Devoted husband, beloved father and grandfather, brilliant optical engineer, relentless joker and master of puns, Arthur Jensen went to be with his savior on October 4th, 2022 at the age of 81, after a battle with several cardiac complications (his cardiologist claims a paper will be published about the rarity of his co-conditions). He was predeceased by his parents, Arthur and Helen, sister Katherine, and dear son, Stephen. Survived by his adoring wife of over 55 years, “Dearest Betty,”; daughters Leja Lori (Craig) Steinberger, Rebecca (Dana) Krebs, Jennifer (Mark) Barry; grandchildren Kaitlyn, Jonathan, Levi, Caleb, and Annabelle; and great-grandson, Jax.
Arthur was born on January 2, 1941 in Chicago, Illinois and graduated from Glenbard Township High School. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Illinois Institute of Technology and a master’s degree from the University of Rochester. While beginning his career of over 37 years at Eastman Kodak Company in the field of optics, Art met the love of his life, Betty Simpson, and chose to put down roots and start a family in Rochester, NY. In his final hours, he told his beloved Betty, “After I met you, I never looked at another woman again.”
Arthur was truly a genius with an extraordinary mind. He never ceased to think and to solve problems, as evidenced by the hundreds of notebooks full of equations and copious notes from his work on various projects. These projects included supporting the development of testing methods for many large optical systems, including NASA space-based telescopes such as the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Telescope, and the James Webb Space Telescope. Among his accomplishments are earning an achievement award from NASA for his contributions to the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as an award for his contributions to a classified program essential to the safety and security of our country. He was published in several technical journals and was well-respected in his field. Despite his accolades and achievements, he told his dear family, “You are the greatest thing I have ever done.”
Art was a lover of books, all-night movie marathons, fireworks shows, anything in 3D, holograms, Disney World, peak autumn leaves, dad jokes, dominoes and card games, good steak dinners, and apple fritters. He had a special affinity for celestial events, including spectacular sunsets, solar eclipses, meteor showers, and aurora borealis displays, and in his final years, was working on a project to help locate exoplanets. He was a man of great faith in his Lord Jesus Christ and looked forward to the promise of eternity spent in heaven with him. We know that any celestial events he witnessed during his time on earth pale in comparison to what he is now experiencing.
Calling hours will be held on Thursday, October 13th from 2:00-4:00pm with a celebration of life service from 4:00-5:00pm at Rochester Cremation at 1118 Long Pond Road in the Town of Greece. We invite attendees to wear a touch of red, if desired, in honor of Art’s favorite color. A private burial will be held on Friday, October 14th at a family cemetery near one of Arthur’s favorite fall destinations, Letchworth State Park.
Miss Rebecca, me and Vicki are praying for you and your family during this time. God Bless you and your family!
Sorry for your loss! Praying for you all.
Thank you Carson family. It was such a hard time and hard to believe it’s been over a year now. You all know how this feels with having lost Brenda not long ago. I never saw these comments until now. Thank you so much! I’m so thankful that we have a hope beyond this life. Psalm 116:15
Thank you Jerry & Vicki. It was such a hard time and hard to believe it’s been over a year now. I never saw these comments until now. Thank you so much! I’m so thankful that we have a hope beyond this life. Psalm 116:15
I am so sorry for your loss. He was a really nice person. Alway wonderful to Betty and family. I’m praying for you Betty and the kids / grandkids.
Kathy thank you so very much. dad was one of a kind–that’s for sure. October 4 was a year later we are missing him so much! Thank you so much! I’m so thankful that we have a hope beyond this life. Psalm 116:15
I worked with Art early on in my career with Kodak and then again when he returned for a short while after what I believe was an early retirement. I had come to the Lord prior to Art’s return and was delighted to find out he was a brother in the faith. The testimony of faith in Christ of such an accomplished man of science was an encouragement to me in the early years of my walk. My memories of Art are of his simple, natural brilliance, his soft-spoken demeanor, his persistent subtle smile, and his surprising, understated, dry humor. He was a delightful person to work with, and he inspired me and many. Please accept my sympathies on his passing. Your family will be in my prayers.
Frank, your testimony of knowing my dad was such a blessing to me. I’m so thankful that you took the time to tell me those stories after his service. You captured the essence of so many things that were Dad and that means so much. HIs dry humor . . YES–Art was the King the king of “DAD JOKES” 🙂 He was a quirky, crazy smart, gem of a person and dearly missed but oh what a joy to know that as believers in the One who paid it all for lost sinners who found forgiveness in Christ like you, me and dad, we have a hope beyond this life! Psalm 116:15
So sorry for your loss. Praying for you and your family.
Thank you Mary. I’m so thankful that we have each other in times like these. I’m so glad I’ve bene able to get to know you at Seedline! I wish I could have gotten Dad here to see it. He would have appreciated the ministry!
Dear Rebecca and Family,
I am so sorry for your loss. Your father sounds like he was a wonderful man of God who loved his family and life to the full. He will surely be missed by all who knew him. What a comfort it must be to know he gazes into his Heavenly Father’s eyes today. My deepest sympathies are with you in this time of sorrow.
John 14:18 KJV says that He will not leave you comfortless; He will come to you. All glory and honor be to the Lord your God. Love you, Rebecca. I’m praying for you and your family.
Amen Christine! The Comforter has come. Even now over a year later, we miss Dad so much, but Praise be to God–He gave Dad the final victory over an ailing heart. Death has no victory. He’s finally well and healed! Love you my friend!
I worked with Art on a number of projects at Kodak. He was both brilliant and kind! Sorry for your loss.
Thank you so much Erik. It was really amazing to hear from Mr. Hannon and other co-workers of Dad’s at his service, He was truly brilliant and loved his work. He spent his spare time reading high level math books and passed many of them down to my son who is a finishing up his mechanical engineering degree. It’s so sad that my son won’t have Grampie here on earth to talk about Calculus and all things “punny” but Jesus has given us the hope that we’ll see dad again. Thank you so much for sharing your condolences and memories of Dad. That means a lot to all of us who loved him. Look up Engineer/Comedian | Don McMillan Comedy when you need a laugh. Dad would have gotten a kick out of this guy!
I am praying for you, your mother and sisters, and the rest of your family, Rebecca. Knowing that God rewards our humble faith is a comfort. Your dad seemed quiet and happy when he visited church. I know you will all miss him a lot. See you at the service. “That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.” (Rom. 1:12) “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (Jn. 6:40)
Amen sister! Thank you for your kind words. Indeed, Dad had a way about him that really amazed me, especially in some of the worst of life’s times. He always stayed faithful and encouraging to his family no matter how badly we may have messed up. In bad times even when Dad was hurting stayed calm and never lost his faith. Even at the very end of his life in the hospital, Dad was fighting to make sure that he carried the burden for end of life decisions. Somehow he mustered the strength even when he couldn’t speak to scrawl the words, “Time to Go” on a piece of paper. Even when my brother Steve (his only son who Dad loved so very much and had such a special bond with) died, Dad’s was able to choke out the words through tears “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Dad’s humble example taught me so much and he is dearly missed. Thank you for those scriptures. What peace they give!