Louise Vitalis Christianson, Tillamook County’s whirlwind of compassion and enthusiasm for all things people, animals, good causes, and Mother Earth, was stilled by cancer the morning of Aug. 11, 2025, when she died at her home in Bayside Gardens. She was 86 years old.
Born Feb. 16, 1939, in Mishawaka, Ind., Louise worked at the family furniture store before heading west to San Francisco in the early 1960’s to work in the Finance and Investment field.
When not managing money she volunteered for a variety of local causes – whales, rescue dogs, the library, Big Sisters, recycling, and the San Francisco Opera. She also competed in ballroom dancing. She once spent two weeks with a group navigating the Colorado River. Mother Earth was her cathedral, and she was known to hug trees with the same spirit she did her dogs and her friends.
A camping trip to the Pacific Northwest sparked her interest in Oregon and prompted her move to Neahkahnie in 1994. In subsequent years she supported and got herself involved in a wide range of local causes — all in betterment to the community. Those included the North County Food and Clothing Bank, Lower Nehalem Community Trust, Manza-Whee-Lem Kiwanis, Columbia River Keepers, Tillamook Animal Shelter, Animal Haven by the Sea, Nature Conservancy, National Wildlife Federation, AARP, Salvation Army, Save The Redwoods, Doctors Without Borders, Environmental Defense Fund and any number of others.
Louise’s garden was a riot of colors and showed her tender attention to the needs of the plants. This wasn’t easy on her steep Neahkahnie lot, but she even started a business called “Garden Babies” in her greenhouse there.
When not outside with her flowers she enjoyed watching professional sports – particularly football and baseball. And then there were her dogs: Katie the Doberman; Mara the Malamute mix, and Zephyr the blue-eyed Husky.
Louise purchased her spacious one-level Bayside Gardens home in 2015. Zephyr moved there too and loved the large, fenced yard. After Zephyr, Louise started adopting senior dogs that required extra attention: Gee Gee, Handsome Joe, and Cooper. She gave them all a good life.
Louise was predeceased by her brothers John and Robert. She is survived by her sisters Sr. Roberta Christianson of Donaldson, Ind., and Sr. Jean Christianson of Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico; sister-in-law Jan Christianson of Mishawaka, Ind.; nieces Amy Jacoby and Jean Richards; nephews Jack, Patrick and Steve Christianson, and 13 great nieces and nephews.
She also leaves behind a lot of good friends who will miss her.
Louise specifically did not want a memorial service to be held in her honor. Instead, she left instructions for a “Party.” In the coming months an appropriate time and place will be announced to mark the passing of a loving dynamo, who touched so many lives in her community.