James Carl “Jim” Jensen

sen, 80, longtime Minot

real estate broker and civ-

ic leader, died on August

27, 2018 in a Chandler,

AZ memory care facility.

Jim was born on July

11, 1938 in Minot to Leo-

nard and Edna (Price) Jen-

sen. He was raised in

Minot, graduated from

Minot High School in

1956. He enlisted in the

U.S. Air Force in 1957

and served as a decoder

with the N.S.A. prior to

his honorable discharge.

Later, he attended Minot

State University and

Minot Business College.

Jim married Karen

Schnaible on June 9, 1963

at Our Savior’s Lutheran

Church in Max, ND. They

made their home in Minot

where they were the

proud parents of two

daughters: Kristine and

Jill. Jim and Bud Kalm-

bach established Signal

Realty in 1962 and he be-

came sole owner in 1967,

and later established Sig-

nal Management. He also

owned Bismarck Realty

and a real estate firm in

Rapid City, SD, was

named North Dakota Real-

tor of the Year, and served

as the president of the ND

Association of Realtors,

and as the Regional Vice

President of the National

Realtors Association. He

especially enjoyed help-

ing new and struggling

real estate agents and was

a leader in establishing an

income baseline for real-

tors in North Dakota in

the early years of his

career. He and his Prairie

Partners developed Dako-

ta Square, Southdale and

Green Acres in Minot. He

retired in 1986 but stayed

very active in the com-

munity. His life’s motto

was “Minot has been very

good to me, so I want to

give back to Minot wher-

ever I can.”

Jim was a member, ush-

er, communion server,

and Sunday school teach-

er at Zion Lutheran

Church. He served many

years on the Boards of

Directors of Trinity Hospi-

tal (Chairman), Dakota

Boys Ranch, First Western

Bank and North Dakota

State Fair. He was Alder-

man of the Sixth Ward,

member of the Board of

Regents and was awarded

an honorary degree at

Minot State University.

He attended and taught

Dale Carnegie courses and

was chairman of the Y’s

Men’s Rodeo. He was a

member of the Minot

Toastmasters, Exchange

Club, Lions, Rotary,

Y.M.C.A., Minot Indoor

Tennis Club, Minot Coun-

try Club, Elks, Eagles,

American Legion Post

#26 and Dakota Cruisers

Car Club.

Jim’s favorite hobby

was restoring classic road-

sters and he could be

found in many hills and

valleys of the Minot area

looking for car parts. He

and Karen enjoyed car

shows and held a show

annually at their home in

Minot. Many of his cars

won awards and were

sold at the Barret Jackson

auction. He also enjoyed

tennis, golf, local and big

game hunting, fishing,

and spending time with

family and friends. Jim

also had his private pilot’s

license for many years

and enjoyed flying and

traveling.

Jim’s loving family in-

cludes: his loving wife of

55 years: Karen;

daughters: Kristine

(Grant) Paranica of Grand

Forks, Jill (Tony) Barten

of Savage, MN; grandchil-dren: Tarek, Jordyn and

Grace Paranica; Ozzy

Nyane and Jake Barten;

in-laws: Ed (Linda)

Schnaible of Minot, Tim

(Darlene) Schnaible of

Burlington, Audrey Pol-

lard of Seattle, WA, Mau-

die Schnaible of Wood-

land, CA, and Felix

Brown of Denver, CO, as

well as numerous nieces,

nephews and cousins.

Jim was preceded in

death by his parents and

sister: Millie (Orlin)

Backes, in-laws: Norman

Schnaible and Luella

Brown.

Special Thanks: The

family would like to ex-

press our gratitude to

those who helped us

through the stages of Jim’s

illness and made his and

our lives easier with your

love and support: Maple

View of Minot, Copper

Creek Inn of Chandler,

Aegis Hospice Care of

Chandler, Bob Amstutz,

Jim and Teresa Gathman,

Jon and Karla Backes,

Mary Beth Backes Brenno,

Ed and Linda Schnaible,

and Tim and Darlene

Schnaible.

Celebration of the Life

of Jim Jensen: Saturday,

September 8, 2018 at

11:00 a.m. in Zion Luth-

eran Church – Minot.

Visitation: Friday,

Sept. 7, 2018 from 7:00

p.m. to 8:00 p.m. with a

Family Service at 8:00

p.m. all at Zion Lutheran

Church – Minot.

Memorials are preferred

to the Alzheimer’s Associ-ation, Dementia Care of

Minot, Dakota Boys

Ranch, Minot State

University, Minot Com-

munity Foundation, Zion

Lutheran Church or the

donor’s choice.

Those wishing to sign

the online memorial regis-

ter or share memories and

condolences are invited to

use the expressions of

sympathy section at

www.thomasfamily

funeralhome.com.

(Arrangements have

been entrusted to the Tho-

mas Family Funeral Home

in Minot)