Pat Jergensen's 100th

PAT JERGENSEN’S 100TH YEAR CELEBRATION

BY ANNA DERBYSHIRE ('90)

Glen Jergensen, a blue-collar electrician in Nebraska, wanted a degree in electrical engineering. But after he and his wife Florence (“Pat”) married in 1939, there was a war to be won. By 1945, after an honorable discharge, it was time to work and raise six children.

Glen and Pat both desired that both their children should have college educations. They also felt that a spiritual education was of equal or higher value than a basic curriculum, so they pointed their children to the Nazarene college in Bethany, Oklahoma. Gary Jergensen recalls that when the children were old enough to throw a newspaper, or work at the local mercantile, they gave him the money to save for college.

The family investment paid off in the late 1950’s when the children journeyed to Bethany Nazarene College. Over the next fifty years, several Jergensen descendants headed to Oklahoma.

On March 17, 2019, Pat's family gathered to celebrate her 100th birthday. Among the many wonderful things Pat has witnessed in her lifetime, one has been to see all six of her children graduate from SNU, along with four spouses, four grandchildren and two of her grandchildren's spouses, for a total of sixteen descendants joining the ranks of SNU Alumni.

In the windswept Nebraska fields of the early 1900's, a girl was born and 100 years later Southern Nazarene University is stronger because of the Jergensen family and the belief they had in the importance of a Christian education. 

SIXTEEN DESCENDANTS JOIN THE RANKS OF SNU ALUMNI

LEFT TO RIGHT, BACK ROW: Leon VanPelt (1966-1968, 1977-1978), Gary Jergensen ('87 MHR), Eric Jergensen ('91), Irene Kindall Jergensen ('62), Gail Jergensen ('63), Gary Bohannan ('77), Jerry Nichols ('65), Bryan Bohannan ('06), Lisa Bohannan Ledbetter ('08 - Master's '13) LEFT TO RIGHT, FRONT ROW: Janice Jergensen VanPelt ('71), Laura Densmore Jergensen ('92), Pamela Jergensen Kaiser ('77), Joyce Jergensen Nichols ('66), Patti Jergensen Bohannan ('77)