Sterling Jensen

A longtime resident of Idaho Falls, Sterling Aland Jensen, 94, passed away peacefully on November 27, 2017. Sterling was born in Ucon, ID on May 8, 1923 to Luella Aland and Sterling W. Jensen. His family moved around southern Idaho for a few years until settling in Idaho Falls. Sterling attended the University of Idaho, Southern Branch in a pharmacy program until the war broke out in 1941. Sterling enlisted in the Army Air Corps (now the U.S. Air Force) in 1942. He wanted to be a navigator, but when he arrived at training camp he was informed the Corps needed pilots, not navigators. He began his pilot training on B-24s which took him to several training camps around the United States. In 1944 he completed his training and received his pilot wings and commission as a 2nd Lieutenant. He was ordered to the European front, landing in November, 1944 as part of the now famous Mighty 8th Air Force. When Sterling arrived at the air station in Kimbolton, England, there were no B-24s, just hundreds of B-17s sitting on the runway. He quickly retrained on the B-17 which he found to be a superior plane, much easier to fly than the B-24. After 35 missions bombing targets mostly in Germany and for his outstanding service, Sterling received six air medals, the European Theater medal with three stars, and the Distinguished Service Award for the 379 Bomb Group. In 2004, fifty-eight years after the war he was awarded the Air Force’s highest medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, for his bravery in landing his plane with only one engine functioning after a raid on the Berlin Marshalling Yards. According to his nose gunner, George Linick, "Sterling’s skills saved nine very young lives." Sterling’s name is engraved on the Smithsonian National Aviation and Space Exploration Wall in Washington D.C. After the war, Sterling returned to Idaho Falls where he met Dorothy "Jean" Gerrard. They were married on May 8, 1946 and had two daughters, Kathryn Jean and Susan Lane. The couple was later sealed in the Idaho Falls Temple. Sterling had several businesses in town including the Idaho Falls Credit Bureau and the Idaho Falls Monument Company. In 1976, he joined the LDS Foundation as a fund raiser for BYU and Ricks College working throughout Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. Sterling retired in 1989, but stayed active working for the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE). Married for 71 years, Sterling and Jean’s marriage was a genuine romance that exemplified true love and absolute devotion to each other. Jean passed away this past September and without her, Sterling became a bit lost. He died Monday, after a brief illness. As a family, we mourn his passing, but know he is now with his beloved Jean. Sterling was preceded in death by his wife, and his daughter, Susan Lane Kinghorn. He is survived by his daughter Kathryn Chin (Steve) Mesa, AZ; his son-in-law Randy Kinghorn, Ogden, UT; grandson Justin Kinghorn (Shauna), Ogden, UT; granddaughter Natalie Lowe (Tony), Ogden, UT; grandson Sterling Gregory Chin (Hadley), West Jordan, UT; granddaughter Alyssa Dever (James), Mesa, AZ and 11 great-grandchildren. Our family expresses our deepest thanks to Lincoln Court Retirement Community and One Source Health and Hospice for their kind and loving care of Sterling. Services will be held on Saturday, December 2, 2017 at Wood Funeral Home on Ridge Avenue; a visit with family will be from 11- 11:45 a.m. and the funeral service at 12:00 noon. Burial will be at Taylor Cemetery at 1:00 p.m. Military Rites will be performed by the Bonneville County Veterans Memorial Team and Idaho Honor Guard.

Funeral Services will be held