Bjorhus, longtime biz reporter, dies at 59

Jennifer Bjorhus, a business reporter at the St. Paul Pioneer Press and the Minneapolis Star Tribune, died Aug. 9 from gioblastoma.

Kelly Smith of the Star Tribune writes, “She worked eight years on the West Coast as a reporter at the Seattle Times, the Oregonian and the San Jose Mercury News. By 2002, she returned to Minnesota to join the Pioneer Press as a business reporter for six years. Emily Gurnon, who became best friends with Bjorhus when they were both at Berkeley, worked at the Pioneer Press, too.

“‘When Jen sunk her teeth into a story, she was absolutely relentless,’ she said.

“For years, the two friends would go on weekly walks along the Mississippi River, and it was a rare day that Bjorhus didn’t spend the stroll strategizing over how to approach sources or stressing about details in a difficult story, Gurnon said.

“By 2008, Bjorhus joined the Star Tribune. Business reporter Jackie Crosby had known her as a competitor at the Pioneer Press and was impressed by this new redhead ‘dynamo’ who had just had a baby and tackled the job with unmatched energy. Zipping into the newsroom, coffee in hand, Bjorhus would immediately grab her phone and report nonstop, pressuring sources to answer her questions.”

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