Robert Christenson

Editor,

He was an interesting man, a lifelong learner with knowledge acquired in diverse subjects. I liked the conversations we had. Afterwards I felt smarter. One evening I noticed him sitting by himself at a basketball game. I joined him. During the game we talked about a host of subjects, one of which was semiprecious stones. I remarked to him that there was a passage of scripture that described the stones used on the gates of heaven. One such stone that I had never heard of was chrysoprase. Had he, I wondered, any knowledge of this stone? He had indeed. He told me that this semiprecious stone was green in color and was used especially in the making of Tiffany lamps.

Moreover, he added that Tulare County was a principal source of chrysoprase. In fact, he told me that he had on occasion escorted boy scouts to a location nearby Porterville to search and find these stones.

I grew to trust him without reservation. He always took my calls. I asked him once to be my attorney in a case that was outside of his specialized practice. He did so, and the results were a true blessing to me and my wife. He knew a lot about semiprecious stones but there was nothing semi about him.

Robert Christenson was entirely precious to our community and to many of us that live here.

Richard Morris
Porterville