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MEMORIAL ARTICLE
Published Assembly March 2003
Everett E. Christensen '46
No. 15415 * 15 Dec 1922 - 26 Mar 2002
Died in Tucson, AZ * Cremated, ashes to be floated on Eagle Lake, CA
at a later date with his wife's. |
Everett E. (Chris) Christensen was born in Badger, South Dakota. His
family moved to Seattle, WA when Chris was a sophomore in high school.
He graduated in three years from Cleveland High School, Seattle in 1940
and was President and salutatorian of his senior class. When he was sixteen
years old, Chris joined the Washington State National Guard. Although he
was underage, when his unit was federalized, he remained on duty to get
his year of service completed before starting college. The outbreak of
WWII changed everything. In early 1942 his unit, the 167th FA Bn, 41st
Division went to Australia. Where Chris took the Army competitive exam.
He was discharged from the Army as a Staff Sergeant and joined the Class
of 1946 at West Point on 1 July 1943.
His previous Army service helped Chris excel as a cadet. He did well
academically and was selected Cadet Company Commander, H2 Company first
class year. Chris opted to become an air cadet and at graduation pinned
on his wings and second lieutenant bars in the Army Air Corps. The day
after graduation, 5 June 1946, Chris married Mary F French in the Cadet
Chapel, along with his H2 Companymate, C.F. (Bill) Horton and Fran's sister,
Ann. It was the first double wedding ceremony in the history of West Point
and the couples made the newsreels.
After transition training for multi engine aircraft at Enid AFB, OK,
Chris was assigned to MacDill AFB, FL as a B-29 aircraft commander. In
1948, he was selected for postgraduate training in guided missile development
at the University of Michigan where he earned his first MS in Aeronautical
Engineering. His next assignment was to Holloman AFB, NM where he served
as project officer on guided missile programs. Chris decided to leave the
Air Force in 1953 to pursue his interest in guided missile development.
He joined Lockheed Aircraft Company just as the company was forming
a Guided Missile Systems Division. Initially he was appointed Manager and
Base Liaison of the Lockheed organization located at Holloman AFB. In 1956,
he transferred to the Sunnyvale, CA facility where development of the Fleet
Ballistic Missile System (FBM) (Polaris) was getting underway. During the
final year of development, Chris was responsible for Naval Personnel Training,
the writing of operating manuals, spares planning and procurement, field
engineering and final missile assembly, prior to deployment. He remained
with the FBM system development until after the first submarines were operational
and on station. Lockheed sent Chris, in 1963, to the Harvard University
Program for Management Development. In 1964, Chris took what he considered
to be a sabbatical and joined the NASA Office of Manned Space Flight in
Washington, DC. He was Director of Mission Operations for two years. John
Edwards, USMA 1948, worked with Chris during this period and had this to
say: "Chris successfully integrated the efforts of the launch operations
at the Cape with the spacecraft directed work at Houston and coordinated
that with DOD rescue and recovery functions - a difficult job done successfully.
He was able to accomplish this because of his ability to get people to
work together effectively and his tact in handling what was a very sensitive
'people problem.' Chris was a fine gentleman and I am proud to have known
him."
Chris received the NASA Superior Achievement Award "for his outstanding
leadership and accomplishment as Director of Mission Operations in the
coordination of world-wide mission and recovery operations for the nation's
Manned Space Flight Programs."
In 1967, Chris returned to Lockheed and stayed there until 1975. He
then went to Saudi Arabia to work for the Arabian American Oil Company.
He and Fran stayed for ten years when Chris retired in 1986. The Christensens
retired to Tucson, AZ where Chris continued to "work" at his hobbies. Besides
golf, he ranked travel as a major hobby. While in Saudi Arabia, the Christensens
traveled halfway around the world, on each of their yearly repatriation
leaves. They planned their trips in order to travel to a part of the world
that interested them. They circled the globe eight times and went halfway
back and forth a few more times.
Chris died 26 March 2002. Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Fran;
two daughters Kathryn and Karen, and two sons, Everett E Jr and Edward
and sister, Elna who along with Chris's "army" of friends will greatly
miss his "quiet", dry sense of humor. His children honor his unconditional
love for them. Karen states: "he was always there for us. He may not have
always been happy about having to be there, but he was always there whenever
we needed him."
Chris Christensen left behind a multitude of friends and classmates
who knew him as a very fine man and son of West Point. Having kept up with
many of his classmates, they were shocked and saddened to learn of his
death. His H2 Company roommate, Frank Cole, wrote:
"Chris had the highest ideals and utmost integrity. He gave unselfishly
of himself to others, never asking for nor expecting anything in return.
He was a true friend and a man to whom Duty, Honor, Country was only the
beginning of his personal code of conduct."
The Class of 1946 is honored to add those words from our Alma Mater
that would mean so much to our classmate: "Well Done, Chris; Be Thou At
Peace!"
'46 Memorial Article Project and his wife, Fran
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