Christopher Charles Zerr

At the age of 4, was given the diagnosis of "Childhood onset Pervasive Developmental Disorder", basically autism. The cause of death was pica, the eating of inedible objects, an obsession common to people "on the spectrum". A plastic grocery bag. several sheets of paper and a rubber toy was found in his gut at the time of death.

During his school age years he attended three special needs schools, which were his therapy. In 1991, he moved to a group home in Missouri, then 14 years later transferred to Kansas and on November 9, 2007, he moved to Life Centers of Kansas, where he spent the rest of his life. There, he was given a home and a life that we could not give him at home.

Chris touched the lives of many people in his often-subtle gentle manner. He handled his lifetime challenge of being nonverbal, with patience, tolerance {and yes, at times, aggression towards himself and others}. He became known as a gentle giant. Some were afraid of this 6' hefty man who would lash out when frustrated. And yet to really know him, was to know a man with a gentle kind heart who would help his housemate get on the van to go home every day, or who would ever so tenderly take my hand and usher me to sit down and stay a little longer when visiting him { or who would kindly usher me out of his room when he was tired and wanted to rest ]

He loved music, and he loved art..He delighted in drawing his circle circle circles of every size and shape, in different colors overlapping .Lovely! He liked magazines, especially food magazines, and of course he loved food, especially Brussel Sprouts and cookies. He enjoyed his Uline catalogs and carried them everywhere. He often carried some type of reading with him daily to the Day Service. As a child, he "read" every one of the set of the Compton's Pictured Encyclopedias, and in fact, drew all over them. He liked the feel of flowers which he gently touched, and so we brought flowers to his room until we discovered that he would eat them.

He had a speech language therapist, Amy, whom we were working with to obtain a tablet to assist in communication. This definitely made a difference in his ability to connect. Although he never quire mastered the device totally, he was learning and taking an interest. We, his team were learning right along with him, It seemed that he said more with his eyes and gestures, using his voice at times,,,, delightful, heartwarming visits. He truly led a life well lived!

He is survived by his mother, Sarah Zerr, his brother Will and niece Lauren, Don Bohanan, six aunts, two uncles, his cousin Carolyn Zerjav Zerr and numerous other cousins, and his five housemates, Josh, Ted, Aaron, Ray and Chance. He was loved by many people!