Kenneth S. Christensen

Kenneth Schmidt Christensen, the son of Alfred H. and Dagney Schmidt Christensen, was born May 2, 1921, at his parents’ home in Pottawattamie County near Weston, Iowa and died September 24, 2011, at the Mercy Hospital Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa at the age of 90 years, 4 months, and 22 days. Kenneth was baptized at a church near Weston. When he was still quite young the family moved to a farm west of Audubon, Iowa and he was confirmed at Ebenezer Lutheran Church. He attended rural school in Douglas Township, Audubon County. He then helped on the family farm. On August 18, 1944, he was inducted into the United States Army. During his tour of duty he served as a mortar gunner and saw action in the Rhineland and Central Europe. He was honorably discharged on April 6, 1946, and returned to help operate the family farm. On August 13, 1950, he was united in marriage to Frances Ytzen in Coulter, Iowa. One daughter, Kathy, was born to this union. They farmed west of Audubon. In 1957 Frances died. On August 2, 1959, Kenneth married Rosa Elsberry at St John’s Lutheran Church in Audubon. They farmed west of Audubon for many years. Along with farming, Kenneth also was employed as a mechanic with Gordon Nelson for several years and later worked at Talbot-Carlson, Inc. for a short time. They sold the farm in 1975 and moved into their new home in Audubon. Kenneth was employed at the Friendship Home in Audubon where he worked in the maintenance department. During this time he also spent many hours doing woodworking. He retired in 1995 and dedicated his time to his woodworking. Kenneth and Rosa enjoyed traveling especially to Colorado and South Carolina to see Rosa’s brothers and to Minnesota to see their granddaughters. Kenneth was well known for his woodworking skills and spent many hours developing all types of projects. Rosa died February 15, 2010. Kenneth lived in his home until he moved to the Friendship Home in Audubon in April of 2010. Kenneth had been a member of the Ebenezer Lutheran Church west of Audubon for many years then later became a member of St John’s Lutheran Church in Audubon. He was an active member and served on the Church Boards. Kenneth was preceded in death by his wives Frances Christensen and Rosa Christensen; his son-in-law Greg Leppert; his granddaughter Danielle Leppert; his parents; his sister Lydia and husband Leon Anderson; his brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law Elsie and husband Ross Pollock, Ethel Elsberry, Leonard and wife Hulda Elsberry, Gladys and husband R. Donald Aikman, Virgil and wife Selma Elsberry, Homer Elsberry, and Pearl and husband Raymond Alt. Survivors include his daughter Kathy Leppert of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, his granddaughters Heather Leppert of Brooklyn Park and her fiancé Christian Doggett serving in Frankfurt, Germany and Melissa and husband Sean Niehoff of Fairfax, Virginia; his sister-in-law Frances Elsberry of Greenville, South Carolina, many nieces, nephews, other relatives and many friends.

Cemetery:
Interment will be in the Ebenezer Lutheran Cemetery west of Audubon.

Service:
Funeral services will be conducted by Pastor Bradley Ketcham on Monday, October 3, 2011, at 2:00 P.M. at St John’s Lutheran Church in Audubon, Iowa.

Visitation:
The family will meet with friends from 1:00 P.M. until the time of the service at St John’s Lutheran Church in Audubon.