Lt. Col. Elmer D Christensen, 97, of Katy, Texas passed away peacefully on May 13, 2018, in the loving presence of his daughters and his son-in-law. He leaves on this earth 2 daughters, 6 grandchildren, and 6 great-grandchildren.
Funeral visitation will be at Memorial Oaks Funeral Home on Saturday, May 19, from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM, followed by the Funeral service from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM. The VFW of Katy will present an honor guard for one of their own.
He was born in 1920 near Madison, Wisconsin, and spent most of his formative years working on the family farm, along with his parents and siblings. Hard work did not squelch Chris’ fun-loving nature. He told many stories about creating snow tunnels, schoolyard pranks, and reading every book he could get his hands on. There was no electricity, and transport was a horse drawn wagon. Selling their produce and livestock helped get them through the depression. Chris, like many young boys during those times, hopped freight trains heading for wherever there was work. Nights found them in hobo jungles all over the US. During those nights he met Luke the Drifter, aka Hank Williams Sr, Robert Mitchum, and others who would later become famous.
World War II brought a new stage of life to Chris. He joined to become a P-38 Lightning pilot. He flew over 70 recorded missions. He shot down enough planes to be a WW II flying ace, but getting accolades wasn’t important to him, so he let one go unrecorded. Meanwhile he bombed munitions-dumps, convoys, enemy bases, artillery sites; his specialty was blowing up trains. He figured out how to bomb the locomotive and fly under the exploding stack. He was always the daredevil. His fighter group flew top-cover for General Patton’s army and he was there for the major European campaigns, including D-Day and the liberation of Buchenwald. Don’t tell this man the price of freedom – he knew it all too well. But even in these hard times, there were a few hijinks as well, notably, when he flew under the Eiffel Tower, or 'liberated' a motorcycle for transportation.
After the war, he married Margaret, a Texas gal and the love of his life, to start the next phase of his life. They eventually settled in Houston; where they stayed for the remainder of their 57-years of marriage. In their early years, he worked a 56-hour a week job, flew in the Air Force reserves, and simultaneously attended 4 years of college and 3 years of law during night school. However, when he got home late at night, there was always time left for his family.
Chris practiced law for over 50 years, but he also made time to take his family on trips, teach his girls to bake cakes and pies, and be a great Dad. Chris was someone you could rely on. He had one of the kindest hearts known to mankind, and treated his clients, his family, even his enemies with great love and dignity. A truly amazing wonderful man who is leaving a giant hole in our lives. We had 97 years, and it was not nearly enough. He is loved and revered by many.
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