Curtis Alan Christensen Jr.

Rank: Lance Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps

Unit: 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

Hometown: Formerly of Collingswood, New Jersey

Died: January 10, 2008, Non-Hostile Incident, Ramadi, Iraq

Buried: Harleigh Cemetery, Camden, New Jersey

Lance Corporal Curtis Alan Christensen Jr., 29, formerly of Collingswood, died in a non-hostile incident on January 10, 2008, in Ramadi, Iraq. He attended Delran High School and, after years of self-education and several different jobs, joined the Marines about a year before his death. He told his family about his plans at his 28th birthday party. Six months before boot camp, he stopped smoking and stopped drinking, ran every day, and joined the gym. Upon graduation, he was presented an award for earning the highest marks in physical training. He was shipped to Iraq in late October 2007, assigned to 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune. He was an avid outdoorsman who hiked over 1,200 miles on the Appalachian Trail in a single trip. He is survived by his wife, Olga, of Washington, D.C.; his mother, Mary Knight, and her husband David, of the Chatsworth section of Woodland; brother Michael Christensen; and stepsisters Hope Knight of Collingswood and Leslie Knight of Evesham.

A Marine who once lived in this borough has lost his life in Iraq, officials said Monday.

Lance Cpl. Curtis Alan Christensen Jr., 29, died in combat Friday in Ramadi, a city in western Iraq, said Lt. Col. James Garcia, a spokesman for the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Christensen’s mother lives in South Jersey, said Garcia, who offered no additional information Monday night. “The family has told the casualty assistance coordinator that they’re not interested in much press on this,” said Garcia.

Christensen was the 27th service member with ties to South Jersey to die in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Services for the Marine were to be arranged by Hinski-Tomlinson Funeral Home of Haddonfield.

When Curtis Alan Christensen Jr., formerly of Collingswood, started his hike on the Appalachian Trail a few years ago, he spurned the notion of beginning the trail at a tourist attraction in Georgia.

The real start of the trail, he told his mother, was at the top of a mountain. So Mary Knight, though afraid of heights, drove her son up a winding, one-lane fire road. About two-thirds of the way up, there was a place to turn around.

“He said, ‘I’ll just walk from here,’” Knight remembered Tuesday. “I mean, he was walking 1,200 miles anyway.”

Christensen, a 29-year-old lance corporal in the Marine Corps, died Friday in Ramadi, Iraq. Officials at the Department of Defense Tuesday said Christensen died in a nonhostile incident. An investigation is ongoing.

Knight said her son never did anything without fully committing to it. For four months, beginning on an Easter Sunday, Christensen hiked. He covered 1,200 miles, leaving the trail only because he ran out of money.

“Whatever he would get into,” said Knight, of the Chatsworth section of Woodland, “he would really get into.”

After years of self-education and several different jobs, Christensen, who attended Delran High School, joined the Marines about a year ago. He told his family about the plans at his 28th birthday party. And like he did before, he dedicated himself to the cause. Six months before boot camp, Christensen stopped smoking and stopped drinking. He ran every day and joined the gym.

“It was probably a good idea,” his mother said. “Since he was like the grandfather there.”

Upon graduation, Christensen was presented an award for earning the highest marks in physical training.

Christensen, shipped to Iraq in late October, was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Christensen, who was married, enlisted as an infantryman in hopes of joining a special operations team similar to the Navy SEALS, Knight said.

She said she’s been “preparing” for her son’s death, knowing he would be killed. “You know how sometimes you know? I knew,” she said. “The only thing I said to him when he joined was ‘I’m proud of you.’ But I was also sad.”

Friends may call at 7 p.m. Thursday at Hinski-Tomlinson Funeral Home, 81 Haddon Ave., Haddonfield. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Bible Presbyterian Church, 115 Haddon Ave., Collingswood. Interment with military honors will be at Harleigh Cemetery, Camden.

Thoughts of Curtis Alan Christensen Jr. seemed to warm mourners on a chilly Friday morning.

They remembered him as he was, fun-loving and caring, and honored him for what he had become, a Marine who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Christensen, 29, formerly of Collingswood, died in Ramadi, Iraq, Jan. 10 in what the Department of Defense said was a nonhostile incident.

Friends and family filtered into Bible Presbyterian Church here Friday to pay last respects to a guy his mother said never did anything without fully committing to it.

“My final words to him, and I’m very thankful for this, I thanked him for his service to the country,” said Kim Boettcher, 48, of Cherry Hill, a friend of Christensen’s mother, Mary Knight. “It was this past Fourth of July at the parade in Haddonfield.”

“He was a kind-hearted person,” said Casey Rowe, 37, a homemaker from Gloucester Township who met Christensen more than a decade ago when he was a roadie for a local band. “A great spirit. He became not only my friend, but my family.”

Jacquelyn Dixon and Judith Tapper, both mothers who recently lost sons in war zones, also came to comfort the family. Both belong to the Gold Star Mothers group of parents who have lost children in war. “We share their grief,” said Dixon of Lindenwold, whose son Anthony died Aug. 1, 2004, in Iraq. “We’re here to help them carry on and support them,” said Tapper of Waterford, whose son David died in Afghanistan Aug. 20, 2003.

Outside the church, an honor guard of about a dozen veterans lined the entrance with flags. Many of the vets from a group called the Patriot Guard had motorcycles lined up to later lead the way to the burial at Harleigh Cemetery in Camden. The two-mile route down Haddon Avenue included two fire trucks with an enormous flag draped from extended ladders high over the road.

Christensen is survived by his wife, Olga, of Washington, D.C.; mother, Mary Knight and her husband, David, of the Chatsworth section of Woodland; brother Michael Christensen; stepsisters Hope Knight of Collingswood and Leslie Knight of Evesham.

LCpl. Curtis Alan. On January 11, 2008 in AR Ramadi Iraq age 29 years (formerly of Collingswood, NJ). Beloved husband of Olga of Washington DC, son of Mary Knight (nee Meeteer) and her husband David of Chatsworth, NJ. Brother to Michael Christensen, step brother to Hope Knight of Collingswood, NJ and Leslie Knight of Marlton, NJ. Nephew to Dr. Frank Meeteer of Haddonfield, NJ. Curtis was an avid outdoorsman and hiked over 1200 miles in one trip on the Appalachian Trail. He did the sound and lighting for local rock bands. Curtis enjoyed participating in medieval reenactments, reading and photography. Relatives and friends are invited to the visitation Thursday evening after 7PM at the HINSKI-TOMLINSON FUNERAL HOME 81 Haddon Ave. Haddonfield, NJ. Funeral Services will be Friday 11 AM at Bible Presbyterian Church 1115 Haddon Ave. Collingswood, NJ. Interment with Military Honors at Harleigh Cemetery Camden, NJ. In lieu of flowers the family request contributions in his memory to Appalachian Mountain Club, Development Office, 5 Joy St. Boston, MA 02108-1490.