A Tribute to Maurine June Christensen from Her Family

This site is being created by Reverend Kirk Loring Kephart, 03-14-58, son of Karen Christensen Kephart (now Adams)(daughter of Maurine June Christensen) and Jack Kephart.

The site is dedicated to a very special, loving Mother and Grandmother, Maurine June Christensen, born January 14, 1909 in Berthold, North Dakota, died December 1, 1995 in Thousand Oaks, California.

She and her husband Holger had 6 children. Patricia, Marilyn, Margaret, Karen, David and Susan. Each of those children had families as well, and this Blogsite welcomes all positive remembrances of life as a Christensen and your photos and thoughts.

Please also feel free to add to the Family Tree the information that is relevant from your family.

Patricia Christensen Lewallen - lives in Hoodsport, WA and is a Real Estate Broker there and Master Gardener. She is married to Daniel and has several children, among them Daniel, Patrick, Dana, Nancy, twins Holly and Kelly, and Robert.

Patricia wrote a wonderful family synopsis of the Christensens in Grenora, North Dakota.

Patricia Christensen Lewallen from Hoodsport, WA :

My Grandparents, John and Ida Feldmann moved to Grenora from Minot at some point in the 1920's. Mother, Maurine and her brothers Jack and Jule were active in basketball and graduated from high school. 1927 was Maurine's class. Maurine went to Normal School and taught at Beach and later was a substitute in my third class at Grenora for a while. Her younger sisters, Elaine and Carol graduated in the late thirties and maybe 1940.

John and partner, Steel bought Brush Lake and had an active summer resort going out there. Mother told about coming home from teaching and working all summer at the lake. Ida and her helpers (her mother, Jeannette, Maurine and her dear friend, Ethel Bush and whoever else they hired baked cakes one day, pies the next, bread the next and finally roasted meats on Fridays in preparation for the weekend crowd. That was during prohibition and isn't the lake just across the state line? In addition to the food there was ice to be hauled from the garage in back of John and Ida's house. Grandpa and the boys wentto the lake when it was frozen solid, cut blocks of ice and stored them in sawdust for use in town and at the lake.

They had a bathhouse, a dance pavilion and the food service which I don't believe had indoor seating. I remember being at the lake when I was four (1936) Great Grandma, Jeannette Campbell alerted someone to the fact that I had gone under and I remember sitting under water looking around but I don't remember being concerned but I was hauled out.

Uncle Jule from the time he was thirteen hauled buckets of silver dollars into the bank every Monday and brought more supplies for the next week. Grandpa hid the buckets of silver under water in one of the buildings. Quite a life.

Grandpa died in 1941 of pneumonia soon after we had moved to California. My father, Holger Christensen, found plenty of work as the war effort was starting up. It was truly a paradise. We could see the Pacific from the little house on Ocean Park Blvd. The playgrounds at the beach had guards and with my sisters, Marilyn and Margaret (one in each hand) had the freedom to walk to the beach and play and wade without adults watching our every move. Mother would give us one nickel to spend. We soon learned that we could stop at the little store and buy a paper bag of grapes, bananas, cherries or whatever was in season and that sure beat splitting a coke or an ice cream cone for a nickel. My dad died in 1954 and mother went on to teach for the Assn of Retarded Children when they were operating out of park buildings with lots of volunteers. She did that for ten years then her interest in ceramic painting and firing led to a ceramic shop at home for the next many years where she "taught" but I think it was more of a social club.

Turned out to be more than a comment but maybe someone is interested.

David Christensen, David's daughter, Mark Clyde, Jr., Mark Clyde, and Grandma Maurine Christensen.

Mark Clyde, Grandma Maurine, Marilyn Christensen holding David's daughter.

Richard Adams, Husband of Karen Christensen Adams, Dies 2/22/06

Posted: Monday, February 27, 2006 05:06 pm PST

Dr. Richard Adams, former drama professor at CLU

(THOUSAND OAKS, CA – February 24, 2006) -- Dr. Richard G. Adams, a longtime faculty member of California Lutheran University, died on Feb. 22, in Thousand Oaks at the age of 82.

He was a teacher, actor, stage director and set designer in more than 250 theatre productions during his career at CLU. Besides live theatre, he worked in radio, television and motion pictures and was an accomplished water colorist.

After serving on the drama faculty at UCLA and Denison University, Dr. Adams was appointed to lead the drama faculty at Cal Lutheran in 1965. He brought his family to Thousand Oaks and began working with theatrical organizations in the region, a move that ultimately helped shape the variety of cultural activities available in the region.

He helped develop the Arts Council of the Conejo Valley, serving as its first president before taking the leadership role as chair of the Thousand Oaks Arts Commission. He founded the AAUW- CLC Children’s Theatre program, the Shoestring Players and the Thousand Oaks Professional Theatre and Conservatory, an inspiration for the Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival. He also served as president of the Southern California Educational Theatre Association and the Conejo Valley Optimist International Club. In recognition of his contributions to the arts, he was awarded the Thousand Oaks Arts Commission’s first Encore award. In recognition of his contributions to the community, the Conejo Valley Historical Society named him Don Triunfo in 1983.

A graduate of Brooks School in Massachusetts Dr. Adams also attended Antioch College and The Ringling School of Art before earning his bachelor’s degree from Denison University, his master’s from Columbia University and his doctorate from the University of Southern California.

He is survived by his wife, Karen; three sons, Jim Adams of Wisconsin, Mike Adams of Woodland Hills, and Gary Adams of Virginia; seven grandchildren; four great grandchildren; four stepchildren; and several step grandchildren.

After his retirement from teaching in 1985, Dr. Adams began researching and writing about regional theatre and drama. His book Arts in the Conejo, a personal reflection on the development of the arts in the community and a tribute to the Arts Council of the Conejo Valley, was published in 2000. His latest endeavor had been compiling records and playbills from all of the Cal Lutheran theatre productions from the 1960s through the 1980s.

“His work with former CLU music faculty emeriti Elmer Ramsey and the late Bob Zimmerman helped shape the cultural offerings in the Conejo Valley and make Cal Lutheran the center for the arts in this region,” said Michael Arndt, a CLU professor of theatre arts and a co-founder of the Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival. “Dick’s legacy includes the many arts organizations that he helped found, the groundwork for a performing arts facility in Thousand Oaks, the strength of CLU’s theatre arts program and its connection with theatre professionals,” he added.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, April 28, at 4 p.m. in CLU’s Samuelson Chapel to celebrate his life and work. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to the Richard G. Adams Performing Arts Scholarship, California Lutheran University, 60 W. Olsen Road #1675, Thousand Oaks, California 91360. For more information about scholarship donations, please contact Della Greenlee, CLU Director of Grants and Scholarships, at (805) 493-3160.