Christine Sjogren

1923 - 2020

Christine Anneliese Sjogren

November 1, 1923 – May 6, 2020

Christine Anneliese Sjogren died at the age of 96 on May 6, 2020 of natural causes. Her family was with her at the time of her death. Christine was born in Chemnitz, Germany, on November 1, 1923, to Bruno Oertel and Liesel (Müller) Oertel, who immigrated to Portland, Oregon in 1935.

There they joined a close-knit German community. Christine was an exceptional scholar and attended both Reed College and Mills College of Oakland (BA 1945), as well as Johns Hopkins, where she earned a PhD in German Literature in 1950. She met her future husband, Per Hugo Sjögren, a recent Swedish immigrant, in 1949 at the University of Kansas at Lawrence, where both had their first teaching jobs. Christine and Per were married in the Reed College Chapel on December 26, 1950. Eventually settling in Corvallis to teach at OSU, Christine served as Professor of Modern Languages for some 30 years, while Per completed his PhD in Economics at Columbia, taught, and founded Kings View Realty. Christine's academic writing focused on German Romanticism and especially the Austrian writer, Adalbert Stifter. Her influential book of essays on Stifter's novel, "Der Nachsommer," published by UNC Press in 1972, is still cited widely. Christine was also a gifted, serious concert pianist of classical music.

In retirement, she taught piano to scores of young Portlanders, continuing her own performances into her 80s -- ever glamorous, often in floor length, sequined gowns. Christine was still able to play her vast repertoire of exquisite, complex classical pieces -- especially her beloved Brahms -- long after her battle with dementia was lost.

Christine is survived by five of her six children: Jon Sjogren, Lance Sjogren, Lisa Naito, Britta Sjogren and Rolf Sjogren; her five grandchildren: Kirsten Naito, Alex Naito, Asta Sjogren-Uyehara, Ezra Rudel, and Willa Rudel; and two great-grandchildren, Dominic Darzen Naito and Cole Naito. Her fourth son, Christopher Per Sjogren, died in 2019.

Christine and Per divorced in 1983, remaining good friends. Fittingly, Christine was by Per's side when he died in 2009: the last word he uttered was her name. A memorial service will be held once pandemic restrictions are lifted. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made in Christine's name to Doctors Without Borders.