Christensen, sitting board member, dies suddenly
A sitting board member of the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen passed away Saturday in Hedley. Elef Christensen was 74. The director for Area G (rural Keremeos-Hedley) had been working in his office at the Misty Mountain Gift Shop just moments before, according to a friend.
“I guess he must have known he was in trouble, and he collapsed on the sidewalk in front of his store,” said Roger Mayer, also the alternate director for Area G.
Mayer met Christensen sometime around 2003, when Mayer was the Area G director and trying to explain to Hedley residents the benefits of curbside garbage pickup.
“It was going to cost him more money, but he was a man of logic and understood what we were doing,” Mayer recalled.
Christensen, who served one other term with the RDOS from 2008-11, made headlines just last week as the highest-spending director on the board for two consecutive years, but Mayer said his friend was nonetheless mindful of the public purse: “He was dedicated to making sure taxpayers didn’t pay more than they needed to pay.”
Mayer said Christensen immigrated to Canada from Denmark as a young man to work as a millwright, starting first in Quebec and later moving to B.C.
Christensen spent much of his trades career at sawmills in the Lower Mainland, before retiring to Hedley and opening the store about 20 years ago.
Besides serving his community, Christensen also enjoyed occasional sips of rare liquor and watching soccer.
Christensen is survived by his partner, Linda Miles, and adult children Henrik and Alice.
“He was a really great guy,” said Mayer.
“He had a really good sense of humour when you got to know him and was really dedicated to serving his constituents.”
Mayer will replace Christensen at the RDOS board table at least until the October municipal election.