Christina Schulman

Christina Schulman, 54, of Ross Township (Pittsburgh), PA, died Tuesday, June 17, 2025. She was born in Gainesville, FL to Johanna Tjeenk Willink and Stephen Schulman. She is survived by her cat, Piper, her parents, Johanna and Stephen, her sister Anneke and Anneke’s husband Gani, and their children Liam, Maya, Willow and Lyla. She was preceded in death by her beloved sister Barbara Schulman.

Christina was by profession a software engineer; she worked for a number of startups earlier in her career and has worked at Google since 2008. Together with her former coworkers, she created Pittsburgh Geek Night in the late 1990s, one of the seminal anchors of the early Pittsburgh tech scene. She was honored as one of Pittsburgh Magazine’s 40 Under 40 for this. Christina was a big reader of science fiction and fantasy, and was active in the local SFF community. She will be warmly remembered by both the technology and science fiction communities in Pittsburgh.

Christina had a love of animals and the natural world, with a particular interest in manatees, otters, and birds. She loved visiting zoos, botanical gardens, aquariums, and National and State Parks, especially Zion National Park and Monterey Bay. She would watch her favorite places from afar via their webcams, and let her friends and family know if there was a special critter to be seen.

Christina loved her family and was generous with her friends. She loved to share recommendations for books, TV shows, and luggage. She offered IT support to those who were computer-challenged, peaches from her annual road trip to Virginia, Google swag, and anything cool she thought you needed.

Services will be held on Saturday, June 28, at HP Brandt Funeral Home, 1032 Perry Highway Pittsburgh PA 15237. There will be a reception and visitation from 2-4pm, followed by a service at 4pm.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/) or the Save the Manatee Club (https://savethemanatee.org/).