Christine Louise Hendryx

June 26, 1949 -- December 8, 2023

Through the filtered sunlight in the pine forest trekking to the beach, Chris would stoop to help her grandsons find the Fairy village amongst the tiny mushrooms, then pick some huckleberries under the watchful eye of the pirate skeleton hiding in the brush, and finally laugh as they contended with the surf and sand full of treasures. Upon returning to the cabin sandy, cold, and wet, Chris would sit with the boys as the rocks and sticks and shells were examined and traded and cleaned, then lovingly wipe all the sand out of the bathtub after warming up the kids with hot chocolate and cookies. She always slowed down to notice the small things in life, to connect with everyone around her and make time together feel special.

Chris was born in 1949 in Culver City to Miles “Mac” and Evelyn McKnight. The family moved to Bakersfield in 1956. Her friends from childhood remember a companion who was fierce, pretty, and loyal. As a student she energized Youth Group parties while excelling in academics, honors band where she played clarinet, and student council. She poured her intense energy into her friends, school, and activities, while navigating responsibilities to help take care of her mom and family. She graduated from Bakersfield’s Foothill High School in 1967.

Chris was intent on attending college and left home for Whitworth College in Spokane. At Whitworth she balanced her academic drive with sneaking off the Methodist campus and across the Idaho boarder for beers and burgers with her girlfriends. Her courtship with Chuck Hendryx grew in the summers after her sophomore and junior years, Chris making it clear to him that she loved all the dinners and dancing, but marriage was not going to take precedence over her career. Chris earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and Physical Education in 1971. Soon after, on June 19, Chuck and Chris married and moved to Lancaster, CA for her first job as a PE and English teacher at Quartz Hill High School.

Chris steadfastly grew her career as a teacher and yearned to enter the male-dominated area of school administration. In 1973 they moved to Vernonia, OR where she started as the high school counselor. She returned to school at Portland State for her certificate in special education and then Lewis and Clark for her master’s in public administration. She was a feminist and always advocated for underprivileged people. Early in her career she fought—and won—the ability for women to wear pants (instead of skirts) in a standoff with the school board. She was a constant advocate for her students as an elementary and middle school principal, helping them individually as well as fighting for grants, staff, and equipment for her school. Her co-workers remember her as tough and always championing students.

During this time, she had two children, balancing parenting with supporting Chuck’s entrepreneurial store ownership. In 1989 the family moved to Clatskanie, OR for Chris to be principal of Quincy Meager Elementary. Later she became principal of Clatskanie Elementary and then Clatskanie Middle School.

Friends and family remember Chris as someone who listened intently, asked questions, got to know each person thoroughly, and made new friends everywhere she went. After marriage and moving to Oregon, Chris reveled in her group of fellow teachers and their spouses, meeting Friday nights for “coffee and donuts” and playing raucous poker late into the night. These friends have remained devoted for a lifetime.

Chris and Chuck shared a rare, intimate, adventurous, and tender relationship: an enduring marriage of 52 years that lasted through remodeling five houses, moving from southern California to the Oregon woods and then to the city of Seattle, raising two children, caring for their extended family, and tending to their work. Fostering tight family relationships was important to Chris. Chris and Chuck traveled throughout the west with their two children in their RV. They taught their kids to ride bikes in the Oregon coast rain forest, attended countless athletic competitions, organized the Hendryx family sport of “outdoor chores,” took trips to Bakersfield to visit grandparents and family, and so much more.

In 1999 Chris transferred to the Longview School District to be the principal of Mint Valley Elementary and then filled the roll of special education coordinator before retiring in 2004. Shortly thereafter Chris and Chuck moved to Seattle to be close to their kids.

In retirement Chris enjoyed their beach cabin in Rockaway, time spent in Kona, and being involved in their kids’ and grandkids’ lives. Cutting little August’s hair, endless hours in the Hawaii pool watching the kids’ epic swimming tricks, and orchestrating long bike rides in Sunriver to the marina for ice cream. Later in life Chris and Chuck continued to enjoy planning adventures and traveling together. Chris could often be found at home walking the beach to search for agates or relaxing in a lounge chair with her feet lapped by the Hawaiian ocean, sipping Mai Tai’s with her friends while feeding Cheetos to the crabs. She was in her element dancing through the night with Chuck in an Italian piazza, enchanted by the wine and the guitars, all while befriending the village gelato shop’s owner, who gave her his family’s ancient limoncello recipe after Chris and Chuck stopped by for lunch over many days.

Christine Louise Hendryx passed away December 8th in Seattle, surrounded by her husband Chuck Hendryx, her son Chason and daughter Carissa, and their spouses Aubrey and Rob. Chris had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in March of 2020 and managed to squeeze every drop out of life for more than three years, while she and Chuck traveled to see friends and family, made time for LEGOLand and beach adventures with the “grands”, and took time to touch each other’s hearts by the fire with chardonnay, watching sunsets over Puget Sound. Chuck carefully and tenderly nursed Chris the last four months of her life, giving family and friends the gift to say goodbye, a loving service to their partnership.

She is survived by her husband Chuck Hendryx, sister Janet Thompson, brother Rich McKnight, son Chason Hendryx, daughter Carissa Schmuck, daughter-in-law Aubrey Seffernick, son-in-law Rob Schmuck, and grandsons Conrad Hendryx, Holden Hendryx, Jonah Hendryx, and August Schmuck.

Chris displayed this quote in her house: “Life itself is the proper binge,” (Julia Child). She will be missed by all, so very much.