Christine York

She was born April 23, 1949 in Port Chester NY to Christian Degener and Alfrieda (Webb) Degener. She graduated from Good Counsel Academy (high school) in White Plains, NY and received a BS from Newton College of the Sacred Heart, a Boston College affiliate, and started her Master in Social Work program there.

She lived in York ME, Key West FL, Waitsfield VT, and Keene and Marlborough, NH. She married Norman Spicher in 1985 and moved to the Keene area shortly thereafter.

Christine began her career in social work in a nursing care facility at The Goodall Hospital in Sanford, Maine. After some years in the restaurant and hospitality industry, including working at Henry David’s in Keene, she was hired as the Human Services Director for the City of Keene. While working at the city, she belonged to the NH State Welfare Administrators Association and served as the organization’s president. She also served on numerous organizations’ Advisory Councils and Boards of Directors, including Southwestern Community Services and Women’s Crisis Services of the Monadnock Region. She was active in the Homeless Continuum of Care and instrumental in opening the “In from the Cold” shelter – still operating today. She was also a leading force in bringing the SHARE New England program, a low-cost food/volunteer service exchange program, to the Keene area. In 2005, she received a citation from NH Governor John Lynch in recognition of her dedication and commitment to fellow citizens impacted by the NH floods.

She was a voracious reader and enjoyed gardening and sharing her love of flowers by bringing flower bouquets and arrangements from her garden to colleagues and friends. She loved summer and spending time in the sun at the beach.

Mrs. York is survived by her husband, Michael York of Marlborough, NH whom she married in June of 2011; two daughters, Aleisha Pierce Manyette and her husband, James, of Eldersburg, MD, Kirsten Pierce Phillips and her husband, Justin, of Eastham, MA; four grandchildren, Olivia and Sophie Manyette and Emma and Wyatt Phillips; two sisters, Byrna Murphy of FL and Pat Malanchuk of North Salem, NY; six nieces & nephews; 21 great nieces and nephews; a father-in-law, Hubert Spicher of Keene, NH; and two cats.

Services will be private.

If you wish, the family asks that you kindly make contributions to Monadnock Center for Violence Prevention (formerly Women’s Crisis Services), 12 Court Street, Suite 103, Keene, NH 03431 or to the Wounded Warrior Project, www.woundedwarriorproject.org, in memory of Christine York.

Fletcher Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 33 Marlboro St., Keene was in charge of the arrangements.