Obituary of Carol Sue Christensen

Carol Christensen of rural North Liberty died Saturday, June 5, 2021, in Coralville. Carol Sue Asbury was born August 30, 1936, in St. Joseph Missouri the daughter of Zola Miller and Mary Janiece (Tipton) Asbury. She graduated from the University of Nebraska in Music and had later earned a masters degree in Counseling, certificates in aging studies, death and dying, landscape architecture, and the Helen Bonny method of Guided Imagery and Music. She married Dr. James Christensen on July 26, 1958. After 2 years on the Navajo reservation where Jim was a physician in the USPHS Indian Health Service, they moved to Iowa City, for his residency in internal medicine at the University of Iowa. She was a member of St. Andrews Presbyterian church in Iowa City from 1964 to 1986 and of Trinity Episcopal church from 1986 to 2021, where she volunteered on the landscape committee, the vestry, and as a Free Lunch volunteer for over 30 years. She also volunteered with Project Green of Iowa City for over 40 years, and with Hospice of Iowa City. She was a charter member of the Chamber Singers of Iowa City and served as a board member and president. She sang with them from 1970 until about 2015 and performed often as an alto soloist. She conducted the First Baptist Church choir in Iowa City in the early 1960s and directed the young peoples’ choir at St. Andrews in the 1970s. For many years she participated in the 19th Century Club and in Music Study club. Carol had a small private practice in counseling where she used specialized music to enable clients to process life challenges and changes. Carol enjoyed gardening at their home on Rochester Avenue in Iowa City. After she and Jim bought the Frank and Nancy Seiberling property in 1991, she enjoyed caring for and expanding Nancy’s garden and the tree collection. They restored a few acres of prairie there and she learned the joys of cultivating peonies and day lilies, adding to the collection on the property. Several dogs over the years were her daily hiking companions in Hickory Hill Park, and later on the property in North Liberty. One of the great joys of her life was chamber music and she began playing string quartets in the 1970s. Carol played violin and played in small string ensembles nearly to the end of her life. Music was an enormous part of Carol’s life and she shared it with thousands of people. She was predeceased by her parents, Miller and Janiece Asbury, and son-in-law, Philip Nussbaum. She is survived by her husband, James Christensen; daughters, Laura Christensen (Paul Muhle) and Martha (Christensen) Nussbaum; son Marty Christensen; grandchildren, Matisse, Beckett and Ingrid Christensen, and Kathryn Nussbaum; and brother and sister-in-law, David and Rosa Lea (McCoy) Asbury. A memorial service will be held at 11:30 am, Saturday, September 17, 2022 at Trinity Episcopal Church in Iowa City, with a reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made in her memory to Free Lunch of Iowa City, and Chamber Singers of Iowa City. To share a thought, memory or condolence please visit the funeral home website @ www.gayandciha.com. The family would like to express appreciation to the excellent staff at Lantern Park Care Center and the professionals of Caring Initiatives Hospice.