Leonel M. Jensen was born March 10, 1904, at Viborg, South Dakota, the son of Louis John and Mary Margaret (Jensen) Jensen.

He moved with his parents and sisters to a homestead west of Wall. He grew and attended country school in that area, before attending Wall, Fort Pierre and graduating from Lead High School in 1924.

He worked at the ranch until 1927 when he went to work for Homestake Gold Mine, then for Cecil Gideon at the Game Lodge in Custer State Park the summer that President Calvin Coolidge was there.

He then attended University of South Dakota at Vermillion. He then worked for the Farmers State Bank in Wall for twelve years. In 1941 he joined the United States Army and served with the 94th Infantry Division where he became a corporal and assistant company clerk. After his honorable discharge at the age of 38, he joined the American Red Cross and was assigned to the 75th Infantry Division as Assistant Field Director. When he was stationed at Camp Breckenridge, Kentucky, he met Murman Sandage and they became engaged before he went over seas as Senior Field Director with the 75th.

After his release from duty he and Murman Sandage were married in the Methodist Church in Henderson, Kentucky on February 11, 1946.

In 1946 Leonel and his brother Homer purchased their father’s place and farmed and ranched together for seven years. In 1956 Leonel and Murman purchased Homer’s shares and together with Leonel’s father they formed the Jensen Ranch Incorporated.

In 1951, Governor Sigurd Anderson appointed Leonel to the Game, Fish and Parks Commission and they were instrumental in establishing roadside parks along South Dakota Highways. They also developed the Sunday Gulch Hiking Trail below Sylvan Lake. Governor Boe appointed him to the Educational Policy and Goals Commission to make a study of public school systems. Governor Herseth appointed him to the Industrial Development and Expansion Agency and Governor Gubrud appointed him chairman of a committee to study the manner in which history was being taught in South Dakota schools.

Leonel was elected Grandmaster of Masons in 1956; was a member of the South Dakota Historical Society for twenty three years, six as chairman; he was a member of the Grand Trustees of Masonry for twenty-six years, six of those years as chairman. He served as a lay leader for the Wasta Methodist Church and was president of the Parent Teachers Association. Leonel was institutional representative for the Boy Scouts and was involved in having a reporter from Boy’s Life Magazine come to be with the Wasta Troop on a horseback camp in the badlands.

Together with State Historian Will Robinson, Leonel conceived the idea of a vanishing trails expedition that for twenty years left Wall on the last Sunday in September to visit historic sites.

Leonel was Secretary/Treasurer of Perpetual National Life Insurance Company from it’s beginning in 1960 until it was sold in 1970.

He and Ted Hustead gave the land that is now the City Park and Athletic Field to the Wall School District.

Leonel was sheriff of the Black Hills Chapter of Westerners International, President of Ashler Chapter of HI-12 International, and a member of Singing Trige of Wahoo.

He belonged to the Catalyst Club of Rapid City and was chairman for two years. He served on the Mid-Western Area Council of the American Red Cross and later was elected for a term on the National Board of Governors.

His honors include: Wildlife Conservationist of the year award by the South Dakota Wildlife Federation for outstanding contributions to the wise use and management of the nations natural resources, Preservation of History Award by Dakota State College, South Dakota School of Mines for his civic work, and the Bronze Star by President Harry S. Truman. In 1985, he was honored by Governor Bill Janklow, who proclaimed January 18, “Leonel Morgan Jensen Day” in South Dakota. He enumerated the various things Leonel had done and ended by saying “Leonel Jensen has always given more to his state and nation than he ever received and South Dakota is a far better place because of his involvement and dedication to the state.

Grateful for having shared his life are his wife Murman Jensen of Rapid City; a son Paul Jensen of Wasta; two daughters Margaret Rhodes and her husband Stephen of Rapid City, and Sara Jensen of Rapid City; five grandchildren, Adam Jensen, Anne Jensen, Rachel Rhodes, Julia Rhodes and Seth Rhodes; and a host of other relatives and friends.

Memorial services were held 2:00 p.m. Monday, November 18, 2002 at the First Presbyterian Church in Rapid City, with Pastor Stephen Rhodes officiating.

Interment will be at a later date in the Wall Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials directed to the South Dakota Children's Home Society and the Black Hills Chapter of the American Red Cross.