Chris was a funny, funny guy. His loving nature drew people to him, and from there, he kept them laughing.
Like his father, he always had a house he was repairing to rent or sell. He was a talented carpenter and all-around handyman who worked hard to make a better life for his two children. The kids were his heartbeat, his life. He would do anything for them.
While he enjoyed adventurous things like water skiing and learning to fly, relationships were most important to Chris. At his funeral, his family heard unending stories of how he regularly stopped to check on the elderly people of the church he had long before stopped attending. So many felt loved due to the time and attention he gave them. So many people felt loss when he died.
Chris tried hard to hide his gentle heart. Tears were present when while hunting he wounded an animal rather than made an instant kill. It was always a wonder that he hunted at all it grieved him so.
It was his friendly, relational, huge heart that attracted Chris to drinking and drugs. Partying was a reason to be with friends and everyone wanted him around. Partying numbed the pain that his tender heart never learned to handle, and in the end, developed the addiction that stole his life.
Don McLean, the musician who wrote a song about Van Gogh in 1971, penned a verse in "Vincent" that fits so many who take their lives. This could have been written for Chris:
"...And when no hope was left in sight
on that starry, starry night.
You took your life, as lovers often do;
But I could have told you, Vincent,
This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you."
MOTHER: Joan Lee Piper
FATHER: Richard Norman Walden
WIFE: Lisa Michele Martin
m. 30 May 1980 • Flint, Genesee, Michigan
(divorced)
CHILDREN: Andy and Katie
Like his father, he always had a house he was repairing to rent or sell. He was a talented carpenter and all-around handyman who worked hard to make a better life for his two children. The kids were his heartbeat, his life. He would do anything for them.
While he enjoyed adventurous things like water skiing and learning to fly, relationships were most important to Chris. At his funeral, his family heard unending stories of how he regularly stopped to check on the elderly people of the church he had long before stopped attending. So many felt loved due to the time and attention he gave them. So many people felt loss when he died.
Chris tried hard to hide his gentle heart. Tears were present when while hunting he wounded an animal rather than made an instant kill. It was always a wonder that he hunted at all it grieved him so.
It was his friendly, relational, huge heart that attracted Chris to drinking and drugs. Partying was a reason to be with friends and everyone wanted him around. Partying numbed the pain that his tender heart never learned to handle, and in the end, developed the addiction that stole his life.
Don McLean, the musician who wrote a song about Van Gogh in 1971, penned a verse in "Vincent" that fits so many who take their lives. This could have been written for Chris:
"...And when no hope was left in sight
on that starry, starry night.
You took your life, as lovers often do;
But I could have told you, Vincent,
This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you."
MOTHER: Joan Lee Piper
FATHER: Richard Norman Walden
WIFE: Lisa Michele Martin
m. 30 May 1980 • Flint, Genesee, Michigan
(divorced)
CHILDREN: Andy and Katie
Chris was a funny, funny guy. His loving nature drew people to him, and from there, he kept them laughing.
Like his father, he always had a house he was repairing to rent or sell. He was a talented carpenter and all-around handyman who worked hard to make a better life for his two children. The kids were his heartbeat, his life. He would do anything for them.
While he enjoyed adventurous things like water skiing and learning to fly, relationships were most important to Chris. At his funeral, his family heard unending stories of how he regularly stopped to check on the elderly people of the church he had long before stopped attending. So many felt loved due to the time and attention he gave them. So many people felt loss when he died.
Chris tried hard to hide his gentle heart. Tears were present when while hunting he wounded an animal rather than made an instant kill. It was always a wonder that he hunted at all it grieved him so.
It was his friendly, relational, huge heart that attracted Chris to drinking and drugs. Partying was a reason to be with friends and everyone wanted him around. Partying numbed the pain that his tender heart never learned to handle, and in the end, developed the addiction that stole his life.
Don McLean, the musician who wrote a song about Van Gogh in 1971, penned a verse in "Vincent" that fits so many who take their lives. This could have been written for Chris:
"...And when no hope was left in sight
on that starry, starry night.
You took your life, as lovers often do;
But I could have told you, Vincent,
This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you."
MOTHER: Joan Lee Piper
FATHER: Richard Norman Walden
WIFE: Lisa Michele Martin
m. 30 May 1980 • Flint, Genesee, Michigan
(divorced)
CHILDREN: Andy and Katie
Like his father, he always had a house he was repairing to rent or sell. He was a talented carpenter and all-around handyman who worked hard to make a better life for his two children. The kids were his heartbeat, his life. He would do anything for them.
While he enjoyed adventurous things like water skiing and learning to fly, relationships were most important to Chris. At his funeral, his family heard unending stories of how he regularly stopped to check on the elderly people of the church he had long before stopped attending. So many felt loved due to the time and attention he gave them. So many people felt loss when he died.
Chris tried hard to hide his gentle heart. Tears were present when while hunting he wounded an animal rather than made an instant kill. It was always a wonder that he hunted at all it grieved him so.
It was his friendly, relational, huge heart that attracted Chris to drinking and drugs. Partying was a reason to be with friends and everyone wanted him around. Partying numbed the pain that his tender heart never learned to handle, and in the end, developed the addiction that stole his life.
Don McLean, the musician who wrote a song about Van Gogh in 1971, penned a verse in "Vincent" that fits so many who take their lives. This could have been written for Chris:
"...And when no hope was left in sight
on that starry, starry night.
You took your life, as lovers often do;
But I could have told you, Vincent,
This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you."
MOTHER: Joan Lee Piper
FATHER: Richard Norman Walden
WIFE: Lisa Michele Martin
m. 30 May 1980 • Flint, Genesee, Michigan
(divorced)
CHILDREN: Andy and Katie
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