Christensen 50th

CHRISTENSEN 50th

On Aug. 6, 1967, Ron and Mauretta Christensen began an adventure together that has now lasted 50 years.

They met in 1964 at Union College in Lincoln, Neb. Although Mauretta only attended there one year, they managed to maintain a long-distance relationship even without email or texting capabilities.

Mauretta graduated from Loma Linda University in 1965 with a degree in medical records and took a job in Denver, Colo. Ron graduated from Union in 1966 and obtained a job in Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. A year later Mauretta moved to Boston, where she was the lead in the medical records department at the hospital while Ron began a career in data-processing at the same hospital.

Seven years later, and now with two children in tow, they traversed the United States as Ron accepted a call to work at Portland Adventist Hospital in Portland, Ore.

Ron spent the majority of his career working for the North Pacific Union Conference in the Home Health Education Services (HHES) area, which dealt with literature evangelism. Mauretta did consulting at nursing homes around Pacific Northwest.

After 16 years with HHES, Ron returned to his roots and took a position back working for Adventist Health in their information technology department. By then Mauretta had given up the consulting business and was doing research on brain injuries at Oregon Health Science University. Her job was funded by a federal grant; when it expired in 2005, she chose to retire — although she did take a temporary job in 2008 working for Providence Health.

Ron retired in 2010, and since then they've enjoyed much traveling. They have visited Europe three times, done a mission trip to Costa Rica and driven from Chicago to Los Angeles, following Route 66 roads.

To celebrate their 50th anniversary they flew to Alaska, took a bus tour around the state, then boarded a cruise ship back to the Lower 48. With this trip, they are proud to state they have now set foot in all 50 states. They recently toured Egypt too.

Ron and Mauretta each run a separate food pantry.

They still reside in the same house they purchased in 1974 and somehow manage to maintain their 1 acre of land.

Their family lives in the Portland area and includes Keith Christensen, Marc and Debra Christensen, and three grandchildren.