Kirsten Jensen Gibson

Kirsten Jensen Gibson was born January 15, 1951, the second-oldest of Glenn and Joy Jensen's five children. When she was ten, the family move to Mumbai, India. Walsingham House School had been a Maharajah's palace and the family's fourth floor apartment, right next door, had views of the Arabian Sea. Walsingham House, proud of its traditional British methods and curriculum, initially proposed that simple little American girl Kirsten be held back a "form" or two so that she could catch up. Joy would have none of that. Kirsten excelled, earning "firsts" in her class. 

After three years and Glenn's success as a plant manager for Christensen Diamond Products, the family (Glenn, Joy, Stan, Kirsten, Don, and Suzanne) took a car trip through Europe that the family still talks about before their return to the USA on the S. S. United States. They arrived in New York City just in time for the New York World's Fair in 1964. Kirsten loved the famous replica of the Salt Lake Temple and its main attraction, "Man's Search for Happiness." They were joined by Glenn's Parents (Joy and Helen Jensen of Manti, Utah) and had an equally memorable trip back to Salt Lake.

Kirsten started junior high with a noticeable British accent and she dressed like an English schoolgirl. Because she never liked to call attention to herself this was a mixed blessing. By the time she started Skyline High School, surrounded by half a dozen best friends, she picked up where she left off, singing in Concert Choir and graduating with honors. She lived at home and drove to the University of Utah in her dad's old Ford Mustang. She majored in English Literature, worked at the university library and graduated with honors. When she was 21, she announced she had decided to go on a mission and served in Liege, Belgium and Lille, France.

After her mission, the Library offered her a full-time job (as did the LDS Church Historical Department) but she decided instead to go to Europe a couple of more times and eventually moved to Alpine, Utah, with a favorite mission companion who was house-sitting for a BYU professor on sabbatical. As it turned out, her companion knew a goofy but pleasant enough fellow named Greg and she invited him to Alpine for a Family Home Evening. For Greg, it was love at first sight. After she moved to Provo for a Master's Degree in Library Science, they became inseparable. It was a long courtship and a short engagement. They were engaged on July 4, 1978, and were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on August 28. When Greg proposed, he said "Let's get married and be happy!" 

It took a few years, but they were blessed with a baby girl! When Megan Elizabeth was two weeks old, the family moved to central Nebraska. Kirsten loved being a wife and mother. She filled every apartment (seven in seven years) and each of the two homes she and Greg built together with light and beauty. She was able to move back to the mountains she loved in 1989.  As a mother and grandmother, she passed down her love of life and learning and travel and in particular her marvelous gift for finding beauty everywhere. She loved life and she loved to teach the Gospel, serving as Home Study Seminary Teacher for three years as well as in Primary, Relief Society, and Sunday School.

Kirsten died peacefully at home on August 20th, 2015. She is survived by her husband Greg, their daughter Megan (Brad) Singley, grandchildren Jane, Grey, Flora, and Soren; her parents, Glenn and Joy Jensen, and her brothers Stan (Jenny), Don (Esther) and sisters Suzanne Lutz (Greg) and Carolyn Ebert (Craig). 

Standing above all is Kirsten's testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She faced challenges with courage, humility, patience, and a positive outlook on life (see Alma 11:42-45).

Funeral Services will be held Tuesday August 25, 2015 at 11:00am at the Crescent Ridge 5th Ward, 11165 South Londonderry Drive (1515 East), where friends and family can visit 9:30-10:30am prior to the service. Interment will follow at the Salt Lake City Cemetery.