Paula and Dawn,

There are many fond memories of our families being next door neighbors on Jackson Street.  Us kids sharing a childhood, and our parents being great friends.  That friendship of our families has lasted over distance and time for decades.  Carole was a wonderful woman!  Prayers are being sent up for you at this time of loss. ~~From our Family to yours.  Take care.

Paula, Dawn, and Lindsay,

We heard about Carole's death the day of my surgery.  I am sorry I have not been able to share this note earlier.  Carole was one of my 5 Noreen cousins.  Though we had a bit of an age difference, I grew up loving the family get-togethers.  I thought of Carole as a very wise woman and I loved listening to her talk about family, church, and life.  I saw Wesley and Lyd often so heard about Carole, Erv, Paula and Dawn quite often.  I loved that.  We had enjoyed your family Christmas letters every year in my adult life...right on through this past one.  It was always nice hearing about the 3 of YOU!

Your parents had even offered to have me stay with you guys when I was student teaching if it would work out for me.  When Don and I were at Seminary, they invited us over for supper and we had SUCH a great time.....especially talking about our Noreen family history and fun relative memories.  And, they stayed with us one night in Green Bay when they were in the area.  We felt honored!  Cousin Patti and I had a nice long visit with Carole at her apartment just a few years ago, enjoying lunch out together.  

I will never forget how good your mom was to Lyd during the 30 years after Wesley died.

It is hard to think of life without Carole here.  But she will always be in our hearts....always being part of our lives.  We will be thinking of the 3 of you a lot, and will always be wishing you the very best!

Love,
Don and Sandie Noreen Behrendt

Dawn and Lindsay,
   I'm so sorry to hear of Carole's passing.  I hope you have a chance to get together and share memories with friends and family because it DOES help in the grieving process. My mom has been dead for 3 years and I still think of her (and my dad and brother) every single day.  God Bless  YOU!

Hi Paula,
My condolences to you and your sister, Dawn. I know that this is a difficult time for you and pray that you are able to handle the situation. I well-understand what you are going through since Mom's funeral was on 7/10/2017.
Sincerely,
Terrie Poehl

Remembering Carole - Carole's Eulogy

I'd like to paint a picture for you for a second. Some of my fondest memories of my childhood involve dinners at the Christensen table. Picture if you will a summer evening, usually the setting sun would stream through the lace curtains of the windows in the family room. The five o'clock news would be on, (Kare11 always, WCCO was never allowed) as the four  sometimes five if we were lucky and Paula was visiting for Christmas  of us settled in and passed the various dishes Carole and Ervin had made up for us that night around, piling ridiculously delicious food onto our plates. Ervin would sit with his back to the windows facing east, my mom, Dawn, next to him facing the entryway, me facing the western windows so I could glimpse the gorgeous sunsets all the windows would present and finally Carole, facing the television, only half paying attention to it as we continued on with conversation and dinner. However, there would be single, extremely inopportune moments when we'd hear a loud LOOKIT! come from my grandmother's lips while she'd point to the TV in hopes that we'd see whatever was showing in that moment. Now, of course, considering that the rest of us weren't paying attention whatsoever, turning and straining to look it would never work since we'd miss what she was so enthralled with in that instant. It typically became a running joke through our family that Carole would so excitedly yell out LOOKIT with none of us getting the sight in time. Laughter always would start up and it would snowball and continue on and on, almost every single time. Today I'm lucky to have some time and there's no flash moments here. I want to take a closer look and let you all LOOKIT everything that made up my absolutely incredible, phenomenal grandmother Carole Marion Christensen that each and every one of you knew and loved.

Carole Noreen may have been an only child, but her childhood was filled with warm memories with her parents, Lydia and Wesley, and all of her friends and cousins that she'd spent time with growing up. Cousins upon cousins that to name them all, we'd be here for probably hours, but cousins that she was so close with and she cherished her relationships with until either they had passed on or up until her own passing. School friends also filled her days with laughter too. Growing up on the farm in Maple Plain, then moving to Navarre when she was in eighth grade and attending high school in Mound, all of which kept her on her toes and times that no doubt filled her life with lookit moments that never left a dull moment in Carole's early years.

LOOKIT also happened when a strapping young lad strolled into her church, St. John's Lutheran Church in Mound. Since he was teaching in Mound at the time, Ervin John Christensen had been introduced to the church choir as Carole demanded the choir's attention as she yelled at the members for not attending rehearsals as they should have as he entered the room. Nothing like a first impression. Something about the spitfire, the woman who had enough gumption to push her fellow chorus members, must have struck a chord, even enough to keep him interested through some rejection on her part, though persistence paid off. Fifty-four years of marriage and you could say that Ervin and Carole literally were the definition of relationship goals. He was a man who could handle a strong woman.

