Mr. Richard D. Christensen

Richard D. Christensen, of Grand Island, formerly of Dannebrog, died Saturday, August 9, 2008 at Wedgewood Care Center in Grand Island at the age of 80 after a lingering illness.



Services will be held at 1:30 p.m., Wednesday at Peace Lutheran Church in Grand Island. The Reverend Kip Smith will officiate. Interment will be in the Grand Island Cemetery. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, from 3:00 - 7:00 p.m. at Jacobsen-Greenway Funeral Home in St. Paul with the family receiving friends from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.



In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to Peace Lutheran Church or the Lutheran Hour.



Richard was born January 3, 1928 at Dannevirke, NE to Sophus B. and Mary (Holt) Christensen.



Richard attended country school and in 1942 his family moved to a farm south and east of Dannebrog, and he graduated from Dannebrog High School in 1945. He then went to California and worked on a dairy farm. He returned to the Dannebrog area where he farmed until his retirement in 2000, then moved to Grand Island in 2001.



Richard married Phyllis E. Keldsen on March 7, 1948. Phyllis passed away on November 17, 1974. He married Dolores Miller Nickel on September 2, 1978.



Richard was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith and was a member of Peace Lutheran Church in Grand Island. He served on various boards, church, school and election committees for many years in the Cleveland precinct. He was a devoted farmer but also enjoyed woodworking.



Survivors include his wife, Dolores of Grand Island; three daughters and sons-in-law, Cheryl & Larry Klock of Pueblo, CO and their children Christy Anderson and Kevin Klock; Peggy and Randall Lienemann of Hildreth and their children Raquel Blank, Rick and Rydell Lienemann; and Julie and Wayne Whitefoot of Boelus and her children, Lesley Wozny, Steven, Richard and Lindsey Loeffelbein; two step-children, Michael Nickel and his daughters Lara and Claire of Santa Fe, NM and Sally Anderson and her daughters, Amanda and Danielle of Littleton, CO; seven great-grandchildren and nieces and nephews.



He was preceded in death by his first wife, Phyllis, a brother, Donald Christensen and a sister Darlene Robertson.