Christopher Jaymes van Dissel

Christopher Jaymes van Dissel, age 28, left this world due to injuries sustained in an accidental fall in Seattle on August 6th. Chris was born May 19th, 1991 in Ogden, UT and the family moved to Spokane soon after where he had the benefit of growing up with close family and friends who helped shape his life.

After graduating from Shadle Park High School in 2009, he traveled to South Korea with members of his Tae Kwon Do group. He then went to work for Rockwood Clinic in the medical records department and attended fire academy, where he was certified as a reserve firefighter with Spokane Fire district 10.

Chris enlisted in the military and was most recently assigned to the 455th Engineer Company where he was an Army field medic. During his military service, he was deployed to Guatemala for a humanitarian mission, served a year in Afghanistan and had a brief visit to Romania before returning home.

He joined the American Medical Response family and currently worked at AMR as an EMT where he loved his profession and served his community.

Chris also loved to camp, hike and backpack to remote areas. He recently trekked in Canada and had previously gone on long hikes in Glacier and Zion National Parks as well as along the coast of the Olympic National Park. He enjoyed animals, science, nature, and fly-fishing. He was always seeking adventures such as running a marathon and river rafting.

Chris is survived by his parents, Ben and Cynthia, his sister, Kaytee and two brothers, Jon and Jeffery. His maternal grandparents are Dennis and June Knowlton and Patrick and Serona Enright. He had numerous aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who loved him dearly. He was preceded in death by his cousin, Dennis and his paternal grandparents, Gerrit and Adriana van Dissel.

A visitation for Chris will be held Friday August, 16, from 1:00 pm until 4:00 pm at Ball & Dodd Funeral Home. A Funeral Service will be Sunday August 18, 2019, 3:00 pm at Spokane Bethel Church of the Nazarene, 1111S. Thor St. Spokane, WA 99202. Committal service will be Monday August 19th at the Washington State Veterans Cemetery at 10:30 am.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to either AMR for employee support or to the homeless veterans of Spokane.

"My desire is that you would be inspired by his life; Be true to self and care for others. Don't procrastinate, hold yourself back or allow complacency. Make good things happen. Find and pursue your passions and encourage and support others in following their dreams. Smile more, be happy, and tell your loved ones how much they mean to you. Acknowledge and deal with your struggles. Find the light and hold on to it. Value the time you have as we never know when our time will come.

My greatest joy is to be lucky enough to be called "momma". I've come to appreciate the magnitude of just how many souls Chris has impacted - and at how much he was loved. He prayed and he struggled, he laughed and he cried, through difficult times and tragedy he made good things happen... and he truly LIVED!

Cynthia van Dissel

(An excerpted prayer from Ben):

"Lord, you have placed your hand upon Christopher, guided and kept him safe through the years during his many adventures and deployments. You have provided him with courage, humor, compassion for others, and faith. His challenges at times have been great and through it his complaints few. We are not promised a smooth or easy passage through life, but with your love and faith, a safe landing. Father we are comforted in the knowledge that he is with you and we will rejoice when together again".

Ben van Dissel