The Tuesday Growers’ Market family was saddened to lose a beloved member recently when Charles Christenson passed away September 20, 2008, at the age of 72. He died at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane due to complications from autoimmune liver failure.

Many who knew and admired both Charles and his wife Linda over the years at both the Saturday and the Tuesday markets, may have associated him with tomato starts, cherries and plums, and more. But organic gardening was only one of Charles’ many quiet passions. In addition to gardening, Charles enjoyed selling at the farmers market, and experimented in growing rare and unusual plants and flowers. He was an avid book reader and went on bike trips through Idaho, Montana and New Zealand. Charles was a lover of music; he played the piano and even sought a master's degree in music.

On a professional level, Charles was a professor of mathematics at the University of Idaho for 35 years and continued tutoring in the math lab after his retirement in 1999. He co-authored and translated several math books and founded the Boron Scholarship Fund to provide scholarships to Asian students in mathematics.

Charles and Linda were very active in community agriculture. They were founding participants in the Moscow Farmer’s Market 31 years ago. They always gardened "organically" - well before the term "organic gardening" was coined. Together they tended about an acre of cultivated garden, as well as three additional acres of fruit trees. According to Charles, he gardened for at least 50 of his 72 years, and more recently had even become a Master Gardner.

Charles will be deeply missed by his large extended family in this area. And we are deeply grateful for his thoughtful and caring life, and for his many loving contributions toward our community’s health.

If you wish to honor Charles, the family suggests making a donation to the Leo Boron Scholarship Fund, University of Idaho Gift Administration Office, P. O. Box 443147, Moscow, ID 83844, Desk 3147.