Arthur Corsten Christensen (1927 – 2020)

Art Christensen was a first-generation Canadian born in Kimberley, British Columbia to Norwegian parents Alfred Olaf and Johanna Osing Christensen. Art attended the University of British Columbia to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in geology. He worked at Cominco in Kimberly and moved to be a project geologist at the Tulsequah mine in northern British Columbia. He then moved to Sault Ste. Marie to work at the Falconbridge mine for a number of years. In the 1950s, he was sent to manage a nickel property on the White River in the Yukon. He met Ione Cameron in 1957 when she was working at the Taylor and Drury store in Whitehorse. For two years Art worked in Toronto in the winter and at White River in the summer. Art and Ione were married in 1958, and they took a two-month driving honeymoon. When they returned to Whitehorse, Art worked for Hougens plumbing company and then did exploration work for United Keno Hills Mine. In 1958, he started working for the Yukon Department of Highways and Public Works where he stayed until his retirement in 1984.¹⁾

The Christensens built a home in Riverdale in 1959 and never moved from that location. They had two sons, Paul and Phillip. Art volunteered with the Boy Scouts and was the Scout Commissioner for the Yukon for a number of years. He was a Mason and a member of the Yukon Fish and Game Association. After he retired, Art managed the Yukon Quest for several years and worked on a board to finalize several First Nation land claims. He enjoyed camping, boating, and fishing. He began losing his sight and hearing in 2005 but he never complained. He was loved by many.²⁾