Cris Otto Breece

Cris Otto Breece, long time resident of Springfield, Virginia, after a valiant struggle with cancer, passed into the arms of the angels on the morning of 5 June 2024. The oldest son of Andy Otto and Katharine Auld Breece, San Diego, California, he was 57 years old. Cris attended Yorktown High School in Arlington, Virginia, but moved with his family to Virginia Beach where he graduated from Cox High School in 1984. He obtained his BA from the University of Minnesota. His life’s work was as a computer software engineer, working for a number of government contractors in satellite imaging. He was member of the Association for Computing Machinery since July 1997. He was a potter by avocation, always keeping a wheel, a kiln, and multiple types of clay in his garage. His love of animals was profound, having since childhood loved his dogs, cats, mice, fish, frogs, and a variety of other endearing pets. Cris was exceptionally kind hearted. Despite having no family of his own, he was adored by all the children in the family, niece, nephew, and cousins. Cris is survived by his father and mother, Andy and Katharine Breece; his brother and family (Eric and Alyssa, niece and nephew Piper and Beckett Breece); aunt, Bev Copenholle; uncle, Richard Auld; cousin, Jennifer and her children, Elijah and Emory Huerta. Preceding him in death was his youngest cousin, Kirstin Auld. The family wishes to thank the staff of the INOVA Schar Cancer Institute and the nurses, techs, and other staff of INOVA Fairfax Hospital, who so diligently cared for Cris during his last stay. Services are not planned at this time, but please check back at a later date for more information. Donations in his memory can be made to the ZBS Foundation (which has been producing radio and audio programing since 1970) or the Northern Virginia SPCA, both linked in the donation section below.