Longtime Westport residents and activists Jørgen and Patricia Jensen passed away peacefully at home together on Dec. 22, 2021.

Many in the community knew “Pat” as a longtime employee of the Westport Public Schools, while “George,” an engineer, was a nine-term member of the Representative Town Meeting.

More recently, George was a member of the Y’s Men and the couple were active at the Westport Senior Center.

“I’ll miss Jørgen’s booming laugh and Pat’s beautiful smile,” said Susan Pfister, director of the senior center, remembering the couple as regulars at the cafe luncheons.

“I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to befriend them over the past several years,” she said. “They will be sorely missed by everyone at the WCSA.”

Jørgen (George) was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1930, and Patricia (Pat) in 1934 in Bridgeport.

She was a graduate of Lauralton Hall and Sacred Heart University in Fairfield. George was a graduate of the University of Copenhagen with an MS in mechanical engineering.  

Pat traveled to Panama to work on the construction of the Panama Canal as part of General Electric, and George saw the world from the engine rooms of large navy ship as a lieutenant in the Royal Danish Navy.

They met when Pat returned to Bridgeport from Panama. While working at GE she joined the newly formed YMCA College Grad Club. George was recruited to join GE along with a group of Danish designers and engineers; he worked in Kentucky helping to develop the self-cleaning oven, then transferred to Bridgeport where he made major contributions to the development of a wide range of electronic devices, including smoke alarms and clock radios.  

Pat became vice president of the College Club, and they both enjoyed the numerous parties and outings with a wonderful group that became friends for life.

They were married on a February day when the largest snowstorm in years hit the East Coast. Many of their guests were stranded on the roadway, but they celebrated in style and then headed off to a whirlwind tour of Europe, including skiing in Cortina, all the while dragging around the necessary bulky equipment. They arrived in Denmark to meet George’s family and celebrated their wedding yet again.

They were avid boaters, and discovered their first Westport home on Otter Trail by way of the river — it was purchased not long after their wedding in 1961.

Pat and George raised three children, Elisa, Eric and Aline.

George continued to work at GE until his retirement in 1985.

Pat began to work for the Westport school system, an administrator at Saugatuck and Hillspoint elementary schools, and finally at Staples High School, where she was head of purchasing until her retirement in 2000.  

George served on the Westport RTM for nine consecutive terms, and some of the wonderful projects he worked on included purchasing the Baron’s property, the construction of the Senior Center and the Saugatuck senior housing project.  

Pat was a longtime member of the Westport Woman’s Club, and when she retired was quickly elected president. She was a master knitter and crocheter, and created complex constructions that still amaze her children.

Pat and George loved Westport, and were frequent visitors to the Westport Library and the beach, where they enjoyed swimming and looking at the water, and where the view remained pristine in no small part as a result of their work to battle a proposed nuclear power plant on Cockenoe Island. After a pitched battle, known as “Save Westport Now.” Cockenoe was purchased by the town in 1967.

Back in the day they could be seen frequently playing tennis at Longshore.

George was a member of the Y’s Men and the Hoot Owls, and cherished his days playing bridge with his bridge group.

They also enjoyed the programs at the Senior Center, and George was in charge of the Senior Center Garden Club. He loved to start his tomato plants in January each year, growing nearly 100 plants, which he then distributed to the Garden Club, friends, neighbors, even his daughter and her friends in Brooklyn.

Pat and George will be dearly missed by all who knew them.  

They are survived by their three children, Elisa Jensen and her husband John McKay, Eric Jensen and his wife Michele Ryan, and Aline Maynard and her husband Garth, as well as seven grandchildren, Oona and Ciara McKay, Owen, Soren and Freya Ryan-Jensen, and Garth and Jenna Maynard, as well as George’s beloved younger brother, Steen Folmer Jensen and his wife, Kirsten Klein. In lieu of flowers, please send a donation in their name to the Westport Center for Senior Activities, 21 Imperial Ave., Westport, CT 06880.