Lisa Jensen Cook, the beloved first child of David and Bettie Jensen, was born in Racine, Wisconsin in the summer of 1955. She shared a room—and sometimes her toys—with her younger sister Laura. The Jensen sisters often performed duets for family members, singing such classics as “Harrigan,” the Winston cigarette jingle, and “Sisters” from White Christmas.

When Lisa’s siblings Todd and Tim arrived a few years later, the sisters were assigned the task of washing out their brothers’ dirty diapers. As the eldest, Lisa gleefully delegated No. 2 duty to her younger sister. Lisa adored her Danish-Norwegian family; particularly Aunts Sharon and Char who regularly brought her books off the Western Printing assembly line, including Trixie Beldens, kickstarting her lifelong love of reading. Lisa also enjoyed spending the night with her LaPoint cousins where five giggling girls shared a bed and mooned over The Monkees.

Lisa loved books, music, and Racine’s delectable Danish pastries: kringle and Seven Sisters. An elementary school highlight was when the choir director waltzed fourth-grade Lisa around the floor to “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” from Mary Poppins. The summer before her high school junior year Lisa and her family moved to Phoenix, Arizona where heartbreakingly, a few months later her adored father David died of a heart attack—a loss she never got over.

The light of Lisa’s life was her son, Joshua John Cook. Although Lisa went through some hard times as a single mom—including living in a car with Josh for three days at one point—she persevered and turned her life around. An avid reader, Lisa loved learning and attended school to become a medical assistant. She went on to get her bachelor’s degree, teaching credential, and Master’s. Lisa loved teaching and became the Dean of Education at Carrington College (formerly Western Career College)—her proudest career accomplishment.

A lifelong armchair traveler, Lisa loved The Amazing Race. She was thrilled beyond belief to see Alaska up close and personal from the deck chair on a cruise ship—a proud Joshua’s graduation gift to his mom after she got her bachelor’s degree.

Lisa loved her beloved dog, Bodhi—named after “Patrick, my Patrick” Swayze in Point Break, diet 7-Up, getting lost in San Francisco with Josh, bingo, and trips to Lake Tahoe to visit her brother Dave and his family.

She is survived by her beloved son Josh (Mo), sister Laura (Michael), brothers Dave (Elisa) and John, nephews Dylan, Connor, and Cody, nieces Letitia and Julia, several friends, cousins, aunts, and uncles, including her much-loved Uncle Jimmy Hetland and Uncle George Jorgensen.

A celebration of her life reception will be held at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, 2140 Mission Avenue, Carmichael, 95608 on Saturday, May 25, at 1:00 p.m.