Mary Ann Christensen
November 16, 1932 - June 30, 2016

Mary Ann Dittmer was born on November 16, 1932 to Rose Rock Dittmer and Henry (Cy) Dittmer. She passed away June 30, 2016 at the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic at the age of 83 years.

Mary Ann initially lived on a 540-acre farm rented by her parents in Taylor County, the Rock Ranch. She remembered her dad farming with 16 horses. The Dittmers (including Mary Anns younger siblings, Hugo, Bill and Betty) moved to a farm southwest of Avoca when she was in the 8th grade. She attended country school and graduated from Avoca High School in 1951. After graduating Mary Ann worked as the secretary for the President of what was then called Iowa-Nebraska Transportation Company and then Citizens Savings Bank.

Mary Ann and C. Clifford (Cliff) Christensen were married April 25, 1954 at the First Lutheran Church in Avoca, Iowa. After a short wedding trip to Washington, D.C., New York and Niagara Falls, they began farming the Christensen family farm west of Atlantic. Mary Ann, Cliff and their four children were kept busy on the true family farm raising corn, baling hay, feeding cattle, milking cows, raising hogs, chickens and a stock cow herd that was used to produce the calves that became 4-H breeding and market beef projects. Early family vacations were spent visiting relatives and sites in California, the Black Hills, the Grand Canyon, and the Worlds Fair on Long Island.

Mary Ann also enjoyed cooking, baking and planting a big garden and was especially happy to share with others the fruits, vegetables, baked and canned goods and the wide variety of flowers that always seemed to be in bloom. Mary Ann also was eager to spot a variety of birds around the Christensen farm with blue birds, cardinals, gold finches and hummingbirds being among her favorites.

When not milking cows, baling hay, cooking, baking, gardening, keeping the farm books and doing her other chores Mary Ann could be seen regularly attending or picking up/dropping off one or several of the 4 kids for their band, debate, sports and 4-H activities throughout junior high and high school.

Mary Ann and her family especially enjoyed attending 4-H cattle shows when the kids were exhibiting cattle. Favorites included the Cass County and Iowa State Fairs, Ak-Sar-Ben, the Kansas City Royal, the Chicago International and the Denver National Western.

In 1978, when most of the kids had gone away to school, Mary Ann filled her spare time between the morning and evening milking sessions by working full time in the personnel department of Walnut Grove (later Cargill). In addition to assisting employees with insurance claims, Mary Ann filled in for other employees so worked throughout the company. She worked at Walnut Grove for 18 years before retiring in 1996.

During their retirement, Mary Ann and Cliff followed their granddaughters when they played volleyball in high school and college. They also made several trips to Texas planned around their grandson's baseball games first in Little League and later for Dallas Lutheran High School. In addition to cattle shows and fairs, other favorite activities included picnics, auctions and waltz and polka dances. Mary Ann and Cliff used to drive to visit each of the kids once a year and would attend tapings of TV shows while in California. They enjoyed watching The Wheel, Price is Right, St. Louis Cardinals baseball and other sports games on TV.

Mary Ann and Cliff accompanied Calvin on two service award trips to Hawaii, and in 1999 he sent them to Denmark with frequent flyer miles to visit cousins and tour the area where Cliffs father had grown up. Mary Ann and Cliff also enjoyed getting together with Cliffs army buddies and their spouses at reunions held in St. Louis, Colorado Springs, Boston and Seattle.

In recent years, Mary Ann and Cliff enjoyed spending winters in Arizona where they could visit relatives and where their family also enjoyed joining them for holidays and bowl games.

Throughout her life Mary Ann also especially liked volunteer work. Many of those volunteer activities centered on St. Paul's where Mary Ann had been a kindergarten Sunday school teacher, WELCA president, Alter Guild, Over-60s, Do Day, Rummage Sale, Dial-A-Daily Prayer, folded tidings, and served as a kitchen/funeral lunch coordinator for several years. Mary Ann also regularly volunteered to work in the 4-H Building and at the 4-H Food Stand at the Cass County Fair. As a member of the Cass County Hospital Auxiliary Mary Ann made and organized 'telecare' calls and other Auxiliary services. Mary Ann was also a member of and was happy to participate in the volunteer work of the Friends of the Danish Immigrant Museum. She was also active for many years in the Cass County Farm Bureau womens organization, and she regularly volunteered, along with Cliff, to staff the farm bureau booth at the Cass County and Iowa State Fairs.

Cliff, Mary Anns husband of nearly 61 years, passed away April 20, 2015 in Phoenix. Mary Ann was also preceded in death by her parents, an infant son who died shortly after birth, Cliffs parents, Chris and Christena, her brothers and sisters-in-law, Ivan (Winifred) Pedersen, Norma Jean (Kermit) Sothman, Howard (Verla) Christensen and Robert Dieter.

Mary Ann is survived by her four children, Calvin of Los Angeles and Phoenix, Nancy (Roger) Charley of Gilbert, IA, Teresa (Michael) Clarke of Garland, TX and Michael of London, OH; her brothers, Hugo (Karen) Dittmer of Shelby, IA and Bill Dittmer of Lexington, NE; her sister, Betty Dieter of Omaha; three grandchildren: Rachel (Tim) Sanderson of Kearney, NE; Sarah (Adam) Kretzinger of Troy, KS; and Thomas Clarke of Garland, TX; four great-granddaughters: Lydia and Mara Kretzinger and Aubree and Alyssa Sanderson; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

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