Roger William Jepsen

Until recently Jepsen and his wife Dee had been residents of an independent-living retirement community in Venice, Florida. Due to advanced years and ill health they had moved back to Iowa to be near family.

Jepsen was born in 1928 and raised on the family farm near Cedar Falls, Iowa. He had many fond memories of those days and expressed his appreciation for having been raised in rural Iowa and for the strong work ethic it developed. He also held a deep appreciation for his family and his Danish heritage. His grandfather Jess Jepsen had worked aboard a ship to emigrate from Denmark to the United States. Jess then worked to bring his Danish relatives to the U.S. Jess, a devout Christian, then traveled throughout the Midwest on horseback and chose to settle and farm the land that became Roger’s birth place. Roger cherished his personal family heritage and our nation, the United States, which continues to draw people from all over the world.

Jepsen attended local schools, and the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. He served in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper and in the Army Reserve. Having graduated from Arizona State University, in Tempe, Arizona with Bachelors and Masters Degrees, he served on the University staff there. After college Jepsen worked in the insurance industry, serving as a general manager Connecticut General.

Jepsen moved to Davenport, Iowa, for business purposes where he met and married Dee Delaney in 1958.

Always patriotic and interested in government Jepsen got involved in local politics. He then was elected as a Scott County Supervisor, an Iowa State Senator, and Lt. Governor of Iowa where he served two terms. In 1971-72 Jepsen served as National Chairman of the Lt. Governors’ Association. When leaving office in 1973 Jepsen worked on several business ventures until he entered the race for Iowa’s United States Senator. Wining that office in 1978 the Jepsens moved to the Washington, DC area.

While in the Senate he chaired the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) of Congress and was also a Member of the Armed Services Committee, where he was Subcommittee Chairman of Armed Services Manpower and Personnel. In addition, he served on the Agriculture Committee, where he was Subcommittee Chairman of Soil Conservation. As Chairman of JEC he conducted economic planning meetings throughout the United States and Europe. On two occasions President Reagan named Senator Jepsen as Special Representative of the President of the United States (to Madagascar in 1985 and to the State of Israel on the occasion of the funeral of Moshe Dayan).

After leaving the U. S. Senate, Senator Jepsen continued to be involved in numerous public service positions. He was appointed by President Reagan to serve as Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration Board (1985-1993), overseeing 9,400 federal credit unions and 4,900 state chartered credit unions, and he also served as Chairman of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (1987-1989).

A graduate of the Program for Senior Managers in Government, Harvard University, Senator Jepsen was active as educator and businessman. Among his publications is Reagan, Stockman, and Supply-side Economics.

Jepsen was proceeded in death by his daughter Linda and his brother Myron. He is survived not only by his wife of 62 years, Dee, Eldridge, Iowa, but also by a sister Carol Nymann, George Town, Texas; sons Jeffrey, Annandale, Virginia; Craig (Pat), Long Grove, Iowa; Coy (Alicia), St. Cloud, Minnesota. And daughters Ann Carruthers and Debbie Geisler, Davenport, Iowa.

Jepsen and his wife Dee have not only these five living children, they also have nine grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. “Grandpa” enjoyed playing cribbage with his grandchildren. The Jepsens considered their large family a great blessing.

A private family service will be held on Thursday, November 19, at the Runge Mortuary. Jepsen will be buried at Memorial Park Cemetery with Military Honors in Davenport, Iowa. The family is planning a Celebration of Life at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Honor Flight of the Quad-Cities.