So sorry for your loss. She will always be in your heart. Prayers for you and your family Dr. C.


How we loved her!  Everyone and everything was better when Aunt Tooney was around.
Aunt Tooney, as we three Doll Babies (nieces) affectionately knew Sally Lou Hayden Christensen, was everyone's favorite, but she possessed too generous a heart for favoritism among loved ones.  Rather, every blessed one of us  family or friend - was precious, irreplaceable and beyond compare to her.  We could do no wrong in Aunt Tooney's beautiful eyes, and therefore we became better versions of ourselves than had she not loved us up.  There was no end to the caring and thoughtfulness she put into everything she set out to do, nor to the deliberate choosing of her words to encourage and build up, whether she was in good health or battling medical challenges which she always under-played, preferring to focus on others' needs.  Aunt Tooney was precedent-setting and record-breaking in everything she attained to.  It was how she lived her life and how she entered her eternal reward.  She seemed to grasp the great gift this life truly is, and gave hers gratefully and abundantly for family, friends and Country.

Aunt Tooney was a head-turning platinum blonde, but it was always obvious she didn't notice the reaction she unintentionally provoked.  She was the Sermon on the Mount-in-action but didn't take note or pride in that either, just of like it teaches.  Her presence radiated light and love to everyone she knew.  How significant it is that as the Jubilee Year of Mercy was ushered in, Aunt Tooney herself was ushered up; that on the day of her passing - the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe  it was a radiant, sun-shiny day which broke all area weather-records for the unseasonably warm temperatures.  Aunt Tooney will be remembered by all who knew her for her record-breaking warmth, sacrificial love and tireless service.  She'll be greatly missed for her ability to light up any room with her radiant smile, for her devotion to Truth, justice and service, and for her endless love and mercy.  She will be memorialized in the deliberate choice of her affirming and encouraging words and belief in people which made us all better than we would have been.  And I pray we can honor her memory and family by trying to be just a little bit more like Aunt Tooney.

Doll Baby #2

My Aunt Sally was the best!!!  She was always full of joy, nurturing, kind, and loving.  I am saddened by our loss but feel blessed that she left 2 wonderful children in Stephen and Donna to carry on with the blessing that our Aunt shared.

We shared bleachers for many, many games at Bishop O'Connell...and laughed and cheered and even set identical curfews for our daughters.  Our deepest sympathy and prayers to John, Donna and the rest of the family.
Bill and Judy Finney

Please accept my sincere condolences. May God be with the family during this time of sorrow.

What wonderful memories I have when we worked together in the Dept. of Education Budget Office.  Many new programs were born when we went to Congress presenting the President's Budget including "Sesame Street". My memories in that office with John and Sally will last forever. May God bless Sally and my prayers are for her new life in Heaven.  Charlie Schnellbacher, Oakland, CA. .

Our Aunt Tooney--as she was known to her nieces--was my style maven, trailblazer, my Godmother, but also a fairy Godmother. 

I was her first "doll baby." She held me in her arms while the future Archbishop Hannon baptized me. I still have the little pearl gray and white angora blanket she hand knit to match my carriage along with the jacket of the black velvet suit she bought me at Saks for my eight birthday, my first navy blue cocktail dress and the thoughtful gifts that she brought back from her travels around the globe. 

The first word I think of to define her is elegant. The taste maker had a decorating style all her own. She and her husband John -- always made people feel comfortable. 

Our matriarch gave us so many wonderful memories, from the special birthday dinners in Washington, D.C., to Christmas gatherings to vacations at the Delaware and Maryland beaches and the NY State Fair. Eloquent notes in distinctively beautiful handwriting that earlier penned invitations to the Red Mass also commemorated our major birthdays.

A gourmet cook, my sisters and I would leave her home saying Thanks for the food! (which mortified my poor mother). 

One of a thousand special memories includes taking her son Stephen and daughter Donna to watch my mentor testify (one of many occasions) before the US House Appropriations Committee. Years later my role model watched me testify before the Judiciary Committee with her husband John and my mother Donna.  

She was strong, fearless and through so many health issues  a survivor  until now. 

Of all my memories, it is the warm greeting I will miss the most. Her hug. Her voice. Her laugh. The time she made for each of us. For all the cherished memories THANK YOU AUNT TOONEY for the food that will nourish so many wonderful memories.

Love always to Uncle John, Stephen, Donna and her five little angels,

Serrin

Thoughts of Aunt Sally bring to mind wonderful memories of how she would light up the room with her laughter and love.  The cherished moments spent with her will always be fresh in our hearts. 
John, Stephen and DonnaOur most heartfelt condolences go out to you.  Rob, Kim, Emily & Dana

From the early days of the Kennedy Administration when we first met when my Aunt Mary took me to DC to meet my "Virginia Cousin Sally-Lou," to our last meal together, Sally symbolized for my family and myself both the inherent value of public service, as well as the graciousness inherent in the phrase Southern Hospitality. To John, their children, her sister Donna, and their families, your "New York Cousins" send our sincere sympathies, as well as our thanks for having shared Sally with us all. /s/Edward B (Woody) Ryder IV

OBITUARY

Sally Hayden Christensen

April 25, 1935 – December 12, 2015

Murphy Funeral Homes

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