Frances C. Christensen

Frances C. Pignato Christensen, 89, formerly of Portsmouth, RI, died Thursday, September 2, 2010 at Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT. She was the wife of the late Arnold R. Christensen.Born in Brookline, MA on May 21, 1921, she was the 6th of nine children of the late Nunzio and Francesca Lamonica Pignato. Mrs. Christensen was a graduate of Brookline High School. During WWII she worked at the Watertown Arsenal in Massachusetts. She also worked at the former Convent of the Sacred Heart in Portsmouth, and the former Baptist Home in Newport. During her 59 years a Rhode Island resident, she was a Brownie leader, PTA member, St. Barnabas Womens Guild member, and a member of the Portsmouth Senior Center. In her later years, Mrs. Christensen was an avid reader and Boston Red Sox fan.She is survived by her daughters, Karen Diekemper of Holden Beach, North Carolina, and her husband Jerry, Francie Middleton of Severna Park, Maryland and her husband Steve, Lois Christensen of Wallingford, CT, with whom she resided for the past six years; grandchildren Emily Hansen and her husband Chris, Sara Jane Sherry and her husband Kevin, Ellen Smalley and her husband Kurt, and CPT. Peter Middleton, USA; great grandchildren David Hansen and Abigail Smalley; brother John Pignato of Brookline, MA, and sister Mary Sullo of Canton, MA.Calling hours will be held on Wednesday, September 8, 2010, from 4-7 PM in the Memorial Funeral Home, 375 Broadway, Newport, RI.Her funeral will be held on Thursday, September 9, at 9:00 AM from the Memorial Funeral Home, 375 Broadway, Newport, with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 AM in St. Barnabas Church, 1697 East Main Road, Portsmouth. Burial will be in Newport Memorial Park in Middletown.Donations in her memory may be made to the ACES Education Foundation, 350 State St., North Haven, CT 06473.