Give thanks in EVERYTHING. The big things, the small things, the good and the bad. This was common advice our dad would tell us growing up. Be thankful even when it is hard. I read recently that gratitude cannot co-exist with worry, fear, jealousy or pain…that Gratitude and Worry actually live in the same part of the brain, and when one is present, the other one cannot be. This spiritually and scientifically explains the heart and soul of my dad. He was always happy, saw the fun and positive side to all circumstances and made the mundane very magical. There was not room in his heart for worry, fear or stress because that was already filled with so much thankfulness, joy and Love.

He was the source of so much happiness in our household and in the lives of everyone he knew. I can still hear him say Wooohooo in kind of a Texas twang anytime something slightly Better than Good happened…so it was a lot! Quick to laugh, slow to anger and the first to offer a helping hand to anyone in need. It is hard to even know where to start with the story of Chris Kampfe …so how about at the beginning :)

Born on November 18, 1944 in Sandusky, Ohio. His parents were Paul, a pastor - and Hildegarde a librarian. He was a big brother to Eric who was musically gifted… and now they are all having a ball together in heaven. His family moved to Dayton, Ohio when he was 12 years old. He was so sad to leave all his friends behind that he packed a bag and began walking back…feeling bad for him, his parents went ahead and gave him a ride. This probably marked the start of his love to travel far from home. haha

My dad was born a natural athlete with a love for all sports, notably basketball, tennis, baseball, pickleball and ping pong…ok really anything with a ball! He passed this love for sports down to all his kids and spent countless hours coaching each of us on all the various techniques and strategies on how to shoot a basketball, hit a tennis ball and kick a soccer ball. Growing up in a musical family, he also loved to sing and play the guitar…this however, did NOT get passed down to us, but it sure was cool watching him sing his heart out in the church choir every Sunday. He was always calm, comfortable in his own skin and never seemed too worried or stressed about anything…ever. He was all about the journey not the destination and therefore drove slower than most grandmas…no offense. He was on Chris Time, not On Time. But being worry free also meant he was adventurous.

When it came time for him to choose his college, he chose it not based on academics or athletics, but the one that was farthest from his home! Or at least that is the story he always told me!

After graduating from Texas Lutheran, he again looked for more ways to feed his sense of adventure and his innate love for helping others. At 21 years old, he joined the Peace Corps in India, of course on the other side of the world, I might add…to help them develop farming techniques.

During his training for the Peace Corps at UC Davis, he decided to head to Lake Tahoe for a student Lutheran Retreat. He was greeted by a beautiful girl with a smile that stole his heart. Her name was Carole Emery. She was a student at UC Davis and there to help out at the retreat. They exchanged numbers, but unfortunately Chris lost the piece of paper it was written on! After the retreat now back at UC Davis, it was passing time between classes and the walkways were packed with students heading to their next classes. Carole rode her bike past Chris in a sea of people. He said to his friend, “that was Carole!” and rode after her! This time when he got her number he kept it in a very safe place. They went out twice before he left for India and they continued to deepen their friendship through letters that they sent back and forth over the course of his two year service. When he returned, they had a wonderful reunion and he popped the question in Big Sur, California. They were married 6 weeks later at 24 years of age.

As newlyweds, they headed to Washington DC where he would attend grad school at George Washington University to get his MA in rehabilitation counseling. After that, he entered a graduate program in Boston for the next academic year and they loved their time in the historical city. When they came back to California and planted their roots in Fresno, he began his 39 year career working for the Department of Rehabilitation helping disabled people find permanent employment, many of whom were injured from the war. I often think of my childhood in that Fresno house. My dad was always doing yard work on the weekends or working on some sort of house project. But it wasn’t work to him. I think he truly enjoyed pulling weeds! He called it “play-work”. I used to pull weeds as my chore…and to this day I still find it enjoyable because of him. He was so handy and could literally do anything. He wanted a shed for his tools in the backyard and because YouTube wasn’t around back then, he went and found a site where a home was being built and watched how they did it. Came home and did a smaller version for his shed. We needed a fence in our yard so he put one up. Sprinklers broke, he fixed them. Pool needed cleaning, he cleaned it. He was the Gardner, pool guy, architect, handyman all built into one person.

After 30 years in the central valley where they raised their four amazing kids, they headed to the coast for ocean breezes and cooler weather. They purchased a cute tudor style home on Walnut Ave in the beautiful Santa Cruz, Ca where Chris worked several more years before retiring at 65. One of their favorite things about Santa Cruz was the amazing church they found here at Twin Lakes. In retirement he continued to pursue his love of tennis and pickleball, often coming home with trophies.

Retirement also meant taking on a more full time Papa Chris role. He loved his grandkids so much and spending time with them just being his silly self, was the source of so much joy for him.

Even though it feels like he wasn’t with us long enough, we are all thankful for how he continues to live on in each of our lives whether it be in the silly ways we play with our kids, the passion in which we pursue our careers, or the adventures we chase…He is with us. We are all thankful for how he raised us to be faithful followers of Jesus, to live a life filled with gratitude and to find humor in just about everything.

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