Rodger Jensen, left, and in his World War II Army uniform. Jensen, a Fresno State alumnus and co-founder of S & J Ranches, died Aug. 5 at 105. Photos courtesy of Fresno State/composite
Rodger Blaine Jensen, a Fresno State alumnus, agricultural community leader and decorated World War II Army veteran, died Aug. 5 at 105 years old.
His wife of 76 years, Margaret, preceded him in death in 2018. She was an alumna and an equally committed advocate of Fresno State and agriculture, according to a university news release.
“Rodger Jensen’s life reflected an extraordinary commitment to service — to his country, to agriculture, to the Central Valley and to Fresno State,” said Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval.
A marriage, an education and a war
Growing up near Parlier and Selma, Jensen earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Fresno State in 1941. He met Margaret “Marnie” Roberts on campus in 1938. They married in December 1941, three weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
After enlisting in the Army, he served from 1942 to 1946, spending much of the time as a pilot in the South Pacific. In 1945, he helped fly the “Horrible Monster” B-29 for a record 17 hours, helping drop some of the final bombs on Japan before its surrender on Aug. 14. It was the same date he was laid to rest 81 years later at Belmont Memorial Park in Fresno.
The story was classified for 40 years before former crewmate Jim Smith documented it in the book “The Last Mission.”
Starting a Madera farming empire
Back in the Central Valley, Jensen started S & J Ranches with Hans Sumpf in 1950. They turned low-value farmland in Madera County into the nation’s largest producer of olives, and he pioneered the country’s first pistachio processing plant. The operation was the nation’s largest independent almond processor and included extensive citrus groves, three fruit packing plants and a nursery.
Jensen helped found the Pistachio Association and served as its first president.
In 1979, he helped organize the Ag One Foundation to benefit agricultural students and programs at Fresno State. He established the S & J Ranch Endowment Fund in 1985 for agricultural business students. The Ag One – Rodger B. Jensen Endowed Scholarship Fund followed in 1999.
Service to the univerity
The Jensens received honorary doctorates from Fresno State in 2010. In 2012, they established the $1.5 million Rodger and Margaret Jensen Endowment Fund. It covers tuition and fees for agricultural business and plant science students known as Jensen Scholars.
In 2014, the California Pistachio Research Board gave $1.5 million to Fresno State to create the Rodger B. Jensen Endowed Professorship in Pistachio Physiology and Pomology. Gurreet Brar has held the position since 2016.
“His knowledge of the ag industry has been instrumental in keeping the Jordan College and Ag One tied closely to the ag industry and its needs,” said Rolston St. Hilaire, dean of the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology.
Wide-ranging philanthropy
Jensen also served on several boards, including Valley Children’s Healthcare, the Fresno Chamber of Commerce, the Fresno County Farm Bureau and the Rotary Club of North Fresno.
The couple also donated land between Woodward Park and the San Joaquin River to the San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust.
In retirement, they enjoyed spending time with their children, Doug and Marjorie, grandchildren and other family.