Men’s Gymnastics Olympian Sid Jensen Passes Away
11/20/2025 3:25:00 PM | Men's Gymnastics
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Former University of Michigan men's gymnast and Olympian Sid Jensen (1947--2025) passed away peacefully on Nov. 18 at the age of 78 after a battle with lung cancer, COPD and pneumonia.
Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Aug. 11, 1947, Jensen was the son of the late Knud and Beatrice (Hawes) Jensen. He is survived by his wife Diane (Dreyfuss) Jensen, sisters-in-law Wendy Hoy and Deborah Dreyfuss Tuchman and her husband Jeremy, nephew Jonathon Cooper and his wife Kathryn, nieces Caroline Blake and her husband Evan, Haley Zoffer and her husband Josh and Danielle Tuchman, and great-nieces and nephew Clementine, Lorelei, Connor and Charlotte.
The Jensens moved to Fort Myers, Fla., in 1973 from Thunder Bay, Ontario, after meeting at the University of Michigan in 1968. He proudly represented Canada at the 1968 Olympic Games and competed for the University of Michigan men's gymnastics team, finishing third on the parallel bars at the 1968 NCAA Championships. Jensen was a member of the 1970 NCAA national championship team.
Professionally, Jensen worked as an airline pilot for Bar Harbor Eastern Express, taught language arts for Lee County Public Schools and later owned and operated Jensen Furniture Manufacturing, where he specialized in handcrafted oak furniture.
A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Sunday (Nov. 23) at Fort Myers Memorial Gardens Funeral Home, with the burial immediately following at Fort Myers Memorial Gardens Cemetery and a reception at Temple Beth El.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology.
