Retiring Murray High principal saddles up for new adventure

MURRAY — Murray High principal Dee Jensen lives by an ol' cowboy code.

If a man pays you a dollar, you'd better earn it.

Ride with the herd, not too far out front.

Pigs don't get fat because you weigh them; students don't get smart because you test them.

The gentle giant has put to work such mantras in 42 years at Murray schools, where he's rounded up students for math class, athletes for matches and teachers for planning each new school year.

They've served him well.

Teachers say they feel lifted up, not downtrodden. Student leaders say he helps them put ideas into action, no matter how off the beaten path. And colleagues and friends say he has their loyalty and respect — because he's earned it.

Like any good leader, Murray High counselor Becky Anderson says, "He'll get out there and shovel the manure with everybody. He gets it."

The Murray High community recently tipped its hat to Jensen, who has saddled up to retire.

He'll spend the first months on his family's Wyoming sheep and cattle ranch. But he's not sure what he'll think about on the tractor, whose rides have inspired new ideas to charge up his staff for the coming school year.

"I'm going to miss it," Jensen said. "And I hope some of them miss me."

Jensen never went looking for a teacher's life. It just sort of found him.

The Star Valley High, Wyo., ranch boy was an all-conference basketball player and football star. He married his high school sweetheart, Loleta, just after graduation 1958 and made the trip to Snow College, where he played football and co-captained the basketball team on athletic scholarships.

After earning a math degree — minors in physics and English — from Utah State University, Jensen responded to a teacher/coaching ad from Murray High. He got the job. And his family, a new life.

"(Murray High) has been our social life for 42 years. We were 22 years old when he started that," said Loleta Jensen, often seen at school athletic events and dances. "It's been a great ride."

Jensen's coaching prowess netted basketball regional titles, a state consolation championship and 1971 Coach of the Year honors.