Longtime Patch Editor, High School Sports Icon Tim Jensen Dies At 59, Mourned By Many

ENFIELD, CT — Tim Jensen, the garrulous and respected journalist who was the founding editor of Enfield Patch, a steady force in local news coverage over about four decades and one who also had a hand in seemingly everything Enfield, from celebrating hall of fame accomplishments to announcing games to running tournaments — and even marrying people — has died.

His family announced his passing Saturday at age 59. He passed peacefully at home Thursday, his son, Alex Jensen, said.

The town, state and region were mourning his loss Monday.

"He has earned his wings. He may be gone but never forgotten," one longtime friend said.

"Tim was a great guy and contributed to the town of Enfield on many levels," said another.

"He was one of one ... and the absolute mayor of Enfield," said John Holt, a longtime friend and media director for the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference.

Said Patch Editor-in-Chief Kara Seymour, "Tim was a valued member of the Connecticut team, serving as the founding local editor for the Enfield Patch. He dedicated many years of his journalism career covering news for the Connecticut Patch sites, and for that we are very grateful. Tim loved local news, and was especially passionate about high school sports. His impact on local journalism in Connecticut was significant and he will be deeply missed."

Tim was born Nov. 9, 1965 in Manchester, the son of Imelda (Vincek) Jensen and the late Wayne "Skip” Jensen. Tim often spoke reverently about his dad's military service.

Tim briefly lived in Vernon, but essentially grew up in Enfield and remained an active resident for the majority of his life. He was a standout cross-country runner in his early years and enjoyed golf — as a player, spectator and journalist, in his later years. Tim was a 1983 graduate of Enrico Fermi High School in Enfield and then earned an Associate's Degree from Asnuntuck Community College.

See his full obituary here.

He then embarked on an accomplished career as a journalist. Tim worked at many publications in Connecticut throughout the years, and for the past decade, he found his true niche as the editor not only of Enfield Patch, but of several Patch.com sites in north central Connecticut.

Tim covered news — particularly police — and wrote feature stories, was the unofficial town crier of real estate transactions and stuck to his true love — sports journalism. He was the longtime president of the Connecticut sports Media Alliance and chaired and emceed the organization's annual Gold Key Dinner.

Though his running days were long over — "that was for the younger crowd," he would often quip — Tim was a fixture in the middle of the Manchester Road Race each Thanksgiving morning while compiling his trademark "pageantry" photo essay. He announced games and monitored statistics for high school hockey and field hockey.

Tim was also a familiar face at championship weekends hosted by the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference. He was also a longtime Enfield Hall of Fame official.

"When Tim talked at the Gold Key Dinner, he never used notes and was a great public speaker," Holt said, adding that Tim always had something to add in the form of amusing anecdotes.

Holt continued, "He was a professional. He was principled. He always made sure he had the complete story, which speaks to his humanity. He had wisdom and perspective."

Tim's sports career also extended to professional wrestling and it was not limited to interviewing some of the WWE's biggest stars. He was "The Commissioner" of Blitzkrieg! Pro, an independent professional wrestling promotion based in Enfield, and a new division was recently named in his honor.

One of Tim's lifelong passions was pursuing the true whereabouts of the Enrico Fermi statue, which vanished under clandestine circumstances in the 1980s.

Though that mystery remains, Tim's police reporting was known for its thoroughness and accuracy. He was truly respected by police at both the state and local levels. Tim refused to cave into what he termed "Keyboard Kowboy" accounts on social media and made sure a story was accurate before posting it.

"Tim Jensen was both a consummate professional as a journalist and also an incredible man to work with," said current Enfield police chief and former state police commander Alaric Fox. "We are deeply saddened by his passing and will always remember him very fondly."

Tim was proud to be a cancer survivor and did have a variety of medical issues over the years. But even ailing, he was dedicated to his craft once, bragging he took a picture of a raging commercial building fire from his hospital bed.

As a father, Tim was particularly proud of his son, Alex, and daughter, Mia, and took pride in getting to as many of their high school sports games as possible. He had developed a deep affection for goalies during and after Mia's field hockey career, and was overjoyed he made a recent trip to Albany for a major powerlifting competition involving Alex.

"Despite his job, all his positions and all the things he was involved with, he always made an effort to be there," Alex Jensen said. "Even when he was dealing with medical issues, he was there."

