Former Washington County resident Anker M. Jensen, 90, died Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2006, at Welcome Home Senior Residence in Dublin, Calif. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, Dec. 11, at Faith Lutheran Church in Castro Valley.

Anker Morris Jensen was born March 10, 1916, in Chicago, Ill. In 1917, the family moved to a farm near Standard, Alberrta, Canada. Except for two years when the family lived in Selma, Calif., he was raised in the Danish Canadian community of Standard, where the demanding climate and a caring community did much to mold his character.

In 1932, at the age of 16, he enrolled at Dana College in Blair, where he received his bachelor of arts degree in 1936. He sang in the college choir, which toured Denmark in 1935, and participated on the debate team.

He moved to Chicago, where he earned a master of arts degree in English in 1938 at the University of Chicago. While a student, he taught at Morgan Park Military Academy in Chicago.

He returned to Blair, and enrolled in Trinity Seminary, receiving his B.D. degree in 1941. During the summer of 1939, he worked in Hayward, Calif., establishing a Lutheran congregation there. Faith Lutheran Church in Castro Valley is a direct descendant of that congregation. After graduation from seminary, he was ordained as a pastor in the United Evangelical Lutheran Church. Throughout his years of study, he was an exceptional student, receiving several awards for academic excellence.

On June 8, 1941, he married Vita Marie Hansen at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Her father, the Rev. Fred C.M. Hansen performed the ceremony. She was a supportive and sustaining partner in his years of ministry and in their retirement years.

Rev. Jensen served parishes in Edmore and Sidney, Mich., and Luck, Wis. In 1955, he and his family moved to Castro Valley, where he was pastor of Faith Lutheran Church until 1968. He then accepted a call to Oliver Lutheran Church in Inglewood, Calif., where he had a decisive influence in integrating what had been an all-white congregation. He served there until retiring from full-time ministry in 1978. Rev. and Mrs. Jensen moved to Sonoma after retirement and, in 1985, settled in Hayward. In 1996, they became residents of Baywood Court in Castro Valley.

During his retirement years, Rev. jensen served as an interim pastor in nine different congregations.

An awareness of God's presence was the key to his identity, to his unfailing kindness, to his intellectual breadth and depth, to the way he lived every day of his 90 years. He enjoyed reading and writing, was fond of gardening, and delighted in traveling, but it was his joy in the church and his love for people that were most striking. He was an exceptionally gracious and gentle man with a ready wit and an affirming spirit.

He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Tim and Sharon Jensen of Blair; daughter and son-in-law, Mike and Miriam Bennett of Livermore, Calif.; four grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and brother and sister-in-law, Elmer and Leona Jensen of Strathmore, Alberta.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Vita; and sister, Leda.

Memorials are suggested to Faith Lutheran Church in Castro Valley.