Christopher Brian Leiper

Christopher Brian Leiper was born in Denver, Colorado to Hugh Carnahan Leiper and Doris Luna on February 11, 1949. He was the eldest son and had two siblings, Eric Jerome and Nicolette (Husband David Rabbers).

When Chris was a teenager, the family moved from Colorado to Washington, eventually residing in Kent, Washington. From there, he graduated high school and went on to obtain his Associate Degree in Electronics from Green River Community College. While in Washington, Chris went on to work various jobs, but it was his job with his father, Hugh that eventually led him to California. With his father, he co-founded American Commercial Industries – a real estate development and property management company. He held a real estate and broker’s license for the state of Washington and a real estate license in California. Through one of the properties that he managed in Washington, he met Claire Gamble and eventually moved to California in 1992 to be with Claire and her son, Michael.

While in California, Chris continued his work as a real estate agent, specializing in both commercial and residential real estate. He also created his own business, LDL Publications which was a restaurant menu publication company. Chris also worked other various jobs here in California, and worked at Kinkos in the late 1990’s. After leaving the company, he ended up back at Kinkos in 2007 when they were undergoing the migration to FedEx Office. He was with FedEx office as a lead project coordinator as well as a retail associate with JCPenney until his death.

Chris decided in 2012 to return to school and obtain his bachelor’s degree in Business administration from the University of Phoenix. He was about 2-3 classes away from his anticipated graduation in January 2015.

Chris loved being outdoors. He was an avid hiker and climbed Mt Rainier and Mt St Helens in his younger years. In the recent years, he climbed various trails around the Peninsula, and has since climbed Mission Peak many times. He loved animals, and especially loved his dog Mr. Pud while in Washington, and Michael’s dog, Ace here in California.

Christopher was a kind and wonderful human being who was very nurturing and loving, helping everyone who needed it. He loved his partner in life, Claire as much as he could. He helped to raise her son, Michael and treated him as his own. He was also an important member of Claire’s family, always there for Claire’s son, nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.

He was preceded in death by his Father (Hugh), Mother (Doris), Step Mother (Bettie) and Sister (Nicole). Chris is survived by his brother Eric, his loving partner of 30 years Claire, her son Michael (wife Elizabeth), grandson Alexander Cash, and family members in Grand Junction, Colorado and Kent, Washington.

Chris, we love you and you will be missed by us all.