Feb 3, 2018
Marie Hopkins Jensen
Marie Hopkins Jensen was born in 1925, the youngest of the four children of Archie and Gladys Davidson, who were farmers in the Little Red Deer area. Marie attended Normal School in Calgary and taught at Scollard, Little Red Deer, and Innisfail. She married Jim Hopkins in 1945, and the couple built the Central Cleaners Dry Cleaning Plant in 1946, which they opened for business in 1947. With Jim, Marie taught Round Dancing and Square Dancing in many communities across Central Alberta. In 1960, Marie and Jim bought land in the Kevisville District, and, with their three children, they raised Arabian horses and Hereford cattle at Holiday Ranch.
The family's Centennial project was buying Moose Mountain Hall at Jimmy Wotherspoon's estate sale and moving the hall to Holiday Ranch. In 1972, they began holding dance camps in the hall. Following Jim's death, Marie married Norm Jensen. Marie was the pianist for the Innisfail chapter of the Eastern Star for over 30 years and was a Star member for 70 years. She was well known for her crocheted cotton dishcloths, which were the most recent of the many craft projects she enjoyed over her lifetime.
Marie is survived by her three children, Yvonne Kennedy of Olds, Kent Hopkins of Carstairs, and Bev Hansen of Red Deer, her four granddaughters, and their families. A celebration of Marie's life will be held in the spring.