Jeanne Forrest Pyke Christensen

     Jeanne Forrest Pyke Christensen, 96, passed peacefully surrounded by her devoted children on September 23, 2023. Anna Jeanne Forrest was born to Spencer Ernest Forrest and Olga Rolfson Bryan Forrest in Nephi, Utah, on May 3, 1927. 

     Jeanne remembered that as a child, she longed to live in a regular home like her friends. We suspect that all her friends wished they could have lived in the Forrest Hotel, where Jeanne was born and raised with her older brother and sister, where celebrities and high school basketball teams stayed, where Jeanne hosted a dance for her high school friends and enjoyed a happy small-town life. She often told the story of hiking Mount Nebo with her Juab High School friends on graduation night, carrying a flashlight, and wearing her dad’s boots, all the way to the summit.

     College days at the University of Utah included membership in Kappa Kappa Gamma, leading to life-long friendships and monthly lunch gatherings that lasted into their nineties. During the summer after her freshman year, she worked as a waitress at Grand Canyon Lodge. Jeanne loved singing in the award-winning Kappa Quartet. When handsome fraternity man and state tennis champion, Charles MacTavish (Mac) Pyke, spotted her on stage, he asked her sorority sister to arrange an introduction.  One of their early dates was a tennis lesson at Reservoir Park. Mac and Jeanne married in 1948; in 1949, Jeanne received her degree in Elementary Education.

     After Diane and Gayle were born, the family moved to Granada Hills, California. Bob and Scott joined the family in time to enjoy many fun weekends spent going to the parks, beach, and grandparents’ house with the Henry cousins.  Mac was part of the Salt Lake family who owned Pyke Manufacturing Company, making women’s casual clothing under the brand name, “Pykettes.” When he became president of the company, the family moved back to Salt Lake City.

      Jeanne was a gourmet cook who loved to entertain and who took lovely meals to neighbors and friends in need. She loved to share her home-canned chili sauce, tomato soup, and pickles. She was often awake into the wee hours of the morning making handmade gifts for Christmas or sewing dresses for Diane and Gayle. She enjoyed accompanying Bob and Scott to hockey games and camps around the western states. 

     Jeanne and Mac had 23 years of a wonderful marriage when he was tragically killed in a mid-air collision in 1971. The cabin on Hebgen Lake in Montana was a place of solace and healing, where many summer days were spent fishing, boating, and picnicking in Yellowstone with our Pyke cousins and other family and friends. 

     Jeanne’s endless energy, remarkable resilience, and commitment to service was put to work for many organizations and groups including the University of Utah (U of U Alumni Board), Owl & Fork, The Town Club, Kappa Club, and many philanthropic endeavors for which there were numerous awards, including Utah Philanthropy Day’s Norma Matheson Outstanding Volunteer. 

     In response to a schizophrenia diagnosis for her youngest child, Scott, Jeanne and two other families began to research the clubhouse model of community mental health. Jeanne and her friends traveled to Fountain House in New York City to learn how to bring a similar clubhouse to Utah. Jeanne and the others helped with the purchase of an old fire station on Main Street in Salt Lake City and turned it into a clubhouse for adults with serious and persistent mental illness that they named Alliance House. Jeanne’s legacy continues to help this community of people to rebuild self-confidence, dignity, and abilities through education, productive work, and meaningful relationships.

     A wonderful blended family began when Jeanne married Ray Christensen. Together they joyfully welcomed grandchildren and great-grandchildren into the world while also enjoying a wide circle of friends and many travel adventures. 

     Jeanne was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Charles MacTavish Pyke; husband, Ray Richards Christensen; brother, Bryan Ernest Forrest; sister, Virginia Forrest Henry; son, Scott Forrest Pyke; son-in-law, Donn William Griffith; and dear friend, Carolyn Crawford Christensen.

     Jeanne is survived by children, Diane Sartain (Bill), Gayle Griffith, and Robert M. Pyke; stepchildren, Carlie Christensen (Herman Post), Paul Christensen (Pat), Joan Christensen (Dan Girdano), and Eric Christensen. She is the loving grandmother of Julie Ferrando, Christopher Sartain (Katrina), Casey Sartain (Shannon Collins), Nicholas Sartain (Whitney), Laurie Buczek (Michael), Lisa Griffith (Kenny Pelant), Bryan Griffith (Stephani Kim), Bradley Griffith (Abbey); and 17 great-grandchildren. 

     As Jeanne was the most precious loving and nurturing mother we can imagine, the family extends our deepest gratitude to the loving caretakers at The Ridge Cottonwood and Canyon Home Health.

     Friends are invited to a celebration of life to visit with the family on Monday, October 16^th from 4:00 until 6:00 pm at Starks Funeral Parlor, 3651 S. 900 E., Salt Lake City, UT 84106. There will be a private family burial.

     “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14: 1-3

    Those who wish may contribute to Alliance House at AllianceHouse.org or to the charity of their choice.