph Manning Jensen and Esther Ruth Lofquist Jensen. His mother died when he was three years old and his mother’s family raised him.

He joined the Navy in 1943 and served in the Navy with the Lighter Than Air (blimps) doing coastal patrol for submarines. He was honorably discharged at the end of World War II.

He married Grace Goodrich in San Jose, Calif., in December 1943. After the war they settled in Los Angeles. Several moves took place through the years. They moved to Moses Lake in 1951 and later moved to California. Joe worked for Douglas Air Craft, Boeing Aircraft and the Federal Government on the Atlas Missile Program at Lompoc, Calif., and then in San Diego for the Navy. After retirement they settled in Spokane and then moved back to Moses Lake.

After retirement Joe and Michael took up drag racing as a hobby and set several world records and is well liked and remembered in the drag racing community.

Joe and Grace had five children: JoAnne (deceased), Michael (deceased) and his wife Diana Jensen, Wayne, Patricia (deceased) and her husband Steven Crisp, and Nancy (deceased).

Joe was an active member of the Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints.