Pete Christensen

 

Pete Christensen, 97, formerly of 200 E. Maple Cherokee, Iowa, died Monday December 17, 2007 at the Cherokee Regional Medical Center Cherokee, Iowa.

 

Services will be held Friday December 21, 2007 at 2:00 P.M. at the Greenwood Funeral Home Cherokee, Iowa.  Pastor Larry Nielsen will officiate.  Burial will be in the Pleasant View Cemetery in Hartley, Iowa.  Visitation will be Thursday from 12:00 to 9:00 P.M., with the family present from 6:30 to 8:00 P.M. and a prayer service at 7:00 P.M. at the Greenwood Funeral Home.   Online condolences may be sent to www.greenwoodfuneral.com.

 

Pete was born January 13, 1910 near Alta, Iowa to Danish immigrants Carl and Christina (Thygersen) Christensen.  He attended country school in the Aurelia and Linn Grove areas.  He attended barber school in Sioux City, Iowa, but found his “knack” in cooking. During World War II he worked as a welder in the shipyards in California.  On August 21, 1945 he married Leahanne Thietje in Hartley, Iowa.  She preceded him in death March 15, 2007.

 

Pete owned and operated his own restaurants in Hartley and Spencer, Iowa.  After moving to Cherokee, Iowa in 1960 he worked as a cook for Speelmon’s Steak House and the Caravan Country Kitchen.  He was a member of the First Baptist Church, in Cherokee, Iowa.  In his retirement he enjoyed woodworking, reading, watching baseball and old movies.

 

He is survived by his daughters, Cheri Stevenson of Corvallis, Oregon, Beckly Haselhoff and her husband, Roger, of Aurelia, Iowa; grandchildren, Denise Shepherd of Beaverton, Oregon, Matthew Haselhoff of Algonquin, Illinois, Michael Haselhoff and his wife, Melissa, of Parker, Colorado; great-granddaughter Emma Lynn Haselhoff; a sister-in-law, Doris Hunt of Rapid City, South Dakota; a niece, Claudine Cacek of Custer, South Dakota, family friends, Alan Piatt, Larry and Maureen Petersen.

 

He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife “Lee” (2007), 5 sisters (Astera, Nora, Lillia, Marvel, Kella) 4 brothers (William, Alfred, Arnold, Karl) nephews (Calvin and Roger Christensen)