Seward C. Christensen, Jr.
Seward Christensen, Jr., a lifetime resident of Aitkin County, passed away peacefully at home on November 30, 2021, at the age of 87. He was born August 24, 1934, on the family farm near Portage Lake, Davidson Township, the son of Seward and Esther (Gustafson) Christensen. He graduated from McGregor High School in 1953. He enlisted in the U.S. Army shortly after and served with the 3rd Armored Division “Spearheads” driving tanks. He married Marie Sweet on October 27, 1961.
During his early career Seward worked for the Minnesota Forest Service as a Forest Guard at Itasca State Park, and at the Elbow Lake and Sandy Lake Ranger Stations doing fire tower duty and fighting forest fires. In the 1960s, Seward and Marie purchased the Christensen family farm near Portage Lake and operated a dairy farm until the mid-1970s. In addition to farming, Seward worked as a lumber grader at Northern Timber Company in Aitkin on the green chain, and for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Fish and Wildlife services at Kimberly Marsh Wildlife Management Area.
In the late 1970s, he worked for the Carlton County Land Department as an Inventory Forester and in the 1980s for the United States Forest Service as a Forest Technician planting thousands of trees in the Superior National Forest. He was then stationed at Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge with the United States Department of Natural Resources Fish and Wildlife Division doing duck surveys and maintaining the waterfowl habitat. In the 1990s he worked for the City of Aitkin. He retired in 1996.
Seward loved northern Minnesota and the great outdoors, westerns, politics, and spending time with family and friends. He was a member of the National Rifle Association, the Arbor Day Foundation, and belonged to the American Legion Post 86. As a Christian man he was always the gentleman and treated everyone with kindness.
He is survived by his beloved wife of 60 years, Marie (nee Sweet) and his children: Kathryn (Ed), Anthony (Denielle) and Joy and five grandchildren.
A memorial service with military honors was held for immediate family at Avon, Indiana, on December 4, 2021. Burial was in Lakeview Cemetery, Aitkin, MN.
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