| Miles Christenson ~ April 14, 1939 ~ December 17, 2020 |
Obituary
Miles Richard Christenson of Lewiston, a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, entered his heavenly home on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020, after an ugly battle with COVID-19, at the age of 81, in Boise.
He was born at the family home in Eagle Bend, Minn., on April 14, 1939, and moved to the Newberg, Ore., area at the age of 2. He attended all of his school years there, graduating in the class of 1958. Miles was proud of the fact that they now have the fourth generation starting first grade at the same school in the same Newberg area (Dundee, Ore.)
He married Vernelle “Nell” Hamnes in Oregon City, Ore., in 1961 and loved to tell everyone that he had been happily married for 59 years. He entered the United States Army in 1962 and after basic training in Fort Ord, Calif., he and his wife were stationed in Vicenza, Italy, for nearly two years. Miles loved telling the stories of their time in Italy and the experiences they had there. After his military service, he worked as a fabricator-welder for most of his working years, where he learned to produce hazelnut harvesting equipment. During that time, he also moved to a farm with 10 acres of hazelnuts, where his children also learned the trade.
Miles’ favorite pastimes were fishing, hunting and sports of any kind and any time. He loved going camping with his kids and their families, especially with granddaughter, Brittany Christenson. He loved his DVR so he could watch ball games over and over when he could not physically attend.
Miles loved the Lord with all his heart and let everyone around him know it. He loved attending services at Orchards Community Church when he was able and became close friends with all those in his small Bible study group. His recent pastime was spending time in his recliner chair in prayer for all of his family. He was a gentle giant who was loved by all who knew him.
Miles leaves behind three children, Karen (David) Henry of Dundee, Ore., Michael (LaShon) Christenson of Hillsboro, Ore. and Brian (April) Christenson of Lewiston; sister, Kathy Christenson Emerson of Nampa; eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren who he loved dearly. He was preceded in death by his parents, Melvin and Gladys Lane Christenson; brothers Wendellen, Lawrence and Donovan Christenson; and sister, Betty Christenson Kuhn.
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Miles and Nell
on the Willamette Star
July, 2008
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Received from Miles March of 2008. Photos follow.
After living in the Newberg area for about 66 years, we retired to Lewiston, Idaho, in January of 2007. Our youngest son, Brian, is a Professor at Lewis Clark State College in Lewiston and lives on a lake on up the mountain. I was making several trips a year to help him build onto his log home, fish, hunt, fish, camp, fish . . . so he twisted our arms to move to this new area. The transition was difficult, but we are thoroughly enjoying it.
I "retired" in 2001, but continued to be self-employed helping farmers in the hazelnut industry, fabricating and repairing nut harvest machinery and helping them through the harvest season. I am still helping some, but distance makes it more difficult. My wife and I are involved in our church and also volunteer organizing and helping with the local soup kitchen at the local Salvation Army. I still spend a lot of time fishing, hunting and camping with my son and his family. In our spare time, we make lots of summer-time trips to Oregon as each of the seven grandkids like to spend at least a week each with us, and we don't want to miss out on those opportunities. Our oldest grandchild is now a student at George Fox University, and they are all growing up before our eyes!
My wife and I have three children and seven grandchildren. Two of our children and five grandchildren are still in the Newberg area. The granddaughter that is attending George Fox was the third generation to start 1st grade at Dundee Grade School! and it was 50 years from the time I started at 1st grad at Dundee. This year, we have a grandson that will graduate from Newberg High - 50 years from the year I graduated. I am having my class ring refurbished to give to him as a keepsake at his graduation.
Since retiring in Idaho, we have been spending a lot of time going through old pictures and finally putting them into albums. This has made me re-live many memories of my school years in Newberg - grad school, Fernwood, high school - sports, classmates, etc. I am looking forward to re-connecting with those former classmates and friends. I will try once more to email some pictures, but if I am not successful, I will send them with this bio. Hope to see everyone in July,
Miles Christensen
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Here's Miles' Bio received for the reunion in 1998:
Miles Christenson
# of children 3
Age of Oldest Child 32 Age of youngest child 27
# of biological grandchildren 7 Age of oldest grandchild 9
Age of youngest grandchild 2
Occupation Welder/Fabricator
Hobbies Fishing, backpacking, softball
Exciting trips Annual backpacking with sons
Classmates I keep in touch with Bob Church
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Nell and Miles Christensen
Photo from the Newberg Graphic
Listed with the 1993 archives
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