Some of the brilliant things that she pursued through her life are more than lookit-worthy. That strength and persistence that attracted Ervin continued as she worked as a secretary for a new church, as a drugstore employee, as a market researcher, as an owner of a sewing/material company Sew Knit and Stretch, as a woman active in all of her faith activities through church  filling communion, church choir, volunteering with various groups, including Circle and Befrienders here at Faith Lutheran and leading and attending countless bible groups  as a political activist while she started the League of Women's Voters chapter in Blaine, head election judge for many years, participated in the Human Rights Commission in the 1960s, as a donor for many charities in her later years and a distant foster mother for Native American children at the Red Lake Reservation and supported many also at St. Joseph's Indian School.

Carole also has two incredible achievements that she was so proud to LOOKIT through the years. First arriving was Paula, an equally strong woman like her mother who has accomplished so much that Carole proudly supported as her biggest cheerleader each step of the way. From her childhood through her college endeavors  first at Dana College for her bachelor's degree, Mankato State for her Master's and University of Iowa for her doctorate  to her years as an educator, touching hundreds of students and changing lives in doing so, Carole was always happy to tell anyone who would be willing to lend an ear about her daughter's latest achievements. The two had a bond that only grew stronger through Paula's adulthood and the last few years after Ervin's passing, they both embarked on many adventures that have been captured in pictures that we'll be able to lookit for years to come and memories will live on.

Of course let's not forget about her second success, Dawn, the spunky girl who bound into Ervin, Carole and Paula's lives and hearts. If anyone knows my mother is a spitfire like her own mother, I can tell you personally, it would be me. That hasn't hindered her for a second though and she's just as strong as her own mother and sister. Attending Concordia College and overcoming the hardships of being a young mother during school herself, she flew through everything with flying colors and Carole's support. There was never a moment when Carole wasn't proud of her daughter. A single mother raising a daughter on her own while Ervin and Carole celebrated the baby girl now in their lives while Dawn gave her all and her talent for music to students teaching band for years in Monticello and eventually Brooklyn Park, students that still today reach out to her and let her know how much she changed their school years and their lives, she has a legacy to be incredibly proud of and I know for a fact that Carole definitely was one of her biggest fans.

Hardest to speak of yet is myself, which I'll keep this bit brief, but I know there was someone in my life for 31 years that loved to tell anyone of the latest with her granddaughter if they'd listen to her LOOKIT bragging for a bit. The love is strong and flows unconditionally in our family, but there will be a gaping hole in my heart for a long time with the loss of Carole. In any of my endeavors, she was always there to lend a hand, lend an ear, make me smile, let me sob away  she was a neverending source of support and while my mom had an extremely evident hand in my some might say, sassy nature, I take pride in the fact that a lot of my strength has also come from Carole Marion.

Carole also had a lot of lookit moments through life as she travelled the globe  from anywhere and everywhere in Minnesota to her honeymoon with Ervin in Thunder Bay. Seattle, Switzerland, Scotland. The Grand Canyon, Germany, the Grand Ole Opry. London to Los Angeles. Springfield, Illinois to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. So many adventures, so many memories and good times that are captured in pictures with a bright and smiling Carole that we'll be able to cherish for years.

As you can see, it's quite a life. One of the most incredible things about the woman who quite honestly is one of the great loves of my life however is that even through all of these mind-blowing accomplishments and things that should absolutely warrant a LOOKIT, there was no one more humble or modest than Carole. She was the first one to stand up if a person needed help or took someone under their wing if they needed guidance. I look at her and she was the definitive definition of selfless since she gave everyone everything she could. Even if it was just a plate of baked goods that always stocked the Christensen kitchen or a glass of wine or cribbage game with her neighbors, she was willing to be there when anyone would call. Willing, ready and all with the biggest, brightest smile on her face.

For 87 years we've been able to stop and LOOKIT when it came to Carole. She's truly an inspiration. Stop and lookit your own memories. Remember her  remember her laugh, her smile, the pure joy that you could easily feel in her presence. That's what she would point to and want you to lookit from now on since each of us here have been touched and blessed by this shining angel that God gave us for an extraordinary lifetime.

Paula,
I am so sorry for your loss. Losing my mom was the hardest thing I have had to do. Prayers and thoughts are with you. I wish your Louisiana family could be up there with you. Love, Marty

May her soul and all the souls of the faithfully departed rest in peace, Amen.
God bless you and your family!

Sorry to hear about Carole's passing. Your family will be in our thoughts and prayers.
Susan and Karen (daughters of Wally and Doris (Batdorf) Johnson.

Paula, I was so sorry to hear of the loss of your mother and best friend.  Sending much love and many prayers for you and your family.  Your NSU family is here for you.

Paula.
We are so sorry to learn of your mother's passing.  I know you will miss Carole (with an E) terribly. We are holding you in our hearts.
Kathleen and Tony Smith

I wish I could be there to support the family.  All my condolensces!  Love you all!

OBITUARY

Carole M. Christensen

June 25, 1930 – July 10, 2017

Sunset Funeral Home & Sunset Cemetery

Show your support

Add a Memory

Share Obituary

Get Updates

Services