Christine Mary Hennessy

Christine Mary Hennessy left this world to meet her loving Savior, Jesus Christ, on Tuesday, January 20th, 2015. She had a peaceful end to her loving journey at Glacier Hills Rehabilitation and Care Center, surrounded by friends and family.

Christine was born January 26th, 1932 in Springfield, Massachusetts, to parents Victor A. Gagnon of New Britain, Connecticut, and Kathleen Gagnon of County Cork, Ireland. She grew up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, then Providence, Rhode Island. After graduating from St. Xavier's High School in 1949, she attended both Rhode Island School of Design and Rhode Island College where she graduated in 1953 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Elementary Education. She began her teaching career in Rhode Island. She was then employed by the U.S. Air Force to teach military children abroad on bases in Morocco, Spain and Japan from 1956-1961.

She was married to Walter E. Gerzevitz (USNR) in Warwick, Rhode Island, on June 30th, 1962. They were soon stationed at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Iwakuni, Japan where Christine taught English to Japanese citizens and gave birth to her first two sons. Leaving Japan in 1965, the family landed in San Francisco, followed by a cross-country drive in a VW bug arriving in North Kingston, Rhode Island, where her first daughter was born. She moved to Ann Arbor in 1967, and soon grew to love the city. This is where she birthed her last two children.

After her husband suffered a major stroke, she rose to the challenge of taking care of her children on her own and returned to teaching, securing employment with the Willow Run School District in 1972 through 1992. She earned her Master's Degree in English from Eastern Michigan University in 1979 and taught English classes for Washtenaw Community College until 1997. She also taught English to inmates as part of the Milan Prison rehabilitation program.

In her writings, Christine wrote, "There is a bravery involved in being a visual revolutionary as well as a certain amount of inventiveness and bursting creativity." This fearless attitude fueled her political activism. She was a spokeswoman for Women United to End the War in 1972, appearing on AM Detroit and The Phil Donahue Show.

After returning from her solo travels to Greece in 1974, she wrote an article for The Ann Arbor News outlining the conditions and challenges of being a tourist on the island of Cyprus during the Greek/Turkish war, which began after her arrival.

Her keen interest in family genealogy and a desire to show her children the world led to a month-long back packing journey around Ireland, staying with friends and relatives and exploring the land of her ancestors. 1975 was a tumultuous time in Belfast - but that did not deter her from traveling the region during this period of unrest.

Years later she wrote, “I think I began searching for ancestors because I felt profoundly the loss of my dad, in ways I had never throught possible, and maybe I thought he had joined their retinue. We all take our parents so much for granted; their stories bore us, we find them dull and routine, and yet, when they are gone, we make all these tiny discoveries about the magic of their lives, of their small heroisms, of the gifts they had that we could never appreciate when we lived enmeshed.”

In 1976, she courageously loaded her children and gear for a cross-country road trip across North America in a VW camper, logging over 5000 miles and overcoming various challenges. She wanted them to see and experience America and its many National Parks.

Christine's life was filled with art, the theatre, concerts, movies, music and books and social networks in Ann Arbor. The Art Fair was one of her favorite annual events. She was a talented artist who enjoyed taking art classes and having her works displayed in shows. She was a very creative and caring teacher who always went above and beyond what was expected for her students. As an avid reader and experienced writer she met frequently with local book clubs and writing groups. As a devout Catholic, she was actively involved with St. Mary's Parish. Train travel gave her a sense of adventure, travelling this way whenever possible.

After the children moved away she still felt the need to shelter family, fostering her beloved Aunt Lorette from Rhode Island in her final years in Ann Arbor. She loved visiting her grandchildren, laughing and loving while reading books with them or playing Scrabble.

After attending a performance of Our Town in 2010, she noted, “I rarely cry during plays but this one really got to me. I hope you can all see it one day, done well. It speaks so eloquently of life and death, and how we never realize when we are alive how cherished each moment should be, and how valuable our relationships are.”

Christine will be fondly remembered by many people. All those who knew her well will always be blessed by a flicker of her in their heart and soul.

Christine is survived by her siblings, David Gagnon and Denise Gagnon, and is preceded in death by her brother Victor Gagnon. She is survived by her five children: Michael Gerzevitz, Robert Gerzevitz (Sandrine), Mary Lorette Taylor (Bruce), Kevin Gerzevitz (Amanda), and Kathleen Grover (Brett). She is also survived by her much adored grandchildren: Matthew, Benjamin, Patrick, David, Joseph, Kaitlin, Cristian and Owen, as well as her nieces and nephews.

There will be a visitation held at Muehlig Funeral Home on Sunday, January 25th from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM. A second visitation will be at St. Mary's Student Chapel on Monday, January 26th at 10:00 AM with a Funeral Mass at 11:00 AM. Lunch will follow the service at the church for family and friends of Christine. The burial will be at Bethlehem Cemetery at 2:00 PM. The family requests that charitable donations be made to St. Vincent DePaul Society in lieu of flowers. http://www.svdpaa.org