Eleanor R. Christensen

           Eleanor R. Christensen, 82, of St. Paul died Wednesday, August 19, 2015 at the Howard County Medical Center in St. Paul.

          Services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday at Grace Baptist Church in St. Paul.  Reverend Roger Reitz will officiate.  Interment will be in Elmwood Cemetery in St. Paul.

          Visitation will be on Friday, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. at Jacobsen-Greenway Funeral Home in St. Paul.

          Memorials are suggested to the Grace Baptist Church Building Fund.

          Mrs. Christensen was born November 25, 1932 in Goltry, OK to Rev. Theodore and Matilda (Schmidt) Epp.

          Eleanor attended school in Enid, OK, Grand Island, and Lincoln.  She graduated from Lincoln High School in 1950.  She then attended Grace College of the Bible in Omaha where she earned her degree.

          She was united in marriage to Kenneth Christensen on July 17, 1953 in Lincoln.  The couple moved to St. Paul where they were both instrumental in the forming of Grace Baptist Church.

          Eleanor worked for the Nebraska Department of Social Services in Grand Island for 15 years.

          She was active in the church and the couple had done mission work in Mexico and Japan.  The couple celebrated their 50th anniversary in Tanzania, Africa.

          As a child, Eleanor and her siblings sang on the radio during the Back to the Bible ministry, which her father founded.

          The couple traveled all over the world including, Europe, Africa, Mexico, Japan and Jamaica.

          The couple celebrated their 60th anniversary in 2013 shortly before the death of her husband Kenneth on October 29, 2013.

          Eleanor was also an avid reader and lifetime learner, continuing to take courses and study history.

          She was a member of Grace Baptist Church in St. Paul.

          Survivors include three sons and two daughters-in-law, David and Donna Christensen of Lincoln, Roger Christensen of Englewood, CO, Steve and Kate Christensen of Mendota Heights, MN; a daughter and son-in-law, Connie and Tom Keller of Des Moines, IA; 10 grandchildren; 6 great-grandchildren; one brother and sister-in-law, Herbert and Selma Epp of Lincoln; three sisters and brothers-in-law, Bernice and Bernie Wiseman of Sour Lake, TX, Marilyn and Dave Sundeen of Waverly, and Virginia and Harold Warkintin of Corn, OK.

          She is preceded in death by her parents; husband, Kenneth; one son, Doug Christensen; one granddaughter, Ellen Christensen and one brother, Gerald Epp.

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