Late Jennifer Bjorhus – LHS Hall of Fame Inductee

One of this year’s Litchfield High School Hall of Fame inductees is the late Jennifer Bjorhus from the class of 1982 who had an impressive career as a journalist before her life was cut short two years ago at the age of 59. The induction ceremony will be held tomorrow evening in the Litchfield High School Commons at 7 p.m.

Jennifer’s oldest sister, Kari Bjorhus, says Jenny spent her childhood riding her bike, fishing and enjoying several other activities, and she was involved in swimming, theater and music at Litchfield High School. She says she played the oboe in the band and won the John Philip Sousa Award.

Kari says Jennifer majored in English and Literature at Carlson College, worked in public relations for a short time after college, then went on to graduate school at Berkeley, majoring in journalism and Asian studies, then worked for newspapers on the West Coast – in San Francisco, Portland and Seattle, before moving back to Minnesota in 2002. She says Jenny got married and had a son while living in St. Paul and working for the Pioneer Press.

Kari says Jenny was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for a story she worked on that dealt with the mishandling of rape case investigations, and then received a Pulitzer Prize while working with a team at the Star Tribune for articles that came out in the aftermath of the George Floyd death. She says she’s so proud of the work that Jenny did that brought about change and helped to make the world a better place.

Kari says Jenny was a tough, tenacious reporter, but a nice person. She says she will be at the ceremony tomorrow evening, along with Jenny’s husband, Ranjit Kesha and son, Kai, and their mother Marjorie Bjorhus and sister, Lori Johnson.