Primary Name: Jensen, Mamie Feusi
Filed as: mamie_feusi_jensen
Also known as: Mamie Feusi; Mamie Jensen
Occupation / Association: Bookkeeper; Stenographer; Douglas Island Women's Club Member
Born: December 2, 1906, Douglas, Alaska
Died: January 19, 2001, Juneau, Alaska
Parents: John Feusi; Mary Ott Feusi
Spouse: Mark Jensen (m. December 5, 1933)
Children: John Jensen
Associated places: Douglas, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Tacoma, Washington
Keywords: Mamie Feusi Jensen, Mamie Feusi, Mamie Jensen, Douglas High School class of 1924, Juneau Cold Storage employees, Feusi-Jensen grocery store, Douglas Island Women's Club
Biography
Mamie Feusi Jensen was born in Douglas, Alaska, on December 2, 1906, to John Feusi and Mary Ott Feusi. Her father built a hardware and ship chandlery store on Front Street with an apartment above where the family lived.
She attended grade school and high school in Douglas and was valedictorian of the Douglas High School class of 1924, a class of eight. She later attended Knapp Business College in Tacoma, Washington.
Mamie was an accomplished pianist and performed for silent movies at a Douglas theater operated by her cousin, Bill Ott, for W. D. Gross. She and her sister Elizabeth also taught neighborhood boys to dance at the family's house at 1012 Second Street, built in 1927 and described by the newspaper as "modern." Because many men were working in the mines, the weekly community dances were well attended.
It was at one of these dances that Mamie met Mark Jensen. On December 5, 1933, during one of the wildest and coldest winters on the Gastineau Channel, Mamie Feusi and Mark Jensen were married. Their son, John Jensen, was born on May 1, 1935.
During the early years in Douglas, Mamie was remembered as a sustaining force in the community. During the holidays, she sent her son out with his sled, up and down the streets, delivering Christmas baskets to bachelors. With other members of the Douglas Island Women's Club, she helped establish the Douglas Library, which began as a small collection of books in the old Douglas Fire Hall.
In addition to the Women's Club, Mamie was active in Girl Scouts, the hospital guild, Beta Sigma Phi, P.E.O., Toastmistresses, Soroptimists, and church activities.
She worked for fifteen years as a bookkeeper and stenographer for the Juneau Cold Storage, and later spent ten years at the Feusi-Jensen grocery store.
In 1961, she was named Juneau's Woman of the Year. In 1979, her story became part of the oral drama Pure Gold, presented by Perseverance Theater, in which she appeared that year and again for the tenth-anniversary production.
Mamie Feusi Jensen died on January 19, 2001, in Juneau, Alaska.
Sources
Gastineau Channel Memories 1880–1967, Vol. 3, pp. 73–74, story by Aleria Jensen and John Jensen
Tags: Mamie Feusi Jensen, Mamie Feusi, Mamie Jensen, John Feusi, Mary Ott Feusi, Mark Jensen, John Jensen, Douglas High School class of 1924, Douglas Island Women's Club, Juneau Alaska residents