Christopher
was born on 27 September 1962 in Bucyrus, Ohio as the middle child of Wayne
and Claire Murray. Christopher was the child who most resembled his father in
looks. At the age of two, he was diagnosed with Childhood Rheumatoid
Arthritis and he was plagued by this disease all of his life. Because of this
he was a tiny child who wore toddler size clothing when starting
kindergarten. His kindergarten teacher carried him when the class was out and
about, and he was cast as baby bear in the school play. He started school is
Vasselboro, moving to Gardiner in second grade. In Gardiner, he attended
Central Street School, Gardiner Regional Junior High and Gardiner Area High
School. Christopher was always a hard worker and a child who was well liked
and loved to please others. His one fault was a temper that displayed itself
in a colorful vocabulary. In high school he took employment in the kitchen of
Gardiner General Hospital. After high school, he attended one year of college
at Roberts Wesleyan College at Rochester, New York (majoring in music) where
he met his future wife, Rhonda Marie Robinson. The couple was married in
Sherman Station, Aroostook, Maine on 26 June 1982. Their daughter, Amber
Rose, was in March of 1983. Christopher worked at varied jobs with the family
living in Damariscotta, Patten and Gardiner, Maine. In 1990 Christopher
became a born again Christian and in 1991 made the decision to join the
ministry. He and his family left Maine and settled in Nampa, Idaho where he
attended Northwest Nazarene College. He graduated June 9, 1996 with a
Bachelor of Arts in Religion/Pastoral Ministry. After college he found
employment with the Salvation Army in their Drug and Alcohol Unit in Boise,
Idaho. On Dec. 18, 2003, he was diagnosed with chronic myelogenus leukemia
during an emergency room visit. After beginning drug treatment, the decision
was made to try a bone marrow transplant. A fund raising campaign was
launched and a donor was found in Germany, as no family member was a bone
marrow match. After celebrating their 22nd anniversary with his
wife, Christopher began the transplant process in Seattle, Washington. He
received the bone marrow on 9 July 2005. He died of septicemia on
17 July 2005, age 42. His ashes are buried near his father in Auburn, Maine.