Robert Christensen

Growing up in Chicago, he loved baseball and although a Cubs fan he got to play catch from time to time with White Socks second baseman Nellie Fox who lived in his building. He graduated from Austin H.S. in 1954; volunteered for the Army and served as a combat engineer and truck driver at various U.S. posts. He was transferred to France in 1956 where he served as a Military Policeman and was injured while protecting a school bus full of French children during a labor union uprising on the streets of La Rochelle.

While visiting Madrid, Spain in 1957 he met the love of his life, Maria Luisa (Marisa) Sanz. He was transferred back to the U.S. and honorably discharged in 1958. He worked for two years to raise enough money to return to Spain to reunite with Marisa; and in 1960 they married in Madrid.

The new couple moved to Fennville, MI where he served for several years as a policeman. There he fell in love with Ice hockey and co-formed a ragtag team of factory workers and school teachers who routinely challenged (and loss to) semi-professional hockey teams. Always good with his hands he built his own boat and even constructed his own mini ice rink in his backyard.

He retired as a Tool and Dye foreman & auditor from General Electric in Holland, MI in 1982 and moved to Port St Lucie, FL to be near his elderly widowed Mother who resided in Jensen Beach, FL. He retired from Winn Dixie in Jensen Beach in 1998; which gave him an opportunity to enjoy his five grandsons.

He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Marisa Christensen of Port St Lucie, FL; son Robert (Bobby) Christensen of Jensen Beach, FL; son William (Bill), daughter-in-law Shelly and grandson Chad Christensen of Holland, MI; son Richard (Rick), daughter-in-law Laura and grandsons Joe, Nick and Andy Christensen of Saint Leonard, MD; and Brother Rick Christensen of Tampa, FL. He was predeceased by his parents, Marie and Ove; his brother Walter and his grandson Jeffrey.

Although the Chicago Cubs never won a World Series in his lifetime, he remained a loyal fan to the end.