Jean Marie Jensen

Jean Marie Potter was born on November 12, 1953, in Portland, Oregon to Robert and Joy Potter. She grew up in Oregon City where she graduated from Oregon City High School in 1971 and later studied at Clackamas Community College. After leaving Oregon City, Jean lived in Albany and Jefferson, Oregon and later Ogden, Utah, before permanently moving to Salem in 1987.

She worked a variety of jobs before starting her career with the State of Oregon, Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in 1979, where she promoted and held a variety of positions. In the later 90’s Jean enjoyed working a second job as a pizza delivery driver for Round Table Pizza. She often surprised and amused this younger generation of coworkers by keeping up with them by adapting to their lingo, being “too legit to quit” which earned her many “homies”. She later transferred to Oregon State Police (OSP) in 2001, where she worked as a 911 call taker until retiring in 2013. Jean was proud of her career accomplishments, having been Law Enforcement Database (LED) certified for DMV and later completing over 420 hours of training for her telecommunications certification for OSP.

When not working, Jean enjoyed spending time with family, including her parents, siblings, children, her many grandkids and her growing number great grandchildren. She was well known for keeping up with her correspondence, often sending letters and cards; these will be keepsakes we all cherish. She also liked to craft and create, keep a welcoming space in her yard, and garden despite her brown thumb. Jean had a great sense of humor, well known for her quick wit, her jokes and her love of sharing memes on Facebook.

On December 23, 2022, Jean passed away at her home. She was preceded in death by her parents Robert and Joy, her brother John, her lifelong sister Renee, daughter Heather, and her very special friend Levi. She is survived by her children, Shannon, Shawn, Nichole, Christopher, and William; siblings, Kathleen, Christine, and David; 18 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren with one on the way.