Shirley Christensen

Shirley May Mower Christensen

December 31, 1938 ~ April 4, 2019

Shirley May Mower Christensen, at the age of 80, passed away at home while surrounded by her loving husband and five children, on April 4, 2019.

On New Year’s Eve of 1938, Shirley was born on the kitchen table of a one-room house in Fairview, UT, and thus began a life of perfectly timed parties and holidays.

Few things excited her as much as making plans – whether for parties, card games, fishing trips or upcoming travels. She actively sought what brought her joy and was never anything but genuine in her happiness. The instant it would start to rain she would throw the windows and doors wide so she could experience as much of the storm as possible, breathing in the smell and getting giddy with every roll of thunder. She loved to play cards almost as much as she loved to win at them. She claims to never have cheated, but she was not above placing a hex on an opponent’s hand.

Few things made her as happy as sleeping under the stars in Lake Powell. She taught her children about constellations and shooting stars and how to quickly tell the difference between a satellite and plane. She loved sleeping under the stars so much she convinced her husband to park their fishing boat at the top of their driveway so she and her youngest daughter could turn the boat into an outdoor bed and sleep in it every summer night they were home – much to the embarrassment of her older children coming back from late night dates. Her children also learned to dread April Fool’s Day as Shirley never held back, a trait she passed onto her grandchildren, also to the distress of her children.

Wherever you went, whether it was camping at Tony’s Grove or Yellowstone, driving to Disneyland or just coming home from school, you knew that Shirley would have the most delicious treats waiting for you. She was the only person we knew who packed a turkey in her suitcase to roast in a Hawaiian hotel just to ensure her husband and kids had the best sandwiches to take to the beach. But that’s what she did, she made everything better. Everyone wanted to be in her presence. Her children’s friends always wanted to come over, grandchildren always begged for sleepovers and everyone saw the way she and her husband doted on each other. She made you believe in magic. Always wanting to explore and learn more, she also loved to teach you all of the things that she had learned throughout her life. And if you don’t know where Willie Nelson’s house was, that just means you never rode in a car with her through central Utah, because if she was within 30 miles she would take a detour, just so she could show it to you one more time.

Shirley is survived by her loving husband of 52 years, J. Clyde Christensen, their children Mark (Debbie) Christensen, Stewart (Dawn) Christensen, Josh Christensen, Natalie (David) Wayment and Ashley (Marshall) Wolthuis, 13 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren, and her sweet younger brother, Michael Fleming.

The family asks that in honor of Shirley’s memory, you order desert first the next time you go out to eat. It’s what Shirley would have wanted.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10, 2019 at the Uintah 5th Ward Chapel, 6350 Combe Road. The family will meet with friends Wednesday from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at the church.

Interment, Lindquist’s Memorial;Gardens of the Wasatch, 1718 Come Road.

Order Video Slideshow