Brandon Zachary Christensen

Brandon Zachary Christensen, age 20 passed away peacefully in his sleep at home in Smithfield, Utah on June 17, 2025. 

Brandon was born on October 3, 2004 in Payson, Utah. He was adopted at birth by Max and Christine Christensen and joined his four older siblings: Jessica, Max III, Nicole, and Caleb. He lived in Homedale, Idaho for the first year of his life before moving with his family to Smithfield and the only house he remembers. He graduated from Sky View High School in 2022.

Brandon’s first love was trains. He played with them for hours on end. He could name every single train from the Thomas and Friends Train series. After he saw an episode where Thomas ran into a snowbank, we could always find Brandon by following the trail of flour from the flour bucket to the train table, where his Thomas was stuck in a flour snowstorm. 

Brandon was known for his deep love and respect of animals and nature. He was a sponge when it came to absorbing interesting facts about animals. When he was ten years old, he visited Loveland Aquarium with his parents. At one time he had three aquarium employees gathered around him trying to stump him with animal facts. They could not; instead, he was the one to stump them! Everywhere he went, he was fascinated with the natural life that surrounded him. His authenticity and empathy could be felt by those around him, including the barn cats that live at his house, which he fed unwaveringly and tried to befriend. With his pale blue casket, we can almost picture him at the aquarium, the calm blue light of the water reflecting in his face, and hear him say, “Fun fact...”

Brandon’s creativity and spunk kept everyone laughing. He enjoyed cooking, rock hounding, roller blading, biking, computer games, especially Hollow Knight, and doing flips on the trampoline. He practically lived at the Jump Zone for a few years and made several friends there. His dream was to create his own video game, and he had created a storyline and hundreds of characters, which he enjoyed talking about with anyone who would listen. He never missed a chance to share a meme or crack a joke. In fifth grade, Brandon had a school project that resulted in the last minute creation of his favorite t-shirt: a bear in a circle with a line drawn through it. This “invention” was a way of keeping bears away while camping, because obviously the bears would be able to read it and would stay away. Like everything, his inspiration for the project was inspired by trying to help others, knowing that his mom was terrified of bears. The t-shirt was much too large at the time, but he wore it until he grew into it and continued to wear it often. He enjoyed knowing people wondered about its meaning. The shirt became part of his signature outfit, including his favorite green zip up hoodie, black pants, and black shoes, in which he will be buried.

Brandon is survived by his parents, Max and Christy; his siblings, Jessica, Max III, Nicole, Caleb and his wife Robyn; and his nephew and two nieces whom he loved greatly, Rome, Scarlett, Elida, and a baby boy nephew due in December. He is also survived by his Grandmother’s Carol Christensen and Nita Caldwell as well as many loving aunts, uncles and cousins. He was preceded in death by his Grandpa’s Paul Caldwell and Max Boyd Christensen Sr. and his sister Amanda. Brandon was selfless, pure hearted and a peacemaker who always wanted everyone to feel comfortable. At funerals, he hated open caskets, so in his honor, we will be having a closed casket visitation before the funeral. If you would like to see him to give him your love and goodbye, there will be an open casket viewing the night before at the funeral home. Everyone is welcome.

Service

Thursday, June 26, 2025: Viewing at 6:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. at Cache Valley Mortuary 710 W 500 N Hyde Park, UT 84318

Friday, June 27, 2025: Visitation at 9:30 a.m.- 10:30 a.m. (closed casket) 155 W 400 N Smithfield, UT 84335

Funeral service at 11:00 a.m. followed by graveside service at Smithfield Cemetery 300 E Center St Smithfield, UT 84335