Christopher Chrissos Beloved Teacher, Artist, Gardener,

Christopher Chrissos Beloved Teacher, Artist, Gardener, Storyteller, Author, Pacifist, Humanitarian, and Politically Engaged Citizen, Christopher Chrissos (81 years) passed peacefully in his home with his life partner, Susan, by his side, June 5th, 2025. Born in Groton, Connecticut on April 13th, 1944 to Aristotle and Dorothy Chrissos, Christopher built a life where art met action, where peacocks and prairie dogs mingled with politics, literature, boxing, and power tools. He made space for beauty and absurdity, protest and humor, sharing it all with family, friends, students, and any creature who crossed his path (racoons, roadrunners, and, yes, even a skunk or two). After graduating from High School, where he met his first love and eventual wife, Marijke VanderHeyden, Christopher moved to Albuquerque and earned a BA in Art History and Master's degree in Education from the University of New Mexico. Eventually, he settled in the North Valley with his first daughter, Ilya, where he built a sanctuary of color, culture, and memory with his partner of 43 years, Susan McKinstry. Whether crafting a religious icon mosaic from eggshells or rigging irrigation lines, he was ever the artist and an East Coast transplant who could make anything in the desert bloom and was always creating something beautiful, useful, and/or both. Christopher began his career at West Mesa High and moved to Freedom High, Albuquerque's first alternative high school in 1973, where he taught until his retirement. As a beloved teacher at Freedom, he taught his students with rigor, irreverence, joy, and radical honesty. Students remember him for his brilliance, his compassion, and the way he encouraged them and wove humor into every lesson. Christopher spearheaded revolutionary student art projects that allowed him to collaborate with his students and give them an artistic voice, like the Freedom High mural and video yearbooks. Even after retirement, he remained a teacher, offering Spanish lessons around the kitchen table and just the right Spanish curse words to empower a bullied sixth grader. He loved language in all forms. He wrote his memoir, protest signs, eloquent letters to the editor, stories and wielded language with passion and precision. Whether writing or speaking, he used words as tools of compassion and conviction. He taught his students with wit and enthusiasm. He uplifted others' creativity, especially Susan's, encouraging her to take on an artistic name and sign her artwork "SAM" (Susan Aileen McKinstry), framing each piece with pride. Before his death, Christopher completed I Was a Kid in Connecticut, a vivid memoir of growing up on the C. Chrissos Egg Farm, full of lessons about work, rebellion, and becoming. Preceded in death by Marijke (VanderHeyden) Pastoor, Christopher is survived by his life partner Susan McKinstry; his sisters Joan Chrissos Durant, Ilona Chrissos Rodini, and Chris (Heidi) Chrissos; his daughters Ilya Chrissos-Picca, Kimber Chrissos, and Chrysanthie Chrissos, his stepchildren Timothy McKinstry and Sarah Mason; his grandchildren Marijke, Oksana, and Adriana Picca. Whether he was "Da," "Papa," or "Dad" to his children, "Opa" to his grandchildren, "Chris" to his students, or "Dear" to his partner, Susan, to all of us all he was teacher, artist, humanitarian, peace activist, and true friend. One of his last words to Susan, from a Bobby McFerrin song, is his benediction to us: "Don't worry. Be happy." Bueno bye (for now), Christopher. In lieu of flowers, please send donation to: ABQ Center for Peace and Justice https://www.abqpeaceandjustice.org/home. ABQ reads https://www.abqreads.com/ Prairie Dog Pals https://prairiedogpals.org A Celebration of life will be held at a future date.