Cristopher Edward Linhart

Cristopher was born at the tail end of a winter blizzard on Monday, February 19, 1979 at Arlington Hospital in Arlington Virginia to Bonnie Sue Buchholz and Larrie E. Linhart. Cristopher was a loving child from the day he was born until the day he passed away.

Cristopher’s first home was in Fairfax, Virginia where he lived until he was 9 years old. As a little boy, Cristopher was very close to the Sager-Dean family and he and Samantha were playmates kept by the same babysitter, Bernice Iaculla. Cristopher loved to play with video games and computers. He attended school at Westmoreland Elementary School, transferred to Floris Elementary in Chantilly, and finally moved to Longview Washington where his mother remarried to Mr. Richard Nyswaner in 1988.

After living in Longview until 1993 his mother and new little sister, Kimberly, moved back to Virginia. His dad stayed behind until his job at the nuclear power plant was shut down. They stayed with their “Aunt Pat” until they could find a home of their own in Virginia.

Cristopher started into Brooke Point High School in the Fall of 1993 and graduated in June, 1997. Cristopher was active in the drama club, Madrigals which is a chorus group, Thespians, member of the National Honor Society and an active member of the Lutheran Church. Cristopher loved singing, music and the arts. Cristopher enlisted in the nuclear power delayed entry program of the U.S. Navy in February 1997 prior to graduating from high school. He became active duty in July 1997. He went to basic training at the Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois and graduated at the top of his division. He then attended the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command in Orlando Florida. From there, he was sent to Syracuse New York and then onto the USS Enterprise in Norfolk Virginia. On July 4, 2000, Cristopher was involved in a near-fatal car crash in Virginia. He was honorably discharged in January 2001 and proceeded to seek physical and speech therapy for the next year. Cristopher had suffered a traumatic brain injury from the accident but it did not stop his will to better himself. After years of intense therapy, Cristopher went on to college and graduated from ECPI, Ennisbrook campus in Richmond Virginia. He graduated with summa cum laude honors with an Associate of Applied Science degree in June 2005 and also with a magna cum laude Bachelor of Science Computer and Information Science degree in April 2007.

Prior to his death, Cristopher’s desire was to help in the rehabilitation of veterans and civilians with traumatic brain injury. He was working closely with the Veterans Hospital staff in Richmond Virginia. He also was pursuing his dream of learning to play a guitar and was taking guitar lessons prior to his death.

Cristopher was a fun-loving, kind and generous person who loved to laugh at himself and others, but always in a kind way. He could always find the humor in any situation. He was a loving and giving son and brother, and a loyal friend to many.

A memorial service will be held at 7 pm on Thursday, February 23, 2012 at Mullins & Thompson Funeral Service, Stafford Chapel. Inurnment will be at 12 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012 in Quantico National Cemetery.