Christine F. Vanasse

Born in New Haven, CT, to Fredrick and Annie Fries, she grew up with her three brothers in Southington, CT, until employment took her to Boston and then Groton, CT, where she met Alexander Vanasse, whom she married the day before Pearl Harbor was bombed. While he served in the Army Air Corps and was overseas for 39 months, she supported the war effort working in the manufacture of aircraft engines and radars. Upon the end of the war, she and Alexander lived on the Maine coastline near Bar Harbor, where their son, Robert, was born in 1946. They moved to Florida in 1948, spending a year in Orlando before moving to the coast in Brevard County. While Alexander worked at Patrick AFB, she focused on being a homemaker, but was very active in her church, in the Republican Party, and wrote prize-winning jingles. After Alexander’s job required their relocation to Ohio for a couple of years, they retired to Salisbury, MD, where they lived from 1979 until 1996. They then returned to Brevard County, building a house in Merritt Island where they lived until 2005 when they moved in with Robert and his wife, Christy, also in Merritt Island. After over 68 years of marriage, Alexander passed away in 2009.

Christine is survived by her son, Robert, daughter-in-law, Christy, her brother, Donald Fries, granddaughters Josette Shoppe and Jennifer Vanasse, great-granddaughters Brittney and Alexis Roquevert, and great-grandsons Jonah, Joel, and Jude Guidry. Christine was devoted to her faith and family, with a most generous and caring nature, supporting many charitable organizations, especially religious, nature conservation, animal shelter, law enforcement, and veteran causes. She especially loved to walk the beach and immerse herself in the beauty of nature.

A celebration of her memory will be held at the Florida Memorial Gardens Funeral Home in Rockledge 11:00 A.M on Sunday, August 30th, 2015.