Alfred Christiansen
1919 ~ 2008
Alfred Christiansen was born in Brooklyn, New York on October 25, 1919, the son of Hans and Mary Sandsgaard Christiansen. He attended the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and was graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Officers Training School in New London, Connecticut as a Marine Engineer.
He served for five years in World War II in the North and South Atlantic and the Mediterranean Theaters. He was licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard as a Chief Engineer for U.S. steam and diesel vessels of unlimited horsepower. Mr. Christiansen was employed by the Marine Propulsion Section of the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratories' Experimental Breeder Reactor #1 at Arco, Idaho where he was part of the startup crew on the world's first nuclear power plant.
In 1954, Christiansen founded Control Equipment Company of Salt Lake, an industrial distributing firm specializing in automatic controls and process instrumentation. He has served as President of the Great Salt Lake Section of the Instrument Society of America and the Utah World Trade Council, and as a Chairman of the Salt Lake Committee of Foreign Relations.
Mr. Christiansen was a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, the Alta Club, the Hidden Valley Country Club and the La Quinta (California) Country Club. He was also a member of the Salt Lake City Westerners, reflecting his enthusiasm for western history and was a frequent feature writer on western topics for various European magazines and newspapers.
Christiansen was married to Trudi (Baer) Christiansen on January 17, 1959 in San Francisco. They have two daughters, Karin (Christopher) Ross and Nicole (Kevin) Aagaard, both of Salt Lake City.
As requested, private graveside services will be held for family members only. In lieu of flowers, please make contributions to Primary Children's Hospital. Funeral Directors Evans and Early Mortuary, Salt Lake City, Utah.