THOMAS LESTER CHRISTENSEN
July 6, 1937 – February 9, 2023
Thomas Lester Christensen, 85, of Meridian, ID passed peacefully into the presence of the Lord with his wife, Jeri, at his side on Thursday, February 9, 2023, at Veranda Senior Living after a long battle with Alzheimer’s.
Tom was born in Whittier, CA where he attended elementary school. He attended military school as a junior high student and graduated high school from Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, CA in 1955.
Tom met the love of his life, Jeri Larmon, in 1954 when she was 15 and he was 17. They were married three and a half years later in 1958 in Long Beach, CA. They were blessed with two beautiful children, Tami in 1960 and Craig in 1962. Tom and Jeri were utterly devoted to one another and celebrated 64 years of marriage in September 2022.
Tom was always a hard worker. His first job was as a newspaper boy where he won many trophies and awards. During high school, he worked as a busboy at Virginia Country Club and worked his way up to Chef’s Assistant. Tom loved to fish and worked on the Betty-O, a sport fishing boat, during summer breaks. Tom served in the Army National Guard for 9 ½ years.
Tom was a dedicated businessman. He took over the family owned flower shop, Virginia Patio, when his father had health issues. He went on to manage several prominent flower shops in Orange County, CA. Eventually he opened three of his own flower stores. The last one, Tom and Jeri’s Flower Store, is still open in Long Beach, CA.
Tom was creative and artistic. His real claim to fame was arranging flowers. If you could dream it, he could make it. He created everything his customers wanted out of flowers including a DC-10 plane, fireman/policeman badges, Spiderman, and an artist’s palette. His favorite creation was a little poodle that he loved to make out of flowers for his grand-daughters. Weddings were also his specialty.
Tom was an amazing husband, father, grandfather, son, brother and friend. God received a very special man when he called him home. He was a gentleman to the very end and he loved people unconditionally.
The world was a better place because Tom was in it. He was very loved and will be missed by the many whose lives he touched. He takes a part of our hearts with him as he makes his final journey home. We love you so and will miss you until we meet again.
There will be a viewing at 10:00 a.m. and a funeral service at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 21, 2023 at Bowman Funeral Home in Garden City, ID. Graveside Service will follow at 12:00 p.m. at Dry Creek Cemetery in Boise, ID.