Lt. Col. Thomas Evans Jensen

[ironputts]

Lt. Col. Thomas Evans Jensen
Wing HQ
Pennsylvania Wing

Thomas Evans Jensen, 89, passed away peacefully in his home in Bethlehem on July 28, 2023. Tom was the husband of Virginia "Cinda" (Couch) Jensen for over 63 years. He was born to Cyril Dewey Jensen and Bessie (Evans) Jensen on June

20, 1924 in Bethlehem. Tom spent his non school years at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA where he enjoyed many hours in the Oliver Wendell Holmes Memorial Library. After graduation from Lehigh University with a Bachelor's Degree in Analytical Chemistry, he enlisted in the US Army and spent 2 years at the Detroit Arsenal as an Ordnance Technical Intelligence Specialist. After returning to Bethlehem, Tom earned a Master's Degree, also from Lehigh. Tom's work career began when he helped found JKM Instrument Company. His next step was four years at Bethlehem Steel Research Center. His true calling was his employment for 27 years with the Pennsylvania State Police in Bethlehem as a Criminalist, from which he retired in 1999. Following this, he co-taught Criminalistics at Cedar Crest College. In his spare time, Tom read hundreds of mystery stories, loved camping, hiking, canoeing in the Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota, playing bridge, and volunteering for over 50 years with the PA Wing Civil Air Patrol a civilian arm of the US Air Force. The organization trains young people in search and rescue techniques. His passion for dogs led to the raising of 6 generations of German shepherds. His daughters, along with a wide circle of children in Bethlehem in the 1970's, will forever remember the spook-tacular haunted basement he created every Halloween.

Survivors: In addition to his wife, Tom is survived by two daughters, Melinda E. Jensen (Chris Osicki) of Murray, UT, Holly R. Jensen of Charleston, SC and Lake Lure, NC; and two granddaughters, Hailey and Cassidy Osicki, of Murray, UT. Predeceasing Tom was his sister, Grace Jensen Randolph.

CAP Rangers

Comments:

Tom had a huge impact on CAP ES in PA and specifically the Ranger Program.  He authored/published a lot of the early program publications. Land, Search, and Rescue Manual and Team Commanders Notebook series.  If I remember correctly, these pubs are referenced as contributing documents used to develop the current GTM/UDF tasks book and reference texts.

Capt.  Mark "K12" Kleibscheidel