Dr. C. Arthur Christiansen died peacefully at United Hospital in St. Paul on Friday, July 9, 2010, at the age of 86. He was born on January 14, 1924, to Nicholai and Christine (Didde Rasmussen) in Laurens, New York. There the family was prat of a close-knit Danish-American community that was centered at St. Matthew Lutheran. His parents took him and his twin brother Gerhardt (Gay) to Denmark for a year when the boys were small. Then they moved to Oneonta, New York. Art spoke often of the beautiful Adirondacks setting in which he grew up as "the hills of home." He and Gay rambled in the woods, whooshed down snowy hills on their sleds, splashed in favorite swimming holes, practices violin, and learned the value of hard work from their immigrant parents.
Art's mother died when he and Gay were eight, and they were then raised by step-mother Esther Christiansen, a pivotal figure in their lives. Sister Eudora (Dodie) and brother Conrad (Butch) joined the family.
As a young man Art traveled west to attend college at Dana in Blair, Nebraska. It wasn't far to go, in his mind, because the Danish community at Dana was "our community." He met Anna Gwendolyn Lindholm there, in a stringed instrument group. The two were separated by Art's service in the U.S. Navy during World War II (1942-1946). For a while they wrote, until a point when each wrote the other a letter, but no one answered. When Art returned to his parents' home in the fall of 1946, he wrote Gwen a letter that asked, "What happened?"
From then, they reconnected, as Art returned to Dana to resume his studies. They married June 3, 1947, and raised five children together: Melissa, Sara, Barbara, Eric, and Amy.
Art's lifelong accomplishments were many. After graduating Dana, he studied botany at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, and eventually received a Ph.D. He was the first scholar there to use an electron microscope. He succeeded his Dana mentor on the Dana faculty, and eventually became Dean of the college. At Dana he sponsored a peace conference, welcomed the queen of Denmark, headed the building of the new student center and other expansion projects, influenced a redesign of the curriculum, and more.
In the late 1970's Art moved to Warburg College in Waverly, Iowa. He served on the faculty and as interim dean at Wartburg.
A capable carpenter and handyman, he built his family's home in Blair. In Waverly he founded a successful construction company. He and his partner Bob Willbee undertook both small and large projects, such as senior citizen housing at Dumont, Grudny Center, Clarksville, and New Richmond. Art bought a partially completed housing development in Waverly, completed the project, and named it East Gate.
In Art's retirement years, spent in St. Anthony Park in St. Paul, Minnesota, his of babysitting and other helps. enjoyed his good cooking and clever Christmas treasure hunts and appreciated his many hours of babysitting and other helps. Church and faith were strong values. His lifelong, insatiable curiosity prompted his voracious reading he and Gwen Traveled widely, including trips to Japan to see Amy; to Spain, to celebrate her wedding to husband Santos; and to Guatemala, to meet their babies Javier and Gabriela.
Throughout, Art's centerpoint (sic) was Gwen. When Amy and Santos announced the adoption of their children, their note ended: "Home Forever." And that is "what happened." Over 63 years of marriage, Art and Gwen built a home that encompasses beloved children, and grandchildren, and a great-grandchild, rich with the values they need to push forward into the years ahead....
In loving memory, from Gwen and children Melissa and Bill Stoessel, Sara Saetre, Barbara Christiansen, Eric and Lena Christiansen, Amy and Santos Jual-Christiansen; grandchildren Megan Rude, Andy and Mike Bossert, Nick and Rachel Saetre, Zach and Kyle Christiansen, and Jvier and Gabriela Juan-Christiansen; and great-granddaughter Ava Bossert.