Christopher Michael Lalo

Born in Alexandria, Virginia, on December 24, 1988, he spent his childhood in Springfield outside Washington, DC. He held fond memories of often visiting national museums and of spending summers with cousins at the family cottage on St. George Island.

As a teenager, his family relocated to Brandon, Mississippi. While Chris adjusted to life in the Deep South, he taught himself to play guitar and was a bass player in multiple rock bands. Chris was also accepted into the Jackson Youth Symphony Orchestra, where he played trumpet.

Chris cherished memories of his best friends, who made his youthful years fun and exciting. In 2007, he graduated with honors from North West Rankin High School. As a high school student, he attended the Summer College program at The University of Mississippi. Captivated by the campus and beautiful atmosphere, Chris chose to attend Ole Miss through the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College Program.

During his freshman year at Ole Miss, Chris met Lillian Askins in the shared laundry room between Martin Hall and Stockard Hall. The couple shared friends and many happy memories from their college years. Favorite times together were spent with their rescue dog, Winnie, watching her swim and play at Lake Patsy in Oxford, Mississippi, where Chris asked Lillian to be his wife on April 1, 2011.

Chris graduated with honors from the Patterson School of Accountancy at Ole Miss in 2011. He was a member of Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity and Ole Miss Ambassadors.

After graduating, the engaged couple secured jobs in Huntsville, Alabama, and married on February 11, 2012.

In their early years of marriage, Chris poured his free time into taking their dog on mountain biking adventures and caring for their rescue cat, Hobbes. Throughout his life, animal wellbeing, rescue, and care were very important to Chris.

One of the proudest moments of his life was becoming a father to Michael Miller Lalo on May 30, 2018. Chris particularly enjoyed serenading Michael with guitar music, taking him on special top-down Jeep outings, and spending quiet weekend mornings together watching Pete the Cat.

Professionally, Chris cherished the relationships and experience he gained working in finance. He started his career as a Staff Accountant and worked his way up to Senior Financial Analyst with Education Corporation of America; then Director of Financial Planning and Analysis with DirectPath in Birmingham, Alabama; and last, Vice President of Finance and Controller at Atlis RFID Store.

Co-worker Suzanne Smiley wrote an email inviting coworkers to toast his memory, saying, in part, “Chris wasn’t just a coworker - a friend, mentor, ally, manager, or a teammate, he was part of our family. He was the most unique, goofy, smart, caring, determined, spontaneous, kind of clumsy, sometimes ridiculous, storytelling, Jeep driving, Starbucks-loving individual. If there is one thing I know he is proud of, are all the relationships he built, people he built up, and work he accomplished day in and day out.”

Those who knew Chris remember him as patient, loving, kind, funny, passionate, encouraging, motivating, and always planning and attempting to execute the perfect practical joke. He was persistent and rarely took no for an answer.

Chris would drop anything at a moment’s notice to help others. He delighted in random acts of kindness and connecting with people in special ways. He loved to “make someone’s day” who might not be expecting it, including, but not limited to, otherwise mundane phonecalls to places like utility companies, where he usually hung up feeling as though he had made a friend.

Chris was miraculously able to donate his heart, lungs, pancreas, liver, and kidneys to organ recipients. His family is certain his loving and generous spirit would delight in knowing that his life had saved others.

He is survived by his wife, Lillian Askins Lalo; son, Michael Miller Lalo; mother, Michelle Paquette Lalo; and brothers, Jonathan Thomas Lalo (Rebecca), Nicolas Stephen Lalo (Akua), and Thomas Henry Lalo. Many cousins, aunts, and uncles also grieve his death.

Chris was preceded in death by his father, Michael Terrance Lalo; his paternal grandparents, Kathryn Mutz Lalo and Michael Lalo, of Neffs, Pennsylvania; and his maternal grandparents, Francis Rita Koonz Paquette and Henry Lawrence Paquette of Alexandria, Virginia.

Donations in Christopher’s memory may be given through the Mason Music Foundation, whose mission is to empower, inspire and enrich the lives of underserved children in local communities through life-changing musical experiences.

Click here to give to the Christopher Lalo Memorial Fund through PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=J6RBTTE47THX2&source=url

The family will scatter his ashes in places that held special meaning.

A celebration of life will be scheduled at a later date.