Anita Kensler

Anita B. (Ann) Kensler died peacefully in her home with her daughters by her side on July 16 at the age of 88. Ann was born on November 16, 1926, in Whitefish to John and Irene Sagen, joining two sisters, Flora and LaNor. She moved to Troy in elementary school when her father was reassigned by the Great Northern Railroad.  

After graduating from Troy High School, Ann attended the University of Montana, from which she graduated with a degree in music education. Her first teaching assignment was at an all boys’ high school in eastern Montana where she was the only educator who did not wear a nun’s habit. She went on to teach in Rudyard and Kalispell.  

Ann left her teaching career to marry Jerry Kensler in 1950, in a ceremony at the Troy Methodist Church. After honeymooning in Victoria, B.C., they returned to Troy where they spent all but the last three years of their lives. In order to be closer to their daughters, they moved to Moses Lake, Wash.  

Ann enjoyed volunteering in the community. She helped start the police/fire/EMS dispatch system, which was the first volunteer system in the state. She was also one of the first trained EMS providers, having interned with the Spokane Ambulance crews.  

For many years, Ann was active in the Methodist church as organist and choir director, arranging the music to suit the voices in the choir. She played for many weddings and funerals within the community. Ann taught piano lessons to multiple children in town. At one of the yearly recitals, she featured a song which she had composed for each of her students. Two of those pieces were later published:  “General Jeff” for Jeff Burns and “Nancy’s Lullaby” for Nancy Savage.  

Ann was a Brownie Scout leader and a volunteer tester for sight and hearing in the school district. Ann learned to do physical therapy and for several years she assisted her daughter Pam on a daily basis with exercises to help her recover from the polio Pam had contracted as a baby.  

In Ann and Jerry’s later years, they traveled extensively, enjoying good food, other cultures and each other’s company. Along the way, Ann collected marble eggs as a remembrance of the trip, marking each one with the year and location.  Ann always enjoyed new places, but loved her weekly dinners at the Spur in Troy.

Ann’s hobbies included knitting and making tapestries. She surprised her daughter one year by making 83 sets of hats and mittens for residents of Lakeland Village in Medical Lake, Wash., where Shelley worked. She made sweaters and baby blankets for nearly everyone in the family.  

Along with her sisters, Ann spent summers at their cabin on Bull Lake. She also enjoyed family time up Yaak at the Pete Creek campground where many fish were fried. Ann did not like fish but when asked by one of her daughters why she ate the trout, she replied, “It was either that or go hungry.”

Ann is survived by her daughters Shelley Kensler (Karl DeRuwe) and Pam Kensler; grandsons Adam Kensler DeRuwe and Jerry L. Kensler; nieces Gwenn Kensler, Andrea Kensler Chiaverini (Frank Chiaverini); nephews Ward Kensler, Darrell Johnson (Susan Johnson); and great-niece and great-nephews Kylie Johnson, Andy Johnson, Angelo Chiaverini and Dominic Chiaverini.  

At her request, there will not be a memorial service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Troy High School Higher Education Endowment Fund; c/o Trinette Todd, District Clerk; P.O. Box 867; Troy, MT  59935.