Mrs. Louanne Ten Eyck's Obituary
Louanne (Christensen) Ten Eyck
Louanne was born to parents George Edmund and Eunice Bertie Christensen on October 20, 1936, in Dallas, Texas and passed on to eternal peace on June 8, 2022, at her home surrounded by family. She was 85 years old. She was the only child in her family and grew up in a loving, doting home on Revere Street designed by her architect father, George Christensen. She attended East Dallas Christian Church that laid the foundation for abiding faith for her life. She graduated a year early at age 17 from Woodrow Wilson High School. She was a tall 5’11 3/4” beauty and graduated from SMU Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. When she graduated in the 1950’s unfortunately there were not many business positions for women in Dallas, so she took a secretary job at Edwin Cox Oil Company in downtown Dallas.
She soon met her soul mate, the handsome west Texan, James (Jim) Allen Ten Eyck, on a blind date in 1962. They fell in love and were married later that year on November 2nd. They would have celebrated their 60th anniversary this year. Marrying Jim, a young civil engineer, turned into a life of adventure, toting their growing family throughout the west because of promotions and moves with Mobil Pipeline, including cities and towns of Tacoma, Bellevue and Mt. Vernon, Washington and Corpus Christi, Corsicana and Beaumont, Texas; then to Calgary, Alberta, Canada and back to Corsicana and Dallas, Texas.
Louanne made great friends with her gracious, fun, smart and loving personality her entire life, whether it was through the Mobil Wives Club, their church or their neighbors, her children’s friends’ parents, or even owners of a moving company for one of their moves. Her friends were friends for life. She was a patient listener to all with unwavering support for whomever required it. She was a devoted wife and loving, supportive mother and we have always been immensely proud of our tall, beautiful mom. She had style and she could make any outfit look polished no matter how inexpensive the ensemble was, as most were. She was incredibly brave moving five kids from city to city, by saving our brother Charlie from drowning in a swollen creek, helping her daughter with her special needs grandson and her other daughter with the struggles of mental illness, and suffering through the many painful joint replacement surgeries she endured. Her abiding faith and her devoted husband helped her through these challenging times.
Louanne enjoyed selling real estate in Dallas for many years prior to retiring in 2002. After retirement, Louanne and Jim traveled throughout the US and Europe including Sweden where she found relatives that they remain close to, to this day. She also enthusiastically cheered on her grandchildren at numerous ballgames and dance recitals and was known for her Texas Chocolate Buttermilk Sheetcake made with love for all family and friend’s birthday parties.
Louanne is preceded in death by her parents Eunice B. and George E. Christensen. She is survived by her dedicated, and loving husband Jim Ten Eyck and her five children – Christine Ten Eyck (Gary Deaver) of Austin, Kathy Forrester, Charlie (Amy), Jay (Becky), Rosemary (David Self), of Dallas. Grandchildren include Jeffrey, Tyler, Ryan, James, Brooke, Anna and Jason and great grandchildren, Adam, and Hudson.
A celebration of Louanne’s life will be held in Dallas at Northway Christian Church at 7202 W. Northwest Highway on Monday, June 13th at 3:00pm with a reception afterwards including plenty of Louanne’s treasured Texas Chocolate Buttermilk Sheet cake to go around. A visitation is scheduled at 3:00 – 6:00 pm at Restland Funeral Home June 12th at 13005 Greenville Avenue. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the Arthritis Foundation or Northway Christian Church or the charity of their choice.
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