In the spring of 1980, Richard Christensen sat in the choir seats of the Olentangy meetinghouse in Columbus, Ohio. He and other members of the stake high council had been summoned by Stake President Don Mortenson for an unusual announcement. It was common knowledge that during the upcoming stake conference, a new stake presidency would be called. As President Mortenson addressed the assembled high council members, he had two messages. He said the customary round of stake conference interviews that would normally be conducted by visiting general authorities in search of the next stake president would not happen this time. That individual had already been selected and called. The other announcement addressed a long simmering issue - the lack of Church buildings throughout the stake. President Mortensen said with assurance that the new stake presidency would address that problem by “building chapels.” “At that point, lightning went up my spine – the same feeling I had experienced prior to my call as a bishop in California – and I knew that somehow I would be part of that building program,” Richard remembered. That tingling feeling, as Richard knew all too well, was revelation. The Lord was preparing him for his next assignment. That task would draw upon Richard’s unique set of talents: his planning and engineering skills, his willingness to be a disrupter, in the best sense of the word, and his ability to inspire people to give their best effort even as he raised the bar of expectations. His influence would go beyond a building program to include expanding the stake through the wise use of leadership, bringing the local Church out of obscurity, and laying the groundwork for a temple. Before Richard would lay foundations for a temple and stake centers, however, his own foundation was built in the vast, windswept landscapes of Montana. Rich, as he is known to his friends, didn’t seem destined for such a busy life. Born and raised in the Dakotas and Montana, he spent much of his early years on Indian reservation where his father worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. While Rich’s hard work and intellect were recognized, it was easy to lament his bad luck of growing up about as far from opportunity as one could get. Rich, however, was determined to follow his dreams and make something of himself. After his high school graduation, at which he served as the valedictorian for a graduating class of 22, he decided to attend Brigham Young University and major in mechanical engineering - he later transferred to physics. Six years later, during which he completed a mission to Brazil, he completed a bachelor’s degree and began searching for a graduate program. When Rich’s father challenged him to set his sights high in terms of where he would apply, he submitted an application to Stanford University in California which offered him a “full ride” scholarship. He accepted. During his Stanford years, 1968 to 1972, Rich married Pam, earned a PhD in mechanical engineering, and served as an Elders Quorum president in the school’s student ward where Henry B. Eyring was the bishop. While still at Stanford, Rich and Pam moved from the university’s student ward where he had been the Elders Quorum president for several years to a family ward where he did not receive a calling for six months. The lack of an assignment in the ward weighed heavily on him until one day he decided, if nothing else, he would be the best father he could be. That desire to consecrate his life to doing good and fulfilling his role as a father later impacted his commitment to building the kingdom of God. His has been a consecrated life. After a move to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California in 1972, Rich was called to be bishop, not yet 30 years of age. Then, in 1978, Rich was hired into the Ohio State University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering where he would begin an extensive career as a nuclear engineer teaching classes and conducting “exciting” research in this burgeoning field. He and Pam transplanted their young family to Columbus where they would immediately become active in the Church in an area where growth in members outpaced the physical structure. Within a few months, Rich would join the Columbus Ohio Stake High Council where he would become familiar with key individuals with whom he would serve for years to come. For more than 15 years, Rich labored with stake presidents Dimon McFerson and Keith Smith after which he worked with two Ohio Columbus mission presidents for another four years. In 1999, while dedicating his unique skill set to support the building of the Columbus Ohio Temple, and just prior to its dedication, Rich and Pam left on a three-year assignment to Brazil to serve as a mission president and companion. Though the university had only approved a two-year absence, an agreement was reached to allow Rich to officially retire and return to OSU after his time in Brazil to teach on a quarter-by-quarter basis for an indefinite period. This allowed the Christensens to complete the third year of Rich’s mission presidency. After their return, Rich was immediately recruited to work in the temple even as he also resumed his career at Ohio State. Less than nine months later, Rich and Pam were called to serve as a counselor and assistant matron for Columbus Ohio temple presidents Jerry Martin and Lee Tobler. Just five years later, He and Pam were called to serve as the Columbus Ohio Temple president and matron. In regarding the extraordinary three-decades of leadership in Ohio and abroad, Rich played crucial roles that few men in the Church are granted. Each call, however, was preceded by a “learning” period in which he worked side-by-side with individuals who allowed Rich broad latitude in which to receive inspiration and fulfill assignments. No circumstance better captures that trust than when within minutes of Rich being sustained as a counselor to Dimon McFerson in the stake presidency, Dimon leaned over and said to Rich, “it’s all yours now.” Astonished by Dimon’s comment, Rich asked what he meant only to be told that Dimon and his family would be embarking on a long-planned around-the-world cruise for the next month. Today, more than a decade since his release as temple president, Rich continues to change lives as a temple sealer and as a patriarch. As for the latter assignment it is worth acknowledging there may be no lonelier, yet impactful calling in the Church than that of a patriarch. He has no counselors on which to lean, no meetings from which to glean best practices, and no one to whom he delegates the burdens of the office. The words of wisdom embedded in blessings are his alone as he is moved upon by the Holy Ghost. In summarizing Rich’s decades of service to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Pam Christensen, his companion for more than 50 years, has been his equal in every way. His long hours in the classroom and lab and time-consuming church work required Pam to shoulder a heavy load with a home to maintain, five active children, and her own Church callings. Rich credits her for the success of their home; she would counter that it was a shared burden. But as Rich readily volunteers, “Our children are who they are largely because of Pam being who she is. I’ve been greatly blessed to have her as my companion through all these years.”