Christopher Christian

Beloved Husband, Father, Brother and Uncle, Christopher Milton Christian, went to sleep on September 5th and woke up in Heaven.

His life was full of adventures in traveling, great wine, arts, culture, music, the hotel/hospitality industry, food, business and basketball.

To know him was to love him - even if you didn’t know it in the beginning. Any advice on life and business was given to you straight up and from the heart.

Early in life, Chris became passionate about hospitality in the hotel industry. He opened a hotel with his best friend in Dallas, worked in hotels in Austin, managed Banquet & Food Services in Baltimore and worked at a tower club in Seattle.

In Seattle he also joined a successful catering business and went on to provide service to many events including weddings. His partner said of him, “Chris did everything but walk the bride down the aisle!”

Throughout all he had going on in business, he always made time for what was closest to his heart - his family.

His daughter Penelope’s fondest memories include fishing, brunch with the Easter Bunny and butterfly kisses before bedtime. She said, “No matter what age I was, I could always show up on my Daddy’s doorstep and be home.”

His son Colton recalls his Dad being at every sporting event he had, teaching him how to fish, play golf and meeting Tiger Woods at the PGA tour with him. Colton says, “I couldn’t have asked for a better father, mentor, and best friend that I knew would always be by my side for me no matter what.”

While enjoying his career at McDonald’s, Chris met the love of his life, Guadalupe (Lupe) Morales. Lupe said in the past, “I would never date a co-worker or anyone older than me.” Breaking all the rules, Chris and Lupe went on to date before he proposed in 2011. “Chris taught me how to love on a deeper level, like I never have before.”

At the time, Chris and Lupe were living in two different cities and decided one of them would leave McDonald’s. Chris volunteered because to him, Lupe was still a young, bright rising star that could go far in her career. Chris retired from the corporate world and moved back to Dallas to be with his sweetheart.

Over the course of the years, Chris and Lupe traveled all over the world. London, Dubai, Mexico and South Africa to name a few. From an African Safari to the ruins in Tulum, Mexico, Lupe and Chris were “JustUs” in love and adventure.

Retirement was just the beginning of something new for Chris Christian. Taking his experience of being a basketball Dad and his passion for giving back, his purpose was born.

Through connections, Chris had heard about a guy in Seattle who had some basketball teams looking for a partner. Chris flew out to meet with him and loved the idea. He went on to create Excel Sports Academy.

“Excel at Sports. Excel at Academics. Excel at Life.”

After that, Chris spent all his time building this academy for young kids to learn about sports, life and being successful. Chris eventually moved out to Seattle and Lupe soon followed.

Chris and Lupe worked tirelessly at the former Tacoma facility, building an environment for kids to thrive. Chris would spend hours meeting with parents discussing how their kids could be successful in not just basketball but throughout their life. His heart stretched out to each and every kid and parent that he worked with and he wanted to make a real change in their life. He was often labeled as a second father, mentor and coach to many.

Whether he was meeting young people around and asking about their grades, meeting young professionals for coffee to share business tips, or meeting with coaches to discuss life, Chris gave his all to Excel. He truly found his purpose and lived it everyday.

A few funny bits about the incomparable Chris Christian:

• He loved shoes!

• He was extremely fashionably late at times. Friends and Family alike often told him an earlier time to get him to events timely.

• He had an infectious laugh. That deep laugh could be heard anywhere and it always made you smile.

• He never met a stranger. A friend of his said, “You could never know if Chris knew a person for 10 years or 10 minutes. He loved to talk to people.”

• Some of his favorite foods were oxtail soup and ice cream - you could probably win him over with either.

We honor and celebrate the life of our Chris Christian. He is survived by his beautiful wife Lupe, his daughter Penelope, his son Colton, his sister Reather, his nieces Rian and Nicole and his nephew Michael.

He didn’t just survive life, he LIVED life with us and with all of you.

We miss him deeply and will always long for his presence in our new experiences and phases in life. We wanted more time, but the time we had was FULL. ❤️ He is now watching from above with that smile and twinkle in his eye celebrating with us.

We love you Daddy, Sweetheart, Big Brother and Uncle Chris....Goodbye, until we meet again. ❤️