Teresa grew up in Coronado, CA, happily riding her bike anywhere she wanted to go, loving being independent. She went to Coronado High School, then graduated with Honors in Communications from San Diego State University.
Teresa has been married to Vice Admiral John Christenson, USN (ret) for 35 years. They had three Navy babies, born in Newport, San Diego, and Bethesda. Grace, a pediatric cardiology nurse at CHOP in Philadelphia went to three high schools in three states (RI, TX, VA). Tim, a First Class Intelligence Specialist in the Coast Guard, currently deployed on USCGC HAMILTON (WMSL-753), moved his senior year (VA, RI). Matt, a Navy LT, who has already served east coast, west coast, Japan, and deployed to the Red Sea, went to three high schools in three countries (US, Belgium, Germany). It wasn’t always easy, but we loved the adventure.
The thread of Teresa’s service while “in the Navy” was spouse education. She spent 20 years involved with the Command Spouse Leadership Course - as a student, facilitator, Advisory Group director, flag spouse advisor and finally senior flag spouse advisor, keeping the curriculum current and finding the best mentors for our commanding officer spouses. She was also involved with CORE, the Continuum of Resource Education; Navy Marine Corps Relief Society; Naval Services FamilyLine; and all those spouse groups, room mom duties, and other school volunteer opportunities along the way. She was a substitute teacher when they lived in Arlington.
In 2012 Teresa was appointed to DACOWITS, the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services. She served for four years, during which all positions, including combat, were open to women. She was awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service.
In Belgium, where the biggest issues for spouses was isolation and at the time, terrorism, Teresa partnered with ACS (Army Community Services) to create a group to reverse that. There, partnership was key, and she learned a lot about effectively stepping out of the box, while still working within the box, to reach spouses and give them what they needed to get out and explore, make friends, and feel safe.