CENTRALIA, Kan. – Dorothy Tibbetts Halligan Christensen, 90, died on Monday, Jan. 8, after a lingering illness.

She was born in Old Orchard, on Sept. 27, 1917, the first of 10 children born to Alonzo M. and Gladys Alexander Tibbetts. Her elementary schooling was in Farmington and Durham schools, and she graduated from Thornton Academy in Saco at the age of 16, when, proficient in office procedures, she accepted her first job working for the office of Dun and Bradstreet in Portland.

It was in Portland that she met her first husband, Chief Petty Officer Louis Claude Halligan, whom she married in Durham in 1938. She followed him to Honolulu, where his ship, the Astoria, was based prior to World War II, and was a personal witness to the now-historic Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. After the war, they settled to raise their family in Tacoma, Wash., until his death. She married “Ernie” Christensen in 1980, and they lived in Centralia, Kan.

Always a hard worker, after her family was grown she had a long, happy, satisfying career with the Tacoma Police Department. Among her many talents were all sorts of needlework, knitting probably being her favorite.

She was also a fine cook and enjoyed swapping recipes with her sisters and her many friends. Some of the happiest hours of her life were those spent camping and going to the beach with her two grandsons, Jeffrey and Matthew Marcus.

She is survived by two daughters, Marguerite Halligan of Puyallup, Wash., and Leah Scott of Forest Grove, Ore., with her husband, Bill; a son, Thom Halligan of Gig Harbor, Wash.; three sisters, Blanche Carter of Hesperia, Calif., Elaine Merrill and her husband, Carleton, of New Gloucester and Pearl Sawyer of Auburn; one brother, Richard G. Tibbetts of Danville, Va.; as well as a number of grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her husband, “Hal”; her second husband, “Ernie” Christensen; her parents; and stepfather, Richard J. Stiles; sisters, Marjorie Chapman and Lorraine Tibbetts; and brothers, Kenneth, Milton and Glen Tibbetts.

No immediate plans have been announced for memorial services.