CHRISTENSEN, Harvey D. (Chris)

Harvey D. Christensen "Chris" died peacefully at home after a long decline of his health on June 24, 2010. He was born on April 6, 1920 in Idaho the oldest of three sons to Haireld and Ethel Christensen. He is survived by his wife, Dolores. They were married 59 wonderful years. Also surviving are five children and 15 grandchildren. They are Jeannette (Ken) Thralls parents of Mindy, Tessa, Tyler and Katie of Livermore, CA; Karen (Dr. Tom) Riechers parents of Amber and Joshua of Washington, MO; Denise, (Dr. David) Gater parents of two daughters Brittany and Felicia, of Richmond, VA; Ben Christensen (SO Joanna Carichner) his two sons, Cooper and Tory Christensen, of Tucson, AZ; Amy (Daniel) Knight parents of Becky, Caleb, Joshua, Josiah, and Danny of Livermore, CA. Also surviving are two brothers, LaMar Christensen of Pocatello, and Marvin Christensen of Salt Lake City. Chris started his love of learning in Pocatello, Idaho and continued with an Associate degree from Idaho State in 1941, A BS from the Univ. of Washington in 1943, an MS from Oregon State Univ. in 1950 and a PhD in Engineering Mechanics from Stanford Univ. in 1960. He was a true engineer who could fix or build anything and a teacher who could figure out anything from a book and impart that knowledge to his students or his children. He designed our home and built our cabin in the White Mts. Chris was a wonderful husband and father and man of many talents. Over the years, these talents included teaching all the kids (and many of their friends) to ski, manage a row boat, sailboat or canoe, and to drive a stick shift. He was a private pilot, an avid square dancer, ball room dancer, ice skater, skier, swimmer, a Master Gardener (hydroponics) and an exercise nut. After teaching at Oregon State Univ. for ten years, he had the opportunity to come to Tucson, AZ, in 1958 as a full Professor and Head of the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering at the University of AZ and continued there for the next 26 years. He loved teaching and helping his students to develop the ability to THINK for themselves. He was so disciplined in his lifestyle with exercising and riding his bike to the U of A (round trip 13 miles) daily for at least 20 years. He was a Life Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the American Society for Engineering Education. At the U of A he earned the Anderson Prize for innovative teaching with his individually paced learning technique. A Memorial Service is planned for 5:00 p.m., Monday, July 19, 2010 at the EAST LAWN PALMS CHAPEL, 5801 E. Grant Rd. in Tucson, AZ. The family requests donations be made to the charity of your choice or to the Alzheimer's Association for research. Published in the Tucson Newspapers on July 11, 2010