Details

Collection Summary
Collection: FND001 - SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program
Series: Tribute
Folder: DIG
Item: 271755
Title: Ronald C. Christensen
Date: 6/16/1941-7/2/2025
Creator:
Inscription/Marks: 6/16/1941
Summary: Ronald C Christensen, 84, of Dagmar, MT, passed away July 2, 2025. His funeral was held August 30, 2025 in the Legion Hall in Grenora, ND. Ronald Carroll Christensen was born on June 16, 1941, to Ray and Millie (Rasmussen) Christensen in Williston, ND. They brought him home to the farm in Dagmar, where he was later joined by brother, Richard, and sister, Lila. Ron attended a country school for elementary education, then went to Grenora for high school. There he was a member of a car club he helped organize called The Aces. He and his friends loved working on cars and singing to popular music of the day, by singers like Jim Reeves and Tex Ritter. Ron was a proud veteran, having been drafted into the Army in the early 60s. As part of his service, Ron deployed to South Carolina for riot control during the Martin Luther King, Jr. marches. He also served in special forces, working with heavy equipment and the chemical Agent Orange. While home on leave from the Army, he went on a blind date with Patricia Ann Rockstad. After returning to his station, the two wrote letters back and forth. In one letter, Ron told Pat he bought her a ring. In the next letter, he told her he sold the ring and bought a car. Despite the first ring having been sold, the two married in September of 1965. Soon after, they welcomed a son, Robert. Two and a half years later, Roger was born, followed by another son, Rodney, then another, Russell. Ron and Pat moved their boys to the family farm in rural Dagmar in 1974. Ron worked for the Sheridan County Road Department and Big M Trucking. Later, he and Pat started a roustabout company called C&L Tank. The oil industry dried up and farming got tougher, so in 1988 Ron went to central Nevada to work in a mine. Pat soon followed and they spent the next 20 years in Elko, NV. Ron and Pat retired to the farm in 2011, going back to their agricultural roots and raising beef cows with Russell and his wife, Mandy. Ron enjoyed haying and calving but he was especially fond of the vast amounts of lawn mowing to be done. Between the lawn mower and his Gator, there was no inch of the farm Ron didn’t drive over during his later years. Through the years, Ron made many good friends. The friendship he had with Bob Fowler and Dale Borah was a special one. Ron, Bob and Dale were known for the pranks they pulled on each other and their co-workers at the Sheridan County Road Department. Bob was with Ron a lot toward the end, checking on him and his family several times a day. And we have no doubt that Dale was one of the first people to greet Ron on the other side. Ron is survived by wife, Pat, of Dagmar; sons, Robert (Windy) Christensen, of Dagmar, Roger Christensen, of Froid, MT, Rodney Christensen, of Dagmar, Russell (Mandy) Christensen, of Dagmar; 15 grandchildren; twenty-eight great-grandchildren; siblings, Richard Christensen, Lila (Keith) Baker; brother-in-law, Jerry (Anita) Rockstad; sisters-in-law, Mary (Ed) Nelson, LaRae (Tim) Nelson; plus many family members and friends. Ron was preceded in death by his parents, Ray and Millie; in-laws, Roy Rockstad and Rey and LaVerne Oster; infant sister; brothers-in-law, Paul Rockstad, Ron Oster, and Lloyd Nant; sisters-in-law, Lupe Christensen and Luella Nant; two infant great-grandchildren; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.
Red ID: FND_I_79250 Image ID: 536714 Image Notes: FND001 271755

Collection: FND001 Digitized Images from Collection
Title: SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program
Date: -

Summary: The North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program is sponsored by the North Dakota Funeral Directors Association. The life stories of deceased North Dakotans are featured in an archvied collection. Current partners in the project are Eastgate Funeral & Cremation Services, Bismarck Evans Funeral Homes, Carrington and New Rockford Everson-Coughlin Funeral Home, Williston Fulkerson Funeral Home, Tioga Fulkerson Funeral Home, Watford City Fulkerson Stevenson Funeral Home, Williston Nero Funeral Home, Bottineau Parkway Funeral Service, Bismarck Springan Stevenson Funeral Home, Stanley Stevenson Funeral Home, Dickinson These funeral homes provide recent obituaries to the Foundation, where staff and volunteers format, edit and archive each memorial. The memorials are posted, and copies are sent to the family for their input and approval. The listing currently features more than 13,000 memorials, and is constantly updated as new memorials and histories are received.

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