Christensen_Soren Duane_20 Jan 1929

Soren Duane Christensen

Soren Duane “Chris” Christensen, 65, died Thursday, March 10 at his home following a long, courageous battle with cancer. Funeral services were held Monday, March 14 in Twin Falls.

He was born January 20. 1929 in Pocatello, the son of Soren A. and Merle Bailey Christensen. He attended schools in Pocatello, Arbon Valley and graduated from Malad High School in 1946. On December 5, 1947, he married Marilyn Knudsen in Malad, and they had one daughter, Deborah. They were later divorced. He then married LaWanda Bucher on December 30, 1950, in Pocatello, and they had five children; Kit, Marsha, Julie, Kirk and Barbra. Chris worked at J.C. Penney’s and then at Sears where he worked until his retirement.

He raised and loved chinchillas for 30 years. He served with chinchilla organizations, held offices at the state and national level, and was a show judge. He loved working with ranchers all over the country. He also loved to travel, hunt, fish and camp with his wife, family and friends. He will be missed by all.

Survivors include his parents, Soren and Merle of Malad; his wife, LaWanda of Twin Falls; two sons: Kit (Denise) of Alto Loma, California, and Kirk (Shelly) of Twin Falls; four daughters: Deborah Robison of Hercules, California, Marsha (Wayne) Tousley and Julie (Kent) Jorgensen, all of Twin Falls and Barbra (Bill) Nary of Meridian; five brothers: Darrell of Malad, Lynn and Larry of Idaho Falls, Danny of Renton, Washington, and Alan of Federal Way, Washington; one sister, JoAnn Henderson of Salt Lake City, Utah; 14 grandchildren; four step-grandchildren; one great-grandson; and one step-great-granddaughter. He was preceded in death by his grandparents and one grandson, Dusty.

Interment followed the services at the Sunset Memorial Park in Twin Falls.