Jeffrey James Jentz passed away on December 10 at the age of 76, due to complications related to Alzheimer’s disease. Jeff was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, teacher, and friend. His soul is surrounded with love as he moves to the next world.
Born on May 15, 1949 to Arnold and Norma Jentz, Jeff was the first of three brothers raised in Mantador, North Dakota.
Jeff was born into a rural farming community, and often recalled memories of roaming the fields and railroad tracks, watching the trains go by, and working on the family farm and hardware store. From a young age, Jeff was drawn to the creative, and found a deep love and spiritual home in literature, poetry, and nature itself.
Jeff graduated with both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in English literature from the University of North Dakota, followed by a Master in Fine Arts degree in Poetry from the University of Arkansas. He briefly served in the US Navy on the Constellation ship based in San Diego. Jeff went on to pursue a career in teaching, with a fierce commitment to service, most often teaching creative writing and multicultural studies in underserved communities. His career led him to live and teach on the Crow Creek and Rosebud Lakota Reservations in South Dakota, White Earth Ojibwe Reservation in Minnesota, Shantou and Xiamen Universities on the coast of southern China, and the Navajo Nation in Shiprock, NM. Jeff taught to the soul of his students; many kept in touch with him long after their graduation. Jeff became an adherent believer of the Baha’i Faith in 1973. He met his soulmate, Karen, when she overheard him sharing this Faith in a crowded auditorium in 1978. They were married in 1979 in Ft. Thompson, SD, with the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Crow Creek Reservation presiding at the marriage. Jeff and Karen went on to have three beloved children. Throughout their 46 years of marriage,
they have always striven to apply the life-enhancing principles of their Faith towards the betterment of their small communities and the world.
Jeff began developing his poetic voice in college. He inscribed “so what if it takes a long time” on his blue Remington typewriter, and, after forty years in the works, his book of poems, Tracing the Stormbird’s Descent, was released in 2014. Over the years, he gave many scheduled and spontaneous poetry readings, with attendees enchanted by his deep, expressive voice, mythical allusions, cross-
cultural themes, and energetic presentation. Jeff’s children have followed him into careers in education, with each similarly developing unique and captivating writing styles. Jeff was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2016. In the years that followed his diagnosis, Jeff continued to
share the Baha’i teachings, read and write poetry, flash his contagious smile, and display deep wonder and awe at the world around him.
