Peter C. Christensen was born June 27, 1905 in Jut land Denmark. His parents operated a butcher shop. Their home was in the same building as the butcher shop. Peter attended a trade school in Denmark and leaned to be a craftsman.
In 1926 when Peter was 20 and his brother, Chris was 18; they boarded a ship and sailed together to the United States. They lived with their uncle Chris Jokumsen who was a farmer West of Cedar Falls. IA. They soon learned the English language from Uncle Chris and his wife, Dorthea, and were able to get jobs of their own. Peter took a job with Jens Olsen & Sons Construction and worked for them for a few years. He started his own concrete construction business in 1932.
Peter married Gundrun Andersen in 1933 and built their first home at 1023 W 10th St, Cedar Falls, IA. They had one son and four daughters. Gudrun was the bookkeeper for the business. Peter was an excellent craftsman, a competent business man, and a gentle man. He built many brick homes, did residential and commercial work and did hundreds of concrete driveways and sidewalks. During the world war there was very little work of any type available, so he went to work for the government in Des Moines, IA building army barracks for the service personnel.
When his son, Dennis was a young boy, he went to work with his dad and learned the trade. After graduating from high school, Dennis worked full time with his Dad. Dennis married Judy in 1958. Their three sons, David, Steven, and Daniel helped Grandpa at work too. He taught them to be self motivated along with many other dedicated employees that worked for the company through the years. Peter and Gudrun were killed in a horrible automobile accident in August 1970. After their death, Dennis took over the Concrete & Masonry business. Dennis’ wife, Judy is the bookkeeper, and daughter, Tanya assists. David, Steven and Daniel were among the employees that helped. In time, Steven (Timeworks, Inc.) and Daniel (Iowa Data Storage) went into computer businesses. David has worked with Dennis for over 30 years. He is an excellent worker and very self conscious of the work he does. About 15 years ago, son in-law Mitchell came to work with Dennis. He has learned the trade very well, is very energetic and self conscious of the type of work he does. Both Dave & Mitch show expertise in their work ethics. Mitch’s son, Aaron, has been working summers with his Dad, Grandpa and Uncle. He is also a very energetic young man and loves to help and learn.
