Holger Martin CHRISTENSEN

CHRISTENSEN, JERGENSON, HANSEN

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 3/31/2013 at 13:09:20

August 22, 1897 --- December 17, 1989

Prominent Eagle Grove businessman, Holger Christensen dies, burial today

Holger Christensen, 92, prominent Eagle Grove businessman, died Sunday night at the Rotary Ann Home. A private funeral service will be held today (Wednesday) at 1:30 p.m. Burial will be in Rose Hill Cemetery.

Born in Denmark in 1897, Holger came to the United States in 1915 at the age of 18. He moved to Eagle Grove in 1918 to work at the Smith and Paine Auto Agency. Eight years later in 1926 he and his brother Harold bought the agency and started the Christensen Motor Company. The business has bee at the same location and under the same name for 63 years. Originally a Dodge-Plymouth dealership it was expanded to include Buick in 1934. Dodge-Plymouth was dropped in 1979 and Chevrolet added. Holger Christensen operated the business until 1960 when son W. L. "Stub" took over. Holger officially retired in 1982. The Dodge dealership held by Christensen was one of the oldest in Iowa.

He is survived by his wife Nora, sons W. L. "Stub" and Donald and a daughter Betty Jergenson.

Obituary

Holger Christensen was born in Lyngsaa, Denmark on August 22, 1897. He came to the United States in 1916 and worked digging tile ditches and as a farm hand in the Ames and Dayton areas. He moved to Eagle Grove in 1918 and worked at the Smith and Paine Automobile Agency. He married Nora A. Hansen at the Eagle Grove Methodist Church in 1921. In 1926 he and his brother, Harold, purchased the Smith and Paine Automobile Agency in Eagle Grove and started the Christensen Motor Company which he has operated since. He retired in 1982. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge in Eagle Grove.

Holger died Sunday, December 17, 1989 at the Rotary Ann Nursing Home in Eagle Grove. Surviving are his wife, Nora; sons W. L. (Stub) Christensen and Donald Christensen; and daughter, Betty Jergensen, all of Eagle Grove; nine grandchildren; eight great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, a son Harold, and brothers Harold, Haakon and Bernard and a sister Carla.

Private funeral services for Holger M. Christensen, 92, were held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday December 20th at the Kastler-Babcock Funeral Home, Eagle Grove with burial in Rose Hill Cemetery, Eagle Grove.

Eagle Grove Eagle - Iowa
December 21, 1989

Source: Paul Wilde