As a child during World War II, she spent time at a camp in Czechoslovakia where children were protected from air raids, and in Hanover, Germany, with her mother and three siblings. During the 1940s, her family lived with their extended Kastorff family in Bad Schwartau.
Christa graduated from the University of Hamburg with a nursing degree. She and a fellow nursing student, Inge Koller, were recruited to work at UTMB Galveston and crossed the Atlantic on a ship from Hamburg to sunny, warm Galveston in 1954. At UTMB, Christa joined the International Forum, a vibrant community of nurses from around the world who learned English and American culture together. Over the years, she worked as an RN at John Sealy Hospital and Shriners Burns Institute.
In 1956, Christa met Howard Knapp at an event at Sylvan Park in Clear Lake. They married in the Blankenese neighborhood of Hamburg in May 1957. After having three daugthers – Karin, Kathy and Nelda – Christa left nursing to work with Howard at Knapp Flower Shop, a career that lasted almost 30 years. She had a knack for floral design and an amazing green thumb, especially with orchid plants she nurtured until her last days.
Christa and Howard retired to Canyon Lake, Texas, in 1995. Released from the pressures of the family business, they spent the best years of their lives in Haus Seeblick, their beloved log cabin. They especially enjoyed sitting on the deck crafting mosaics, watching the birds, tending their plants and hosting family and friends. Christa volunteered at the food pantry, took up water aerobics and became a master gardener.
After Howard’s death in 2006, Christa remained in Haus Seeblick until 2016, when she moved to Prospect to be close to Kathy and her husband, Wes, who were selfless caregivers. Christa was the first resident of The Grand senior living community in Prospect in 2019, where she regularly played bingo and rummikub and rarely missed happy hour. Christa loved to travel, particularly to Germany to visit family, and took her last trip, a solo adventure from Memphis to Louisville on a Mississippi River paddle boat, in June 2022.
Christa was grateful to her siblings, nieces, nephews and cousins in Germany who stayed in touch by letter, phone and later WhatsApp for over 70 years, as well as to the friends who kept her filled in on the happenings in Galveston and Canyon Lake.
Christa was preceded in death by her husband Howard, mother Hildegard Kastorff Staats, father Ernst Adolf Staats, brother Peter and brother-in-law Ingo Brauer. She is survived by her daughters Karin (Kerry Gregg) of Houston, Kathy (Wes Miller) of Prospect and Nelda (David Engstrom) of Eugene, Oregon; grandchildren John Gregg, Julie Miller (Mary Taft-McPhee), Chris
Miller (Sarah), Erin Engstrom (Rick Hatfield), and Allison Engstrom (Rajeev Buggaveeti) and her daughter Brahmani, due in July 2024; sister Sabine Brauer; brother Michael Staats (Hilde); and many cherished nieces, nephews and cousins in Germany.
If you would like to commemorate Christa’s life, please consider donating to Canyon Lake Resource & Recreation Center (https://www.crrcofcanyonlake.org/), where she volunteered, or to the Tye Preston Memorial Library (https://tpml.org/).
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