Jeanette E. Christianson

Jeanette Eileen (Curtis) Christianson, 59, of Bode passed away November 22, 2021 at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. She was born October 3, 1962 in Newark, New York to Joyce and Raymond (Ray) Curtis.

Jeanette graduated from Wayne Central High School in Penfield, New York with honors as a member of the National Honor Society, one of four in a class of 200. After graduation she traveled to Bode, Iowa to stay with her father and step-mother (at that time). While driving down Main Street in Humboldt she drove by her future husband, Oscar Raymond Christianson, who was on leave from Anderson AFB, Guam. Raymond turned around and flashed his headlights to meet Jeanette and she pulled over and while talking to each other they set a date for Raymond’s parents 25th Wedding Anniversary. Raymond and Jeanette were married on January 28, 1980 in Rapid City, South Dakota while Raymond was stationed at Ellsworth AFB. Having completed her Nurses Aid Certification training in Iowa, she looked for jobs in nursing homes, hospitals, etc. At Ellsworth AFB Hospital, she gave birth to her first child, Gerald William Christianson. Soon her family was transferred to Yokota Air Base, near Tokyo, Japan. Jeanette gave birth to their daughter Rebecca Mae (Christianson) Omann and her youngest son Michael Earl Christianson who was born in Tokyo, Japan.

They spent just short of five years in Japan. Next, they were stationed in Gila Bend AFB, Auxiliary Air Field. And then to Homestead, AFB, Florida until Hurricane Andrew took her home and most of the base. They then transferred to Avon Park Bombing range until that base closed, next to Beale AFB, California. At each base Jeanette volunteered to decorate the main base entry posts for Christmas which was very special to her. At Beale she had to play Santa when Raymond was sent on a special military mission to a Central American country on Christmas Eve with only a 4-hour notice. Jeanette always played Mom and Dad during the many deployments Raymond went on overseas. Jeanette loved being a mother and later a grandmother to her nine grand kids.

Jeanette had a remarkable life becoming Bode’s first state certified female fire fighter and later she became a certified EMT and helped to develop Bode’s First Responder Program which is still staffed by volunteers today. She was a devote Christian and practiced her Lutheran faith throughout her life starting in New York, until her passing in Des Moines. Special thanks to Pastor Joyce Schmidt who would visit Jeanette and Raymond in their home in Bode and when needed offered prayer over the phone. Jeanette loved her work as a Walmart manager in Bellevue, Nebraska and transferring to Fort Dodge upon Raymond’s retirement from the Air Force. She loved the many animals she raised on her acreage, just a mile outside of Bode. Until her health led to the one-story home in Bode. Her last job was with the Humboldt County Sherriff’s Office where she was a deputy jailor until her discharge due to health concerns.

She is survived by her husband Raymond, her children Gerald, (Megan Brundige) Christianson of Shenandoah, Rebecca (Jeff) Omann of Bode, Michael (André Guy) Christianson of Fort Dodge, her nine grandchildren Gerald, Jr., Corey, Nolan, Matthew, Brian, Jason, Natalie, Lorraine and Charlotte, her sister Julie A. Curtis of Macedon, New York, niece Kasandra, nephew Paul, Uncle Richard (Carole) Curtis of Texas and Aunt Marlene Slocum of New York.