PAUL CHRISTIANSON

obituary

BIG SANDY/FROID - Paul M. Christianson, 96, died Saturday, March 19, 2005, at the Big Sandy Medical Center, where he had been resident for several years.

A funeral service was scheduled for 11 a.m. today at Froid Lutheran Church with the Rev. Carol Karres officiating. Interment was to follow in Kvile Cemetery.

Paul was born Nov. 13, 1908, at Lankin, N.D., to Oscar and Sophie (Nielsen) Christianson. He was raised at Antelope, started school in the Old Congregational Church, and completed

two years at Antelope High School.

A talented musician, Paul played in the Ozarkian Hill Billies dance band throughout the area. He worked on construction

of the Fort Peck Dam spillway and at the Civilian Conservation Corps camp in Paradise. He then worked for Ueland farms, where he met his future wife, Lucy Ator.

Paul and Lucy were married at Plentywood on Oct. 12, 1940. After their marriage, Paul worked for the Grenora Implement until they moved to Froid in 1941. Paul was the bookkeeper for Schnitzler Corp., and later parts man for International Harvester. Then he started as Froid school custodian, where he worked until he retired in 1976.

Always meticulous, Paul believed in fixing things before they broke and was the community's Mr. Fixit. He loved fishing, family trips to Saskatchewan's Fort Qu'Appele, chokecherry picking, picnics and family vacations every summer. He loved to tease his grandchildren with hidden peppermint candies; loved to dance, and whenever he opened his fiddle case, special times were sure to start.

After Lucy's death Sept. 19, 1991, Paul continued to live in Froid as long as he could, but in the early 1990s he moved to Big Sandy to be near his daughter.

Paul was preceded in death by his wife; parents; brothers, Arthur and Edwin; and grandson, Kai Torgrimson.

Survivors include his daughters, Marjorie Ann (Duncan) Smith of Alamo, Calif.; Anita (Tom) Torgrimson of Richey and Adele (Ron) Otto of Big Sandy; son, Robert (Holly) Christianson of Great Falls; 11 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; brother, Alwin "Bubbix" (Kalma) Christianson of Kent, Wash.; sisters, Ruth Petersen of Forest Grove, Ore., and Myrtle Herman of Plentywood; and numerous nephews and nieces.

Fulkerson Funeral Home of Plentywood has charge of arrangements.