Almeda was a wonderful and amazing woman that lived quite a life. I’ve learned so much about her in the last few days as I’ve read through her memoirs.
Almeda Brown was born March 27, 1920 in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was the youngest of five children. Her brother Charles, 17 months older would remain closest to her as she grew up. Her stepsister, May, and two stepbrothers, Bert and Elliot were quite a bit older. Almeda’s family left Salt Lake when she was three and moved to Brigham City. It was the first of 14 moves she would experience before her 18th birthday. She grew up making new friends wherever she went and was continually learning.
Not only was she close in age to her brother Charles, they did a lot together. He looked out for her as did the rest of her brothers. The Brown family did move around a lot, but they always seemed to vacation or take trips to various parts of California. In fact in 1932 her mother, a researcher at Utah State University and Head of Purnell Investigations for the State of Utah, took a sabbatical and moved the family to Berkley, California to study in the Live Sciences Department at the University of California. There Almeda started junior high school. At school she only knew her brother Charles but soon made friends. She became fast friends with Luanne. They would spend their time together sitting on the hill watching the Berkley football team play or they would go to the university library where there was a wonderful collection of books.
Almeda loved to read, she finished all of Shakespeare, Nancy Drew and even the Sherlock Holmes series among countless others and just recently finished again the Harry Potter series. It was during her time in Berkley that she took her first language class. She loved it and claimed that she learned more about the English language while taking Latin than she had ever learned before.
As a young girl Almeda had a Doll collection that she cherished as she got older she was fond of swimming, roller skating and even archery. She actually had a picture in the school year book of her with a bow and arrow. She said that was her favorite sport next to swimming. She was an accomplished seamstress at this young age and was recognized for her talent many times. During her high school years she was chosen as a band sponsor, she especially liked the uniform since it was the same as the band members wore, vice president of the debate club, a member of the French Club, a member of the ZT girls, a high school sorority, and the girl’s rifle club. She said that she joined the rifle club because she thought it would be good to know how to handle a gun if she ever had to.
By this time her sister May had moved to Long Beach, California, a popular destination for summer vacations. Bert and Elliot were in the Navy one on a battleship the other on a destroyer. Almeda actually got to tour the ships that they were on while at port in Long Beach and San Francisco. She was very excited and proud of her brothers and sister.
It was also around this time, after moving back to Utah, that she first saw her future husband. He played guard for the Bear River football team. Wallace Russell Christensen. Almeda officially met Chis as he liked her to call him the following year when he came to study with her brother Charles. Another year went by before they met again. After that they met often and regularly.
Charles and Chris were both in the ROTC at college and were instrumental in getting Almeda elected sponsor of the Corps. Chris and Almeda were both in B Battery, so they marched each Tuesday and Thursday, and went to all the Military Balls and other school affairs and the dances at the School of Engineering. They were often with Charles and his future wife Mabel Bott. Charles and Mable were married just before graduation.
At Chris’s Graduation Almeda met his parents. She wanted to be married someday but resolved to graduate first. Charles moved to Riverside California and Chris was now in the Army. During that summer as Almeda put it “her resolve started to dissolve”. She went to visit Charles and Mable over the Labor Day weekend. Chris got leave and joined them. Chris and Almeda took a day trip to Catalina where they talked about marriage but there wasn’t time on this leave since it was only a couple of days long. After visiting her sister in Long beach she returned back to Logan Utah. A short time later a Diamond ring arrived in the mail and her marriage plans were official.
A wedding date was planned but just as quickly got changed. This was in 1941 just before the USA entered world war2 and military life was very unpredictable. It took them three times setting the date before Almeda and Chris final were able to get married in Reno, Nevada on November 24th. They had a two day honeymoon and then went to their rented house in Sausalito to settle down as a couple only to get orders to report to Detroit for training a few days later. They arrived in Detroit on December 7, 1941 the day Pear Harbor was attacked. That changed their plans and after three more moves in the next six months, Chris was deployed and Almeda went back to Logan to finish College. During his deployment Almeda and Chris kept in touch by letter lots of letters. Chris never missed a special occasion and would wire a bouquet of beautiful flowers to his young bride. Almeda graduated Phi Kappa Phi in the spring of 1943 with a Bachelors degree majoring in Language from Utah State University. She continued to be active in the Alpha Chi Omega sorority alumni. It would be 2 years and 3 months before Chris got his first 2 week leave to be home with Almeda. He left again for retraining and then returned to live again in the San Francisco area. Eight Months later Chris was gone again but this time for only 3 months since Japan surrendered and the war ended. He came home this time for good.
Almeda and Chris stayed in California for the most part of their 69 years of marriage moving at least 15 times. Raising their three children Karen, Carla, and Kaye in the process. Almeda went back to school in 1967 while in San Bernardino to receive her teaching credentials so that she could teach at a Catholic boys High School where she was offered a job. Almeda and Chris finally retired in 1975, built a home in Fallbrook and pretty much stayed there except for various trips to visit family and take vacations in Europe and Canada. They finally came to Oceanside in 1998.
I was fortunate to meet them shortly after that and became their home teacher, Bishop, and friend.
I can tell you that although I wasn’t officially part of their family I sure did feel like I was. I learned so much from Almeda and Wally, as I call him. Every time I would visit with them she always made me feel comfortable. I learned so much about unwavering faith from her. As sick as she often was, I would never hear a complaint or a discouraging word. It was always, “ I’ll do my best and see what happens.” She would ask me to give her a blessing but it was her faith that brought about the results. She was a remarkable woman. Now that I’ve had a chance to review her life she is even more remarkable to me. To be a woman college graduate in 1943, move over 30 times in her life maintain a home, raise 3 girls, be a teacher and have a testimony of her Savior that is as strong as any that I have been exposed to is remarkable. When I was the Bishop and would make an appointment to visit I would always be met with don’t worry about us you’re so busy we don’t want to keep you from what you need to do but if we can help you just tell us what to do. Almeda was always so willing to give of herself to others and to serve. During the fires that evacuated people from their homes in 2007 we were asked by the Church to help those families by volunteering to go and clean up the fire areas and homes that had been destroyed. Almeda and Wally couldn’t go and physically work in the fire area so they opened their home to their friends in Fallbrook so that they would have a place to stay until they could go back to their home. She was a wonderful example to me and to all those that she came in contact with. I know that she suffered a lot with pain and other illness. In these last few years she was physically weak and couldn’t do all that she wanted but let me tell you she loved her family and was so very proud of all of them from her daughters to the great grandchildren. The computer helped her keep in touch with everyone so far away. She started blogging just about everyday at the age of 87 letting everyone know about her day as if they were there with her. I would often hear of the family accomplishments even if she couldn’t be there personally to witness them. Being a long distance grandparent myself I totally understand. She did visit the doctor quite a bit the last few years but she would love to stop at Tamarack beach and watch the waves and surfers on the way back home from a doctor’s visit. She enjoyed going to lunch with her husband and friends either at a local restaurant or a picnic at Tamarack. She enjoyed their Monday night family home evenings where her and Wally would sit and read together from the scriptures or the church lesson manual for next weeks lesson. She was a lady that lived her life and knew how much she had been blessed. I know that she is happy and pain free right now and has made it through this life in such a way that she will enjoy the blessings and promises made to her by her Father in Heaven.
The family has asked a few individuals to come forward and share their memories of Almeda with us. Could you now please come forward.
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