Obituary of Everett Christensen

Everett Niels Christensen was born at home in rural Morgan County, Colorado, on April 12, 1924, the oldest son of Severt and Agnes (Andersen) Christensen. He was welcomed by an older sister, Erma, and became a big brother to Edgar Christensen, Robert Christensen, Ruth Christensen (Sagel) and Elna Christensen (Johnson.) The family of Danish descent farmed and ranched in Morgan County, with Everett working alongside his Father and attending various country schools in the area. As the eldest son, he often missed part of the beginning of the school year because there was still a lot of work to do in the field. Although he once told his Father that he wanted to quit school so he could help out more on the farm, he was strongly advised otherwise and his formal education culminated in graduation from Brush High School in 1942.Times were not easy during the depression and war, but Everett was part of a loving and close knit family, extended family and church community. He was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran Church. Everett developed a love for ranching, livestock and rodeo as a young man, and was proud to have been active in Future Farmers of America and competed in livestock judging teams at the state level at the Stock Show in Denver. In fact, when he was a senior in high school, his judging team won the right to compete at national competition; however, World War II caused that opportunity to be cancelled. He had fond memories of the friendships and memories he developed from those experiences. He was happiest on horseback and had fond memories of working with livestock at an early age. He told the story of moving cattle across the South Platte River with his Dad from early one morning to early the next, and when he returned home, he told his Mother he thought they’d been across the water to Denmark! Just a few days ago, he told us how much he loved to “ride his horse up to a windmill and take a long drink of that good sand hill water.” He also told of skating on the South Platte River, large family gatherings, and swimming in the gravel pit, much to his father’s chagrin. With the historical events of World War II as a current backdrop for him in high school, Everett joined the Army in 1943. His tour of duty was in the Pacific Theater during the Battles of New Guinea and Luzon, participating in the initial landing at Lingayen Gulf in the Phillipines. After his service in the army, he returned home to Morgan County and began farming with his father, brothers, and various other family members. One Saturday night, he attending a dance at Snyder and spied one of the lovely DeGryse sisters, Bessie. He introduced himself and offered a dance, which she shyly declined. However, they met again at a dance at the armory in Brush, and Bessie said yes. They were married on November 3, 1946, at the beginning of what would later be called “the great blizzard of ‘46”. The wedding almost didn’t happen because the minister was hunting and was barely able to get to the service because of the storm. In fact, those who attended can attest to the fact that he came to the service with a deer on his bumper! Everett and Bessie made their home on various farms and ranches around Masters, Wiggins and Hillrose, Colorado and welcomed four daughters into their home – Linda Marie, Ellen Louise, Diane Lee, and Debra Lynne. They farmed until 1967, when Everett’s health forced them sell the farm north of Hillrose, and Everett began to work for the State of Colorado, Department of Revenue. Although he intended to become a Brand Inspector, there were no openings, so they moved to Limon, Colorado, where he took a ‘temporary’ position as an officer with the Port of Entry. He held this position until January of 1979, when he suffered a disabling heart attack and was forced to retire. Everett and Bessie continued to live in Limon. They were active members of Zion Lutheran Church, where Everett sat on various committees and the church council, as well as assisting with the remodel of the parsonage with Pastor Jim. He and Bessie also enjoyed keeping a lovely yard and visiting neighbors and community members, as well as attending many ballgames to watch his grandchildren. A true extrovert, he spent many hours chatting with folks at the post office, Super Foods, or Hoffman Drug, and always enjoyed coffee hour after church on Sunday. His love for livestock and rodeo continued, and he could often been seen taking in a rodeo or a roping, and made quite a few trips to Cheyenne Frontier Days and the Stock Show. As his health failed, he spent many hours watching and recording rodeos, bull riding and stock sales on television. If you visited Everett and Bessie, when you arrived there was a good chance they would either be watching rodeo, Rockies baseball, or Denver Nuggets basketball, if Bessie got control of the remote. When their health declined, Everett and Bessie moved to Carla’s Cluster Care in 2011. Everett received very special care there, with friends they had known throughout the years and the new friendships created. Everett passed away on December 6, 2012 after a long struggle with many illnesses. Throughout his life, Everett was a strong fighter. He survived being run over by a pick-up on St. Patrick’s Day when he was in first grade, he looked death in the eye and survived duty in the Philippines in World War II, and he fought battle after battle with health issues over the last thirty-four years of his life. His family is grateful for the outstanding doctors and medical facilities in Lincoln County that assisted with his needs. Everett did not quit, and when confronted with a new health issue or treatment, always said “let’s do it”, recognizing he might not survive, but knowing he wanted to give it his all. He mentioned many times that if he had given up when they did not expect him to survive his first heart attack, that he would have missed meeting many of his grandchildren and a whole lot of life. Everett is survived by his wife of sixty-six years, Bessie, and his daughters and sons-in-law Linda Christensen-Holland and her husband, John of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Ellen Copley and her husband, Bill of Limon, Colorado, Diane McIntosh and her husband Raymond of Pratt, Kansas, and Debra Cline and her husband Phil of Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is also survived by the grand children of whom he was so proud, Mark and Irene Copley of Ontario, Oregon, Kristin and Neil Ehrlich of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, Amanda and Henri Ndaya of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Kyle and Megan King of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Emily McIntosh of Manhattan, Kansas, Shawn Everett McIntosh of Pratt, Kansas, and Beth Cline of Fort Collins, Colorado, as well as seven great grand children and four great-great grand children. He is also survived by his brother and sister-in-law Edgar and Carol Christensen of Salinas, California, his sister Elna Johnson of Imperial, Nebraska, his sister-in-law Ada Stanley of Mt. Ayr, Iowa, his brother-in-law and sister-in-law Glenn and Dorothy DeGryse of Bradford, Massachusetts, his sister-in-law Renelda Scott of Kaneohe, Hawaii, his sister-in-law and brother-in-law Joann and Larry Skaggs of Golden, Colorado, and a host of nephews, nieces, cousins and friends.