Dorothy Ann Jensen

Dorothy Richie Jensen, age 92 of Hudson, WI died peacefully on May 25, 2026, in the company of her loving children. Dorothy was born on Sept 29, 1933, in North Hudson to the parents of Felix and Rose (Calguire) Richie. She attended St. Pats elementary school through 8th grade and then graduated from Hudson High school in 1951. She always said that there were 500 people living in North Hudson and she was related to 498 of them.

Dorothy married her high school sweetheart Ronald James Jensen on October 4, 1952, at St. Pats Church in Hudson. They had 6 children in 7 years and 10 months. Their son Johnny died at 3 months old. She loved babies and she would eat them up, as the saying goes. When her youngest Jerì started kindergarten, she started to work outside of the home. Her first job was waitressing at Dibbo’s cafe in downtown Hudson. Later they bought Jensen Shoe Repair shop, she worked there until they sold it. Then she worked at More 4 as a cashier, later promoted to the bookkeeper. If you know Dorothy, she loves people and loves to gab, so the waitressing and cashier jobs were perfect for her.

After Dorothy and Ron retired, they spent some of the winters in California and Arizona. They were married for 65 years.

Dorothy enjoyed the holidays immensely. She would decorate for every holiday, every year, and enjoyed showing them off. She is best known for her Christmas decorations inside and out of her home on 5th St. She loved it when people stopped to see her decorations and she always had desserts and candy for them. For many years we sold fireworks during the 4th of July at Jensen’s Fireworks stand. Dorothy enjoyed working with all her children and liked seeing her returning customers every year.

Dorothy loved playing cards and board games with her children, grandchildren, and friends. She played Euchre at the Gun club. She loved to go fishing with her kids. She crocheted towels and loved to give them away. She loved to bake. Every holiday was filled with bake goods from pizzelle’s, pumpkin bread, bars, pies, and cookies.

Dorothy was honored in 2023 as the Grand Marshall of the North Hudson Pepper Festival. She was also honored by the Hudson Historic Librarians with their weekly articles on Facebook on her life.

Dorothy’s favorite day was having all her kids with her, whether it was playing cards, going to dinner, playing Bingo, or going to the casino. Her other favorite day was when her 3 great grandchildren Ozzy, IslaJean, and Adalyn would come over to visit. She would spoil them and love them up!!

She is preceded in death by her husband Ronald, son Johnny, parents, 4 brothers and sister (Ruben, Patrick, Ernie, Phillip, and Lucille), sisters-in-law: Sally and Rosemary, In-laws: Johan & Emma Jensen, Gloria Jensen, Tom Jensen, and Joan Miller, and son-in-law David Lynch. She is survived by her 5 children: Joseph Jensen, Julie (Brett) Phillips, Jim (Michelle) Jensen, Jeanne (Fred) Reaux, and Jeri Jensen; In-Laws: Sis Richie, Jeri Richie, Jerry & Judy Jensen, and John Miller; Grandchildren: Jeremy (Christina) Calverley, Jamie Overlund, Veronica Jensen, Ben Jensen, Kimberly (Richard) Terrazas, Melissa (Ralph) Pitts, Jennifer (Alex) Ortiz and Candace (Oscar) Palomino; and many great grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

A memorial service will be held on May 30th, 2026, 11am, at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Hudson, Wisconsin, visitation beforehand starting at 9:30. The family invites everyone to stay and enjoy a meal together following the service. Burial will take place at St. Patrick's Cemetery after the luncheon.

Services are entrusted to O’Connell Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Hudson. For more information or to share a memory, please visit www.oconnellfuneralhomes.com or call 715-386-3725.