Christina Anne Lux

Christina was a strikingly beautiful baby, with an infectious smile. Her intelligence and care for people were evident from her earliest years.

She grew up in Planada California until she was eight and has kept up relationships from those years. The family moved to Quebec, Canada when she was 10, where she began learning French. At age 12 the family moved to Cameroon, Africa, where her parents were involved in Bible translation with the Noni people, living in the small rural African village of Lassin. She experienced the joy of being part of a large extended African family and has nurtured those relationships and has been a benefactor since that time. In fact, the Noni people will be having a large death celebration on August 12 when her American funeral will be held.

She graduated from Rain Forest International school in Cameroon. She attended Wheaton college and completed her BA and master's degree in French at Calvin College. She went on to complete her PhD at the University of Oregon. Dr. Christina Lux joined the staff of Kansas University from 2007 to 2013 where she taught and directed the 2nd year French program. From 2013 to the present she was an administrator with the Center for the Humanities at UC Merced, Merced, California. Currently, she was serving as the Managing Director of the Center. Her scholarship, leadership and administrative abilities impacted both the university and the community at large. She was also a gifted poet, recently publishing a book of her poems, “War Bonds”.

She is survived by her husband, Charles Payne, son Jaden, and stepdaughters Samaria, Savannah and Kiara; her parents, David and Cindy Lux, brothers Joshua (Trisha), Caleb (Susan), and sister Anna (Sam) and eight nieces and nephews, and her maternal grandmother Nancy Carson. While living in Merced, she had a special relationship with her aunt Sharry and uncle Ben Pino. Christina was preceded in death by her grandparents, William and Rosemary Lux, and Kenneth Carson.

Christina Lux-Payne, a beautiful woman, loving wife, devoted mother to her child Jaden, and stepchildren Samariah, Savannah, and Kiara.

All of us who loved her were drawn to her beauty, intellect, writing, soft voice, slow easy smile, amazed by her wit and envious of her compassion and were humbled by her unshakable faith in Jesus Christ.

She fiercely loved her family & friends! She found her soulmate in her husband Charles. He was her resting place, her safe zone. She felt secure & happy in his presence. Together they created a sanctuary they called home. She loved her home and all the people in it! She will always be a guiding light for those who loved her.

Through this site, we invite you to view and share cherished photos and videos, share fond memories and expressions of sympathy for Lux family or share the obituary with others via social media and email. Arrangements are under the direction of Stratford Evans Merced Funeral Home, Sierra Calvert, Funeral Arranger.