MORONI—The couple selected as this year’s grand marshals for the Independence Day Mammoth Parade are good, hard working people that have always cared about their hometown city, said Moroni Mayor Paul Bailey.
As Sanpete natives, the chosen couple, Ruel and Beverly Christensen, have worked most of their lives in Moroni and raised their four children here.
They have been married for 58 years. They will be honored at the Mammoth Parade on Saturday, July 3; the parade starts at 10 a.m. on Main Street.
The Christensen’s will be riding front and center in the parade, waiving to their friends and neighbors from an old antique convertible, Beverly said.
“I generally don’t like to be in the limelight,” she said, “but it will be really nice.” Last year, the celebration was cancelled because of COVID.
Beverly was raised in Spring City and Ruel was born in Moroni and the two teens met each other at Sanpete High School. They both graduated in 1961; Ruel went off to serve in armed services and Beverly went to beauty school in Salt Lake. When Ruel returned from the service, the couple married and lived in Granger for a while, but they both always wanted to return to the Sanpete Valley, Beverly said.
So, in 1971, the Christensen’s moved back to Moroni, where Ruel spent about 30 years working at the Norbest plant; and he has since retired. Beverley wanted to keep up her hairstyling business, so she opened up a salon and kept cutting hair for many years, until she retired, just two years ago. “I met lots of nice people,” she said.
Mayor Bailey agreed that Beverly ran a well-respected hair styling business.
The couple keeps active and on the go, especially with Ruel’s recreational pursuits to shoot archery in regional tournaments. Just last week, the couple went to Cedar City to visit one of their daughters and to take part in the Summer Games. They are still in good health, Beverly said.
The Christensen’s raised one boy and three girls. Their oldest boy Jeff died when he was 23 years old. The other girls Pam, Lisa and Debbie, have born them seven grandchildren and almost three great-grandchildren, as one is on the way.
