Deceased October 12, 2019
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In Memory
We have been apprised that Reb Jensen died peacefully in his sleep on Oct. 12.
He came to Amherst from St. Louis (Mo.) Country Day School, where he had won the Headmaster’s Cup. As an undergraduate, Reb was a member of Beta Theta Pi, earned his numerals for freshman football and majored in economics. Following four years of service in the U.S. Air Force stationed in Japan, where he was a general’s aide-de-camp, Reb earned an M.B.A. at Harvard and embarked upon a very successful career in business and finance, initially on Wall Street and culminating in 30 years as managing general partner at Boston-based Copley Venture Partners.
Reb had a great love for the island of Nantucket, where his father was a landowner and where he and Daintry were married in 1959. With the help of a historian, he became an expert on its land distribution dating back to the early days of the English settlement and was dedicated to preserving its natural beauty. Thanks to his efforts, more than 240 acres known as Norwood Farms were placed into perpetual conservation.
He served on many boards and associations over the years wherever the family resided, including with United Funds, Dedham Country Day School, Nantucket Yacht Club, Nantucket Historical Association and Riverside Theater Company. He also served as president of Sankaty Head Golf Club.
For a number of years, the Jensens split time between Nantucket and Vero Beach, Fla. Recently, Reb devoted himself to the care of Daintry, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease and who survives him, along with daughters Daintry Jensen and Julia (Tim) Weed, and two grandchildren, Louise and Trowbridge Weed. A son, Christopher ’82, predeceased him.
Hank Tulgan ’54