Christiansen, Irene Learned (1914-2003)

CHRISTIANSEN, LEARNED, STONE, WAX, RATHBUN

Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 10/28/2010 at 12:42:07

Irene Learned Christiansen
December 23, 1914 - April 25, 2003

Irene Learned Christiansen, 88, of Storm Lake, passed away Friday, April 25, 2003, in Storm Lake due to complications of kidney failure.

Irene was born December 23, 1914, on a farm in Dodge County, Wisconsin, to Arthur Leon and Alma Amelia (Stone) Learned. She graduated from high school in Waupun and attended Carrol College in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

She met her husband Dr. James B. Christiansen in Wisconsin, and they were married at her parents' home on September 14, 1937.

Irene returned to school and received a BA Degree from BV College in 1955, having majored in English. She was a substitute teacher in Cherokee and Buena Vista Counties from 1955 until 1970. She enjoyed rebuilding old houses, building new homes, and renting and selling them. The couple lived in Madison and later Detroit, Michigan, moving to Washta in 1949. They ran a research farm in the Washta area from 1948 until 1960 when they moved to Storm Lake.

She was a member of the All Saints Episcopal Church and the Order of Eastern Star in Storm Lake. She was a master knitter and conducted knitting clinics.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband in 1998 and a daughter, Kayla Elizabeth Christiansen, in 1955, who died at the age of nine of leukemia.

She is survived by one son, Dr. James L. Christiansen and his wife Dr. Sarah L.M. Christiansen, Des Moines; two grandchildren: Rebecca Wax and her husband Howard of Chicago, Isaac Christiansen of Des Moines; three great grandchildren, and one sister, Elizabeth Rathbun, of Waupun, Wisconsin; two nieces and one nephew.

Donations in her honor can be made to All Saints Episcopal Church, the BVU Chemistry Department, or the Salvation Army.

Memorial services will be held Thursday, May 1, 2003, at the All Saints Episcopal Church in Storm Lake with Reverend Jean Willis officiating. Burial will be in the Forest Mound Cemetery in Waupun, Wisconsin.

© Copyright 2003, Storm Lake Pilot Tribune

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