Dorothy Dorene Jenson

Dorothy Jenson died at the Immanuel Lutheran House Sept. 7 of natural causes. She was 86.

Dorothy was born in Whitefish on Feb. 12, 1928 to Reio and Leora Bretthauer. She grew up in Whitefish with her sisters Mary Jane and Rhea.

After high school, Dorothy attended the Portland School of Art and Design. This led to a job at Lacy’s Studio in Whitefish where she learned to do the tinting o the large landscapes and Glacier Park photos Marion Lacy became known for. She was also responsible for the coloring of all of the graduation portraits that were taken by Lacy’s for most of the years they were done.

Dorothy married Norman Jenson in 1952 and they made their home in Whitefish from then on, raising two children, Mike and David.

1965 saw Dorothy in partnership with Helen Peschel open the Candlewick Gift Shop in Whitefish. They operated the shop together for many years into the 1970s.

In the early 1960s while working as the secretary to Superintendent of Schools Lloyd Muldown, Dorothy began her focus on painting watercolors and oils for galleries throughout the Northwest and began a very successful career in art. The subject matter she favored was usually landscapes and wildflowers.

During the 70s and 80s, her studio and gallery on Highway 93 South in Whitefish was a familiar stop for many in the Flathead Valley. Her paintings still hang in many homes in Whitefish and throughout the Northwest.

During the mid-80s, Dorothy and Norman began traveling with a trailer and later their motorhome. They traveled to and from Arizona for several years and finally bought a retirement home in Green Valley, Ariz.

Dorothy was preceded in death by Norman in 2002 in Arizona and moved back to Whitefish in 2009 to be near family.

There will be no services at this time. Any memorial or remembrances should go to either the Immanuel Lutheran Home or the Whitefish Library.