Carolyn Kennard Christopher passed away peacefully on Thanksgiving morning, November 25, 2021. She was born on August 27, 1931 to Calvin and Priscilla Kennard in Beverly, Massachusetts, and spent her childhood in nearby Marblehead. She loved growing up near the ocean and riding her bike to the beach. Although she was an only child, she never felt lonely as her childhood home was always open to friends who needed a place to stay.
After high school, she attended Colby Junior College where she majored in art and then Kathryn Gibbs Secretarial School. While working as a secretary at MIT, she met her future husband James W. Christopher (Chris). They were married in 1955 and a year later moved to Salt Lake City when Chris accepted a teaching position at the University of Utah School of Architecture. While she loved the mountains, she always carried her beloved Marblehead and the ocean with her in her heart.
Lyn, as she was known to her friends, loved being a mother to her five children, going on family camping trips, playing bridge, skiing, traveling, sailing in the Caribbean and Mediterranean, and spending every March in Coronado, CA. She also loved giving back to her community, both in employment and volunteering, working for All Saints Episcopal Church as the parish secretary and for the Salt Lake Visitor and Convention Bureau. She was a longtime volunteer for Friends of the Library, the Altar Guild at All Saints, and for 15 years at Holy Cross Hospital. She then spent 35 years volunteering at the University of Utah Hospital surgery waiting room, where she received the William and Mary Cockayne Volunteer of the Year Award in 2005, and the Star Volunteer Award for 8,700 volunteer hours.
Lyn was preceded in death by her parents, her husband of 60 years, her great granddaughter Alta Crawford, and grandson Andrew Hagedorn. She is survived by her children Bill (Veluna), Kathy Crawford (Gary), Kim Smart, Jamie (Nancy), Pam Mitchell-Maidon (Gilles), 12 grandchildren, and 8 great grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, December 4, 2021, at 2:00 pm at All Saints Church, 1710 Foothill Drive. Masks will be required. It will also be live streamed on All Saints SLC YouTube channel. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.