Indeed, to attend Alex's senior night in high school baseball, Tim, in rather animated fashion, checked himself out of a hospital with the promise of returning.

"He had an unwavering dedication to his craft — and his family," Alex said.

Tim was not only a justice of the peace, but a DJ and was one of the rare few who could officiate at a wedding and then entertain guests at the reception.

In 2013, Sandra Carter and her partner of 10 years, Tomara Carter, had hoped to fly from Dallas to Boston on a Friday morning to apply for their marriage license. They planned to return to the Massachusetts capital in August to profess their vows, as the Commonwealth has a mandatory three-day minimum waiting period to grant applicants a license.

The two were unable to get a flight to Boston, so they decided to take the closest thing — a standby flight to Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks. From there, they would rent a car and drive to Boston, where they had hotel reservations Friday night.

En route to Massachusetts, they stopped for lunch at the D'Angelo's sandwich shop in Enfield. While eating, they saw a sign that said "courthouse." The next thing they knew, they were at the Enfield town clerk's office, where they obtained their marriage license (Connecticut has no waiting period) and contacted a justice of the peace, who happened to be Tim.

Within 15 minutes, they were married.

About Tim's DJ skills, Alex said, "He was never, a dog person, but every year he helped out at Enfield's Top Dog event."

Tim was also an avid fan of music and sports memorabilia and, through various events, was able to hob-nob with famous athletes and entertainers. One year, while covering the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he fell asleep in the lobby of a fancy New York hotel because he missed the last train out of Grand Central Station. An R&B legend then woke him up and Tim wound up sharing a table with Mick Fleetwood at an after party.

He was also active in the Enfield Hall of Famel. Chairman Mike Cotnoir released the following statement:

"As the Chairman of The Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame, it is with great sadness and heartfelt love that I share that our wonderful friend, Tim Jensen, has passed away. Tim left us on September 12, 2025 after sharing an amazing life with us. Tim was the 'Voice of Enfield' for the past 20 years in his tireless efforts as Editor of The Enfield Press Newspaper and The Patch. He was always at our local sporting events, covering them as an award-winning journalist or announcing them. He organized many charity volunteer events in our town. His heart was truly beating strong to keep Enfield alive, and sharing our town's athletes and their outstanding achievements. There was hardly a game or athlete in our town that Tim missed covering for many years. Even during Covid, he would watch them online so he could do an article on the game's results, and highlight our student athletes in print. He was passionate for our athletes, and tried hard to ensure they received their well-deserved recognition. Tim always brought an intense, but fair, approach to his craft and with coaches, players, referees, administrators, and the local officials he interacted with. Yes, sometimes you may not have always agreed with some of his offline comments, but he cared enough about our town and athleticism to take a stand. We respected that. There is a generation of student athletes here that he had a profound impact on here, and they should feel lucky that Tim Jensen cared enough to always make a difference in fair, balanced reporting. Tim was a high school and personal friend of mine for over 45 years. He was an excellent athlete himself in school, and loved sports. Sports however, was never his first love though. It was his children, whom he always and proudly shared their amazing accomplishments. He lived for his family/children first, and our student athletes second. Tim gave so much to Enfield, that we will never be able to pay him back. We can only honor his memory and expertise with prayer, love, and attendance at our local sporting events. Tim was well known across our state with his leadership in the Connecticut Sports Media Alliance & Gold Key Dinners for many years. There will never be another Tim Jensen, and our own 'Voice of Enfield' may be resting in peace now, but will never forgotten. Our committee is eternally grateful for all of his efforts for the past 20 years. He ate, lived, and breathed Enfield Athletics. We should all take a lesson from Tim to take a moment in our busy lives, put the phone down, and go watch our kids and student athletes compete on the playing field. RIP Tim. We love you, and your memory and legacy will live forever."

Patch's Connecticut manager Brian McCready, who has worked alongside Tim since 2015, shared the following message about Tim:

"There was so much to Tim beyond his love of local news and high school sports...Tim wore many hats, but what he enjoyed most was telling the stories of regular folks who did amazing things in their towns. Tim always had a smile on his face and a booming voice. Whenever Tim entered the room, you knew someone special had arrived. Tim will be incredibly missed on his Connecticut team and throughout Patch."

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Visiting hours are scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 17, from 4 - 8 p.m. at Leete-Stevens Enfield Chapels, 61 South Road, Enfield. Funeral arrangements will respectfully be private and limited to family.