The funeral service for Earl Joseph Christensen will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at First Lutheran Church in Albert Lea. The Rev. Dan Baker will officiate. Following cremation, interment with military honors will be held at a later date at Lakewood Cemetery.
Visitation will be on Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. at Bonnerup Funeral Service, 2210 E. Main St., Albert Lea. Additional visitation will be held one hour prior to the funeral on Saturday.
Earl, age 87, died with family at his side on Wednesday, June 3, 2009, at Albert Lea Medical Center.
Earl, son of Jens and Emma (Johnson) Christensen, was born on Feb. 9, 1922, in Albert Lea. He attended Central Grade School and graduated from Albert Lea High School. He graduated from Albert Lea Junior College and the University of Minnesota with a degree in aeronautical engineering. He was inducted into the U.S. Army in August of 1944. He served in the Army Air Corps, including Iwo Jima, until his honorable discharge in August of 1946.
He was united in marriage to Irene Elizabeth Haugen on April 19, 1947, in Wyndemere, N.D. Following their marriage, Earl worked at a steel plant in Baltimore, Md., for a year. It was here that daughter Patricia was born. Earl and Irene returned to Albert Lea, where they made their home on Grace Street for more than 25 years. Earl worked at Queen Stove and later at Streater. He was a member of the World Brotherhood of Engineers.
Earl and Irene were gracious volunteers for many years, making seven trips abroad as missionaries. They designed and constructed the necessary infrastructure and irrigation systems to support the schools, houses and churches that they built. Some areas they traveled to included New Guinea, the Cameroons, Africa, Sudan and Central Africa. After his retirement, he continued his steelwork and woodworking. He designed and built bicycles, tricycles and boats, along with many other creative feats. One of his recent projects included constructing a grandfather clock for each grandchild.
Earl had many interests and hobbies, including building model airplanes, photography, downhill and cross-country skiing, square dancing and sail boating. Earl was a member of First Lutheran Church and was very active at the Albert Lea YMCA.
Earl is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Irene; two sons: Alan Christensen and his wife Ann of Albert Lea and Jerry Christensen and his wife Marcie of Kansas City, Mo.; grandchildren: Jay Christensen and his wife, Nicole, and expected baby of Kansas City, Mandy Chirpich and her husband Mike and their children Summer and Chase of Kansas City, Sally and her husband Dave Olson and expected baby of Winona, and Rachel Christensen of Albert Lea; brother Elmer Christensen of California; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Sigrid Peterson of Bayport and Louise Varnes and her husband Dewayne of Ridgland, Wis., Milton Haugen and his wife Inez of California; and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his sister Evelyn in 1928, later by his parents, and by his daughter, Patricia, in 1997.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to First Lutheran Church, The ElderUniversity or the Albert Lea Family YMCA.
Earl will be greatly missed and lovingly remembered.
“Think Snow!”