Iris Mary Larsen

Iris Mary Jensen December 8, 1924 - November 2, 2018 Wenatchee, Washington Iris Mary Jensen was born on December 8, 1924 to Peter and Mary Shjoet Jensen in Randers,Denmark. She was the last of 5 girls. Iris was around 12 years old when her family attended an Adventist Public outreach meeting and decided at that time she wanted to follow Jesus. In 1945, while attending Vejle Fjord Seventh-Day Adventist Academy, she met the love of her life, Eskild Runner Larsen. From the moment they met they were inseparable. Eskild and Iris graduated from academy and went on to attend Skodsborg Sanitarium. They were married on July 11, 1950, and continued with their schooling until they graduated together with their degrees in Physical Therapy in 1951. They soon started to follow their dreams and boarded the ship, Queen Elizabeth, to America. Eskild had an Uncle who lived in Battle Creek, Michigan, and that was where they were going. After the disappointment of not getting the jobs they wanted in Michigan, they headed to Loma Linda, California, where a job was promised. They both fell in love with the warm sunshine in California and decided to settle there. Eskild and Iris were blessed on January 5, 1953, with a beautiful baby boy, David Frank Larsen. They relocated to Santa Monica, California, where they could enjoy the beautiful beaches. Their second baby, Ann Susan, arrived on May 3, 1954. Iris had her hands full, now being a full time wife and mother of two busy toddlers. It had been almost 4 years since they had seen their family and homesickness had set in. So they decided to go home and stay for 6 months to decide where they really wanted to spend the rest of their lives. Once at home in Denmark, they both knew after about a month that the United States was where they wanted to be. Iris was pregnant with their third and last baby, and so it was, Jack Olaf was born October 11, 1957, in Denmark. Back home in California, they took classes and became US citizens. In 1969 Eskild and Iris purchased their home in Topanga Canyon, California, and raised their family. Iris was very active, loved to travel and she enjoyed many weekend boating trips with her husband, children and later grandchildren. Many fond memories of Iris were made while on a sailboat or ski boat. She learned how to water ski and thoroughly enjoyed Lake Mead, Lake Havasu, Lake Powell, Colorado River, and other lakes they found to be fun. Eskild and Iris had a group of dear friends from Denmark that they spent a lot of time together with that helped keep their Danish traditions and heritage strong here in America. On June 22, 1986, Iris was so happy to give her baby boy, Jack, to his wife, Shauna, and two years later, her oldest son David was married to Kathy. On October 31, 1989, Eskild and Iris were blessed with their first, long awaited for granddaughter, Heidi. So it began, Iris was no longer known as Iris or Mom, but Far Mor. One year later the second granddaughter, Sarah, was born and Far Mor couldn't have been more happy. Then in 1991, the last granddaughter was born, Heather, and Far Mor was so fulfilled with being a wife, mother, and now a grandmother. In 2008 Eskild and Iris made their final move to the Wenatchee area to be near their daughter, Ann. On June of 2016 Iris was able to attend her youngest granddaughter's wedding. In March of 2017 Far Mor was overjoyed when she became a great-grandma to Austin Ryan. He made her last year and half of life full of love and joy. Iris was patient, caring, compassionate, and loving to all. Her faith and trust in God was always her constant in life. Both Eskild and Iris lived in their home in Wenatchee together until May 2018 when Iris's health started to fail and was placed at an Adult Family Home until her peaceful rest on November 2, 2018, surrounded by those who loved her and are awaiting the promise to see her again soon.