Lawrence “Larry” “Wolf” Christensen, 66, passed away at Sanford Hospital April 1, 2026, in Fargo, ND.
Larry was born April 13, 1959, in Valley City, ND to Arlene (Hanenberg) and Lyle “Bud” Christensen at Mercy Hospital. He grew up in Sanborn, ND attending Sanborn and North Central of Barnes School.
Leann Klein and Larry were married on May 18, 1985. When they met, he was Leann’s Mom’s bowling partner. They had a wonderful marriage and were meant for each other. He would do anything for her and was very protective over her. They woke up every day with love, hugs and laughter and on weekends he would make her pancakes (he loved pancakes). He loved to tease her and was very quick witted and funny. They laughed every day.
Larry worked for BNSF railroad from 1977-2001; he was also in the National Guard from 1976-1982. Larry bought his truck in 2003 working for Syngenta and Ypsi Elevator. In 2009 Larry went to work for Bayer-Monsanto and has worked there for the last 17 years. He loved driving truck for them and all the people he worked with. If he could help any of them out on the road with parts or help with the mechanics to get them back up and running, he was more than happy to do that. His favorite workdays were Fridays because they had donuts. He was a very tough strong guy with a kind big heart.
Besides Leann, Larry loved animals, and animals loved Larry. There were several animals throughout the years, dogs, cats, and pigs. Currently they have their dog, Maddie, and their cat, Tippy. Larry was particularly close to Maddie who knew from the moment they walked into the rescue that Larry was her person and ran directly to him, they have been inseparable ever since and she really helped his spirits through his back surgery last year.
One of Larry’s favorite things was to plant the garden, and he really loved to plant potatoes and tended to go a little overboard with the number of plants he put in the ground. He was very particular with weeding the garden he hated to see any weeds.
Larry loved to help Leann with her race car at Jamestown Speedway. He built almost every car she raced and enjoyed so much when the car and Leann did well. He was able to manufacture things with parts and pieces. He could fix anything and was very clever in what he would use to knock out dents or to make things work like he wanted them to. He was a bit of a perfectionist and had to have everything exactly right. Ask Leann about the heart he put in her race car sometime. He was so grateful for their awesome racing family, Bob Sr. (Carrie) Banish, Bob Jr. (Marla) Banish, Joey, Kala, and Evelyn, Blair (Marlena) Mckee, Hudson, Bridger, and Nash as well as so many other friends.
Larry is survived by his wife, Leann; brothers, Kevin (Jill) Christensen, Ricky (Jessica Kuch) Nelson; sister Brenda Christensen-Shank; in-laws, Gordon (Janice) Klein, Richard (Linda) Klein; and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his father, Lyle “Bud” Christensen; mother, Arlene Nelson; stepfather, Rodney Nelson; in-laws, Berniece and Louis Klein, George Klein; and nephew, Andy Klein.
There will be visitation from 6:00 PM until 7:00 PM for Larry on Thursday, April 9 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Sanborn, ND. There will be a prayer service beginning with the praying of the Rosary at 7:00 Thursday evening at the church.
The funeral Mass will be celebrated on Friday, April 10 at 10:30 AM, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. He will be laid to rest with military honors in the Sacred Heart Cemetery. The services will be live streamed, then archived, on a link provided along with his obituary on his tribute page at www.lerudmathias.com. An online guestbook is available there as well. Traditions Funeral Services of Valley City is honored to be assisting the Christensen family with arrangements.
At Larry’s request, please wear casual clothing (a racing t-shirt if you have one) to his services.