Nada Christensen

Nada Anne (Smith) Christensen passed away on March 8th, 2016 and is now with the angels in Heaven. She was born on August 27th, 1957 in New Orleans, Louisiana and lived in the New Orleans metro area until getting married in 1979. Nada leaves behind her husband Mark, and her two beautiful children, Benjamin and Sarah. Mark and Nada were married for thirty-six years after meeting for the first time on March 10th, 1979. Benjamin (27) is currently attending Indiana University - Bloomington, working on an advanced performance degree after obtaining his Masters degree at the University of Colorado - Boulder. Sarah (22) is working her Art and Digital Graphics degree at Oklahoma State University - Stillwater. Nada is survived by C. Michael (Debbie) Smith, Cynthia (Greg) Duckworth, Madeline (Scott) Mann, Patrick (Holly) Smith, Louis Edward (Angela) Smith, Victoria (Alan) Lanoix, and Christopher Smith. Nada is preceded in death by her mother Annie Rea (Avera) Smith and Charles Frank Smith, and her grandparents Maddie Colen (Boggan) Avera and Carson Avera.

Nada was born at Hotel Dieu hospital in New Orleans and lived in the French Quarter. As the family grew, a move to a larger house was necessary and they relocated to Kenner. She attended grade and middle school in Kenner and then attended & graduated from Grace King High School. Nada then attended University of New Orleans in Voice Education and later graduated from University of Southwestern Louisiana University in Vocal Performance. She then went on to complete a Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacy at the University of Houston. Nada worked as a pharmacist specializing in long term care pharmacy for seventeen years.

Nada was an accomplished porcelain doll artisan and a jazz vocalist. She had a thriving miniature doll mail order business with customers worldwide who would come to doll/miniature conventions to purchase her finely detailed dollhouse sized dolls and accessories. She was also an accomplished jazz vocalist with talents similar to Julie London and Ella Fitzgerald. Nada performed in many private weddings and loved to perform in small venues with a jazz trio. She completed a jazz CD titled “Only Mellow” that included popular jazz standards including songs that she wrote.

Nada always had a positive spirit and she loved to be around classmates, doll friends, and music enthusiasts. She had many, many friends from high school as well as karaoke singing friends, doll making friends from various doll clubs across the world, and high school band staff & band parents from Cinco Ranch High School. Many said she had the voice of an angel when they heard her sing for the first time. She loved helping people gain an interest in the history of and the process of making, collecting, and restoring dolls. She was deeply loved by all who knew her.