Carsten & Zedona Christiansen

Carsten & Zedona Christiansen Memorial Scholarship was established on January 23, 2002 with the direct intention to support a physical therapy student. Zedona, the late wife of Carsten Christiansen, set this scholarship up to honor her husband Carsten upon her death.

Carsten Christiansen was born on April 28, 1908, in Mandal, Norway. He married Zedona Ellingson on June 5, 1943 in Minneapolis, MN. He graduated from the Swedish School of Physical Therapy, New York, in 1936 and completed a postgraduate course in lower extremity prosthetic at Northwestern University in 1962.

He came to La Crosse on January 1, 1946, to start a physical therapy department at Gundersen Clinic and was employed at the clinic and La Crosse Lutheran Hospital until his retirement. Christiansen was a World War II veteran and served in a Norwegian-speaking ski commando unit in the European Theater.

He was a member of the Ygdrasil Society and a former member of the Elks Lodge and the Sons of Norway.