Christine Ruth Castle

Christine Ruth (Hanson) Castle, 72, of Monument, Colorado passed away Monday, Oct 19 at St. Francis Medical Center in Colorado Springs, CO with her family by her side. She is now with Jesus, her Savior and Lord that she dearly loved.

She was born on March 14, 1948 in Ilion, NY where she graduated from high school and then attended Oswego State University, NY. Chris had many fond memories of spending her summer months as a child at her grandparent’s farm in nearby Boonville, NY. In 1969 she married her longtime school friend, Steve, and together they were blessed with four children and seven grandchildren that were her pride, joy and the center of her life. She was a military spouse who gladly made many sacrifices as the family moved across the country with the United States Air Force.

Chris was the ultimate volunteer serving as a girl scout leader, soccer coach, PTA member, teacher’s aide, a missing child organization lead, youth soccer registrar and soccer tournament director at the United States Air Force Academy, Officers Wives Club member, treasurer for the Union Meadows Open Space committee and member of her church’s vestry and hospitality committee. Chris personally made, collected and shipped thousands of Christmas stockings to soldiers on the frontlines in Iraq and Afghanistan. She was recognized by the Armed Services and was awarded several flags that were flown over the battlefield. Some of her most prized possessions were the heartfelt thank you letters from the soldiers.

Chris is preceded in death by her parents, Kenneth Hanson and Ruth Hanson.

Chris is survived by her husband, Steve, of Monument CO, their four children and their spouses and grandchildren: Tom, Michaela and Callie Castle, Janis, Frank, Brianna and Kailey Ellsworth, Lisa, Frederick, Joshua, Rebecca and Elisabeth Stein, all from Colorado Springs; and Andrea, Mark and Payton Johnson of Pflugerville, TX; her sister, Joyce Hanson, of Malone, NY and her beloved Border Collies, Mia and Pippa, who watched over her and slept by her bedside during her final days.

Chris was an active member of the St George’s Anglican Church and dearly loved her church family. She had a life-long passion for beautiful and complex cross stitch patterns which she was still creating until her final days. Holidays and birthdays were Chris’s favorite time of the year and there was no such thing as overdoing a special occasion. She loved to travel and visited all 50 states, Canada, Mexico and most of Western Europe. Her all time special places were Cinque Terre, Italy, the northeast coast of Maine and Canada, the Cotswold in England, Glenwood Hot Springs in Colorado, Rocky Mountain National Park when the elk were bugling and she insisted everyone should have Yellowstone National Park be on their bucket list.

Chris loved soccer and attended well over a thousand games to include youth and high school soccer games sometimes in brutal Colorado weather conditions. But that never fazed her spirit if her children or grandchildren were playing. While living in England she became an avid Premier League Soccer and Liverpool fan. She traveled to numerous Men and Women World Cup Soccer games in Europe, the USA and Canada. But her most memorable experience was travelling across the Netherlands all dressed in orange as a crazy American supporting the Dutch National Team.

Funeral services will be streamed by St George's Anglican Church, on Wednesday, October 28, 2020 at 1:00 PM, MST, https://www.stgac.org.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations in Chris’s honor be made to AnySoldier (www.anysoldier.com) which supports our deployed soldiers in harms way. Also in remembrance, of Chris please plant a peony which was Chris’s favorite flower. Every year it will bring you the same beauty that Chris brought into our lives.