Obituaries : Marian C. Jorgensen; 50-Year Local Resident

Marian C. Jorgensen of Ventura, a 50-year county resident, died Wednesday at Santa Paula Memorial Hospital following a brief illness. She was 82.

Jorgensen was born May 22, 1914, in Oak Park, Ill. After moving to the county in 1946, Jorgensen worked as a bookkeeper for the Teague Ranch, the Santa Paula Chronicle and Ventura County.

“She had a real accountant’s mind--like a steel trap,” said her daughter, Patricia Ehret of Camarillo.

An avid traveler, Jorgensen and her husband, Carl, a retired English teacher, visited a number of countries. She also lived abroad for two years in Osaka, Japan, and Helsinki, Finland, while her husband taught as a Fulbright Scholar. “My parents had a very close relationship and enjoyed doing things together,” Ehret said.

In the mid-1960s, Jorgensen enrolled as a full-time student at Ventura College to pursue her dream of earning a college degree. She subsequently transferred to UC Santa Barbara, where she maintained an A-minus grade point average and earned a spot on the dean’s list. In December 1968, at age 54, Jorgensen earned her bachelor’s degree in English.

“She lived in Santa Barbara during the week and came home on weekends,” Ehret said.

Her love of books and crossword puzzles prompted her to join the Friends of the Library to make the joys of reading more accessible to others. Jorgensen was also a member of I-DA-KA service group and past president of the Poinsettia Gardens Park Board.

As one of the first residents of the Poinsettia Gardens development, near Saticoy, Jorgensen designed her entire home--from the floor plan to the placement of the electrical outlets, Ehret said.

“She was a very independent, spirited person,” Ehret said. “She had a great memory and was very organized.”

Jorgensen is survived by her husband and daughter, two grandchildren and a cousin, Rae Greene of Sun City, Ariz.

Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations in Jorgensen’s memory may be made to the National Parkinson Foundation Inc., 1501 N.W. 9th Ave., Bob Hope Road, Miami, FL 33136; or the American Parkinson Disease Assn., 60 Bay St., Staten Island, NY 10301.

Arrangements are under the direction of Pierce Brothers Stetler Mortuary, Santa Paula.