William Brent Christensen

1943 - 2015

William Brent Christensen, 71, passed away peacefully at his home on Monday, May 4, 2015, from complications of Alzheimer's. Born July 12, 1943, in Farmington, he was the third and youngest child of William Ferrel and Ora Taylor Christensen.
Brent "Joe Blow" was a loving son, husband, father and grandfather. He was well respected by all who knew him. He spent most of his life in Farmington where he began working in his family's moving and storage business at age 5.
After graduating from Farmington High School as salutatorian in 1961, he served as a volunteer missionary in Scotland for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1962 to 1964. He married Karen Colleen Evensen of Durango, Colo., on Aug. 18, 1965, in the LDS Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. This August would have marked their 50th wedding anniversary.
Brent had a gift for numbers and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in accounting from Brigham Young University in 1965. After initially accepting a position with Chevron Oil in Denver, Colo., he returned to Farmington in 1967, to take over the family business, Tri-City Transfer and Storage (Mayflower). He retired and sold the company in 2009 after running its daily operations for 42 years.
Brent enjoyed collecting cars and took pride in his profession, but his true love was his family. He had a unique ability to make people laugh and was known by others as a kind and approachable leader who selflessly fulfilled numerous church and civic responsibilities. He served in many leadership positions in the church, being called as a bishop at age 28, a stake president at 34, and a patriarch at 43, a position he held for 28 years. He and his wife Karen also spent four years serving in the LDS temple in Albuquerque two days a week.
Brent was preceded in death by his parents, William Ferrel and Ora Taylor Christensen; his sister, Erlene Richards; his brother, Bruce Ferrel Christensen; and his granddaughter, Maren Elisabeth Christensen.
He is survived by his wife, Karen; and six children, Jeff (Debbie) Christensen of Thornton, Colo., Tamma (Dan) Clarine of Northglenn, Colo., Kori (Terry) Johnston of Fredericksburg, Va., Kassy Clarine of Aurora, Colo., Tessa Christensen of Farmington, and Lenae (Mike) Torgerson of Annabella, Utah, as well as 18 grandchildren.
A funeral service will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 8, in the chapel at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 400 W. Apache St. in Farmington. Burial will be in Greenlawn Cemetery in Farmington.
In lieu of flowers and gifts, contributions may be made to the LDS Humanitarian Services at give.lds.org/humanitarian.
Brent's care is entrusted to Farmington Funeral Home, 2111 W. Apache Street, 505-325-2211. Those who wish to express their condolences may do so at www.serenityandcompany.com.