Dale W. Christenson, 73, passed away at home on September 2, 2019. His parents Ralph and Helen received a great gift in 1945 as Dale was born on Christmas Day. They missed the usual Swedish dinner that year but it has been a family tradition every year since then, which now includes 4 generations at the table. He was married for 50 years to Bette (Pregel) Christenson; the proud dad of sons Dan (Brooke) and Dave (Carrie) Christenson. He was thrilled when Brooke and Carrie joined the family and told them “marrying a Christenson was like winning the lottery everyday”. A whole new side of Dale popped out with the birth of grandsons Asher and Tyler. He loved to “poke the bear”. Dale is also survived by his mother Helen (Lechnick) (Christenson) Johnson, age 100 with whom he had coffee every Sunday morning with and one sister Anne Marie Christenson who was probably teased incessantly for years, also many cousins.
Dale knew everyone in town and had many close friendships lasting over a 50 year journey. Still going strong are Dale Kahle, Bill Hanson, Loren Williams, Greg Miller, “Jim and Ernie”, Patsy Peterson and Karen and Jim Bozarth. Frank and Katie Fox, Ron Peterson and Duffy Doherty were part of the party until their passing.
Dale’s life was sports-even his rehearsal dinner was on a Thursday so not to miss the East-West football game. Bette and his boys joined in on the Indy 500 weekend for 30 years. He knew every football field, gymnasium and watering hole between here and Champaign. Later he had an annual fishing trip to Canada with Greg, Mike, Bob and Lloyd.
Family will be receiving guests on Thursday, September 5, 2019 from 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Dieterle Memorial Home, 1120 S. Broadway Ave. Montgomery, IL 60538. Funeral service will be on Friday, September 6, 2019 at 10:00 AM at Dieterle Memorial Home. Interment will follow at Lincoln Memorial Park, Aurora, IL.
For directions and online guestbook visit www.dieterlememorialhome.com