Long-time Southern California food industry veteran Paul Christianson Jr. died Feb. 4.
He was born to Doris and Paul Christianson on October 15, 1948 in Omaha, Nebraska. His father had a lifelong career with Sherwin Williams and his mother was the homemaker extraordinaire. Two years following his birth, Carol Sue arrived and two years later James Alan was born. His family fondly referred to him as “Little” Paul, until little Paul was bigger than “Big” Paul and he became known as Chris.
The family relocated to Hutchinson, Kansas where at 16 he began his over 50+ year food industry career as a box boy at J. S. Dillon’s, which helped pay his way through college. In 1971, Paul joined the Keebler Company and soon became the youngest account manager in the Kansas City zone at the age of 25. He then moved to Arizona as Zone Manager. In 1984, he met Carole Weber on an Illuminator Committee at the WAFC Convention in San Antonio. He then accepted a promotion to Southern California as National Accounts Manager and in November he and Carole were married and established their home in Seal Beach.
On New Year’s Eve 1986 Paul and Carole welcomed their twin girls, Ashlee Nicole and Amanda Michele. Two months later he joined Carl Buddig & Company as Western Regional Manager. While at Buddig, he was involved with the Deli Council and in 1995 was honored with the Supplier of the Year “Big Cheese” award.
In 2002 Paul joined the Los Angeles Times as Retail Sales Manager - Advertising. When Carole joined the Western Association of Food Chains in 2007, Paul left the Times to take over leadership and clients of her consulting firm, Christianson West LLC until his retirement in 2019.
Paul was a member of the Illuminators for over 40 years serving as Headlite (President) in 2006. One of his proudest efforts was working to establish the Illuminators Scholarship Fund. Actively involved in the City of Hope, in 2000 he, Carole and daughters co-founded “Kids 4 Hope” to benefit pediatric cancer. With the industries support, Kids 4 Hope has raised over $16M to date. In November of 2020, The Christianson’s along with Kevin Davis and Pat Posey’s families were awarded the “Spirit of Life” award by the City of Hope.
Paul was a devoted and loving son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, father-in-law, and a faithful friend to many. He had a wonderful sense of humor and loved to laugh! He was extremely social, enjoyed golf, fishing, playing cards and travel, especially to Hawaii. He was a lifetime sports fan, true blue to Nebraska Cornhuskers football, KU Jayhawks basketball and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Paul is survived by his sister Carol, wife Carole, daughters Ashlee (Matthew) Lorio, Amanda (Scott) Hayter and grandchildren Jackson Paul Lorio, Caroline Lee Hayter and Rex Charles Lorio.
