Kevin was born in San Jose, CA and was the youngest of 4 children. He was raised in Santa Clara, Los Gatos, and in 1976 moved to San Juan Batista, CA with his mother and father, Marie and David Christie. He graduated from San Benito High School, Hollister CA in 1979. Kevin seemed to find his calling at a young age when he met a local contractor in San Juan Batista, and began doing work for him while still in high school. These early years helped to form Kevin’s strong work ethic. He quickly developed skills, abilities, an approach to design, and attention to detail that was evident in his meticulous craftsmanship.
Kevin married his high school sweetheart Holly Williams on April 11, 1981, and they had their beautiful daughter Erin in October 1983, and daughter Callen in May 1986. Their daughter Callen died of a rare medical condition in July 1986 and this proved to be too challenging and difficult for their marriage to endure. They were separated and then divorced in 1988.
Kevin moved to Los Angeles in the late 80’s and then to Las Vegas in 1994, where he lived with his wife Sharon, daughters Erin, Courtney and Lauren. He worked for Milgard Windows for many of the years he was in Las Vegas and was responsible for starting up their installation department. He further developed his carpentry skills and did countless projects, works of art, and remodels for his family and friends. Kevin took so much pride in the work that he did and could literally build anything from the ground up. He was a master carpenter and we were all so proud of him.
Kevin returned to California in 2007. He met his fiancée Diane Peterson shortly afterward, and they lived in Santa Cruz and recently moved to Los Gatos. With his brilliant skills and wonderful personality, he quickly found work and became a valued employee doing contracting work for a local company (Mike Kelly Construction) that focused on remodeling and renovations of homes.
Kevin was a kind, compassionate man and was friendly to all that he met. He would take time to stop and talk, to learn a stranger’s story, and to lend a helping hand to those that needed him. We never saw Kevin angry, he always said, “There are no problems, only solutions”, and he had an incredible sense of humor, often having all of us rolling with laughter. He had an adventurous soul, a natural curiosity, and interest in how things worked and this served him well in all that he did. He loved nature, hiking, sailing, the ocean, shopping (for anything), music, animals, and living life large. He especially enjoyed spending time with his fiancé Diane, daughters Erin, Courtney, and Lauren, his grandson Tyler, his family and friends, and always loved a gathering where cooking and enjoying fine wine was involved. In recent years, he developed quite a chef’s palette and he loved trying new taste sensations, finding local foods and wines and putting this all together for those he loved. Kevin was happy and liked to stay healthy by walking, eating right, and not sweating the small stuff. He was an amazing man, was loved by so many, and he will forever remain an inspiration to us all to keep an open mind, a loving heart, practice forgiveness, and to let compassion be our guide. His death was sudden, and he will be missed more than we are capable of expressing.
Kevin is survived by fiancée Diane Peterson of Los Gatos, CA, daughters Erin Christie of Capitola, CA, Courtney Ortiz and Lauren Ortiz, of Las Vegas, NV, sisters Lorraine Christie-Blumenthal and her husband Chris of Scotts Valley, CA, Kacie Christie of Lake Oswego, OR, Eileen Christie of Salem, OR, niece Siobhan Blumenthal of Campbell, CA, and grandson Tyler Bond of Las Vegas, CA.
Kevin's memorial service will be outdoors in a small open chapel in the redwoods (on Bean Creek Rd. in Scotts Valley) on August 18, 2012 at 2:00 PM. Shuttling will be provided from Skov Winery (2364 Bean Creek Rd.) and from 160 McKenzie Creek Rd. (the Christie-Blumenthal residence), however, guests are welcome to walk from those two locations. We will have a celebration of Kevin's life at Skov Winery following the service. During the celebration of life we welcome you to share your stories and memories of Kevin. For more information contact Lorraine @ 831-227-5815 or lorraine.gabi.1@gmail.com.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Kevin Christie Family Education Fund c/o Lorraine Christie-Blumenthal 160 McKenzie Creek Rd. Scotts Valley, CA 95066 or the Kevin Christie Family Education Fund PayPal account:
(Copy & Paste)
http://tinyurl.com/KCCollegeFund
Kevin and I spent some very special times together many years ago, you see his high school sweetheart was my sister Holly. We worked for my father Gary building quite an addition in Los Banos high up on a hill. Kevin was young and strong as an ox and I could never lift big beams like he could. We were out on the Delta with his Hondo boat and my brother Curtis was up front with him, I was sitting in the back and we were flat out on this beautiful day when a small stream of water was shooting up from the engine. I yelled at Kev to take a look, as he turned his head to look back we were coming up to a curve, he pitched the boat and all at once the engine failed!!!! You should have seen the look in his eyes, it was totally like Holy -----. If anyone knows anything about jet boats, You have to have power to the rear end of the boat in order to steer. All along the Delta as far as the eye can see there was rocks all along the banks. The boat flew across the water, we braced ourselves, and in a instant, we shot out of the water into a dirt bank. The only thing left in the water was the ass end of the boat, the three of us couldn't believe we were ok, jumped out and started emptying the boat of all the dirt and mud boulders that filled the boat. We then managed to pull the boat back into the water and it wouldn't start, there was a patch of 20yrds where the rocky shore had a dirt embankment instead of being solid rock boulders. After a long time of troubleshooting we found the vacume advance spring broke in the distributor and fell against the condenser and shorted the electrical out and caused the engine to stop. That was a memory I will never forget, we spent many years together working, boating, living life. We lost contact for a very long time and his passing has made my heart heavy. I was suppose to have him over about now, to my home in Henderson, to catch up on all the years we have been apart, time sure does pass us by sometimes. James Dean once said, Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die tomorrow. Kevin, the times we spent together will always be memories I will cherish for the rest of my life. See you again my friend, In Time. Dan
My Uncle Kevin was a strong, strong man. His strength seemed, at times, almost super-human--especially in the end. When he first moved back to California five years ago, my mom (his sister) was helping him get a new start. He was so grateful and did everything he could to be helpful. At Thanksgiving, we needed to move a lot of furniture around in the living room, to put a dining table in there. Kevin, as usual, was the one lugging things around. My boyfriend at the time was also over to help, and they went to move the piano together. I remember watching as my uncle got on one side, and my boyfriend on the other to hoist it up. Kevin nearly flung the piano into the air single-handedly, and my boyfriend almost went flying with it.
