Geneve Jansen

GENEVE NELL (BERKNESS) JANSEN...

was born to Steffen and Botilda (Krogh) Berkness on January 23, 1927. She was born and grew up on her family’s farm in Lakefield, Minnesota with her sisters and brothers: Marine, Curtis, Evelyn, Orville, Grace, and LaVonne. She regarded her large family with great affection her entire life and had very fond memories of their life together.

Gen met Virgil (Bud) Jansen while roller-skating when she was nineteen, and they were married six months later. Bud and Gen raised their five children: Bradley, Keven, David, Paul, and Lori. Their life together took them to several communities: Lakefield, Dundee, Round Lake, Luverne, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Morris, and Pipestone.

Gen was fun and enjoyed being with people. She usually had a good joke tucked into her purse. She was a loving mother and grandmother and was VERY proud of her children and grandchildren. She was most at home in the kitchen, probably a result of working beside her mother making delicious meals for a large hard-working family crew. She liked being part of a work group and would roll up her sleeves and work hard at whatever project was on the schedule. Being part of the working team at First Lutheran Church in Pipestone was a great pleasure for her and she took particular satisfaction in preparing for the annual “Kaffi Ti.” Gen counted and tabulated. She had a memory for detail and liked neatness and order. She could recall the day’s temperature for most family stories and memories. Every lefse she made was counted and perfectly round. Every rosette, every fattigman, every meatball was counted and accounted for. She worked as a bookkeeper at IBP in Luverne and also did meticulous tailoring and alterations in the Pipestone area.

Gen is survived by three children, Keven (Beth) Jansen of Alexandria, Paul Jansen of Marshall, and Lori (Rick) Atkins of Rapid City, South Dakota; one daughter-in-law, Teresa Jansen of Pipestone; eight grandchildren: Tom (Kristen) Jansen, Mary (Rizwan) Jansen Hassan, Peter (Alisa) Jansen, Matthew (Becca) Jansen, Andrew Jansen, Joshua (Tina) Kolden, Benjamyn Atkins, and Christopher Atkins; 11 great grandchildren, Josie, Kaja, Trigg, and Livi Jansen, Rami, Naim, and Khalil Hassan, McKenzie and Miley Jansen, and Vanessa and Justin Kolden. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Bud; two sons, Bradley and David; one grandson, Richard Jansen; and siblings, Marine Christiansen, Curt Berkness, and LaVonne Doeden.

Gen slipped quietly from this life on October 23, 2017, at the age of 90, at the Knute Nelson Memorial Home in Alexandria.