Mary Louise Christensen

Mary Louise Christensen, beloved mother, stepmother and step grandmother, and friend, passed away peacefully on November 9, 2025, in Surprise, Arizona, at the age of 95.

Born on January 3, 1930, to Rodney and Viola Burns, Mary grew up with a love for learning and creativity that shaped her life. She earned her bachelor's degree in Elementary Education, Art, and Drama from Southwestern University in Weatherford, Oklahoma, in 1952. Her passion for teaching led her to Carlsbad, New Mexico, where she began her career and met her first husband, John C. Horne, Jr. They married in 1953 and later moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Mary remained after their divorce in 1976.

Several years later, Mary met Don Christensen, and the two were married on December 16, 1983. Together, they shared a joyful life filled with travel across the United States and Europe, countless rounds of golf in New Mexico, Arizona and wherever else they could carry their clubs, and numerous games of Bridge with cherished friends.

Mary was a kind, caring, and generous soul, known for her dry wit that stayed sharp until her final days. She was a talented painter, creating beautiful abstract and still-life pieces, and she found joy in taking art classes, reading, playing solitaire, and coaxing flowering plants to survive the Arizona heat.

She was preceded in death by her husband Don Christensen (2019), her daughter Toni Horne (2015), and her parents. She is survived by her daughter Jeanne "Renee" Lozano and son-in-law Arthur Lozano of Arlington, Texas, her son Rodney Horne of Chandler, Arizona and three stepchildren, Jerry Christensen (Kathy), Tom Christensen (Karen) and Lynda Magirl (Pat) and six step-grandchildren. Mary's legacy lives on in the love she gave, the art she created, and the memories she leaves behind.

In lieu of flowers, Mary and the family would prefer donations be made to a local food bank, homeless shelter, animal rescue or to the University of Oklahoma breast cancer research department in honor of her daughter, Toni, who died of metastasized breast cancer.