Rodger Blaine Jensen, a Fresno State alumnus, agricultural community leader and decorated World War II Army veteran, passed away on Aug. 5 at 105 years old.
His wife of 76 years, Margaret, preceded him in death in 2018. She was an alumna and an equally committed advocate of Fresno State and agriculture.
“Rodger Jensen’s life reflected an extraordinary commitment to service – to his country, to agriculture, to the Central Valley and to Fresno State,” said President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval. “He and Margaret believed deeply in the power of education and invested generously in the future of our university. Their legacy will continue through the many lives they touched, and we are grateful for their enduring impact on the Fresno State community.
Growing up near Parlier and Selma, Rodger Jensen earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Fresno State in 1941 after playing football as a freshman and serving as president of the Sigma Tau fraternity, which later became Sigma Chi. He met Margaret “Marnie” Roberts on campus in 1938. They were married in December 1941, three weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
After enlisting in the Army, he served from 1942 to 1946, spending much of the time as a pilot in the South Pacific. At the end of World War II, in 1945, he helped fly the “Horrible Monster” B-29 plane for a record 17 hours, helping drop some of the final bombs on Japan before its surrender on Aug. 14 – the same date he was laid to rest 81 years later at Belmont Memorial Park in Fresno.
The story was classified for 40 years before his former crewmate, Jim Smith, documented the experience in the book, “The Last Mission.”
When Jensen returned to the Central Valley, he began a farming career working for others before starting S & J Ranches with Hans Sumpf in 1950. They turned low-value farmland in Madera County into the nation’s largest producer of olives, and he pioneered the country’s first pistachio processing plant. The operation stood as the nation’s largest independent almond processor and included extensive citrus groves, three fruit packing plants and a nursery.
Jensen also helped found the Pistachio Association and served as its first president.
He combined his passion for agriculture and Fresno State to help organize the Ag One Foundation with other alumni, industry members and faculty in 1979 to benefit and promote agricultural students and programs. He then established the S & J Ranch Endowment Fund in 1985 to assist students pursuing bachelor’s degrees in agricultural business. The Ag One – Rodger B. Jensen Endowed Scholarship Fund was added in 1999 to support agricultural students with proceeds from the Ag One Community Salute event that honored his contributions to campus and the Central Valley.
He was also honored with the Fresno State Alumni Association’s Arthur Safstrom Service Award at the Top Dog Alumni Awards in 1990. His wife, Margaret, was honored by Ag One and the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation with its Common Threads award in 2004. They received honorary doctorates at Fresno State commencement in 2009.
Together, they established the $1.5 million Rodger and Margaret Jensen Endowment Fund for agricultural students in 2012. The scholarship covers tuition and fees for Fresno State agricultural business and plant science students, known as Jensen Scholars.
In 2014, the California Pistachio Research Board made a $1.5 million gift to Fresno State to create the Rodger B. Jensen Endowed Professorship in Pistachio Physiology and Pomology. The faculty position, which has been held by Dr. Gurreet Brar since 2016, focuses on applied research in pistachio physiology and courses in pomology, the science and practice of growing fruit.
Jensen also served as an industry adviser for the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology and the Craig School of Business at Fresno State, and was a member of the university’s Foundation Board of Governors.
The Jensens’ campus philanthropy also aided the John D. Welty Center for Educational Policy and Leadership, Fresno State Alumni Association, The Maddy Institute, President’s Circle for Excellence and the Sigma Chi special collections fund.
“We are so appreciative of the lifelong dedication of Rodger and Margaret Jensen in supporting the Central Valley in so many ways,” said Dr. Rolston St. Hilaire, dean of the Jordan College. “His knowledge of the ag industry has been instrumental in keeping the Jordan College and Ag One tied closely to the ag industry and its needs. He was a Fresno State student who balanced the demands of being a student and working in the industry, so the Jensens took pride in creating scholarship opportunities for students to focus more fully on their academics without facing extra financial stress.”
Jensen was also a member of the boards for the California Citrus Nurserymen Society, Valley Children’s Healthcare, Fresno Chamber of Commerce, Fresno County Farm Bureau, Fresno County Historical Society, Rotary Club of North Fresno and Boy Scouts of America Sequoia Council.
He and Margaret also contributed to the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra and St. Agnes Medical Center and donated land between Woodward Park and the San Joaquin River to the San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust.
In retirement, they enjoyed spending time with their children, Doug and Marjorie, grandchildren and other family.
