Daily Sitka Sentinel

Christine Lee

   Former Sitkan Christine Loraine (Finsley) Lee passed away unexpectedly on March 1, 2012, at her home in Juneau.
  She was born to Fred and Ruth Finsley on Aug. 1, 1951, in Hillsboro, Ore. The family lived in Forest Grove, Ore., until 1955 when they moved to Crescent City and Eureka in northern California before coming to Alaska in July, 1960.

 
   Chris lived in logging camps at Rodman Bay, where she attended a one-room school, and False Island and Kake. She attended Sheldon Jackson High School for her freshman and sophomore years and when they closed the high school in 1967 she completed her junior and senior years at Sitka High, graduating in 1969.
   Following high school, Chris attended Western Washington University and Puget Sound University before again settling in Sitka. Over the years in Sitka, she worked at Sitka Engine, John and Joyce MacDonald’s Work and Rugged Gear Store, and Hames Corp. while also raising her daughter Hilary and son Fred.
In 1984 she moved to Juneau and held various jobs prior to her employment with the State of Alaska in 1990. She worked for various departments in both Juneau and Anchorage until her retirement from Health and Social Services in Juneau in April 2011. While with the state, she was active in the Alaska State Employees Association, Local 52.
   Chris enjoyed the outdoors and was an avid fisherwoman for many years, both in Southeast and dip netting on the Kenai River while she lived in Anchorage. She also enjoyed quilting, cooking, and spending time with her family, especially her four granddaughters. Chris also served on the Alaska Youth Choir Board.
Chris was preceded in death by her father, Fred Finsley and older sister Janet (Finsley) Livingston.
   Chris is survived by her mother Ruth Finsley; twin sister Kathleen Finsley of Sitka, and sister Jean (Finsley) Thompson and her husband David of Seattle; daughter Hilary (Dunlap) Poole and her husband Kevin of Juneau; son Fred Dunlap and his wife Allison Brandt of Anchorage; granddaughters, Devyn House and Morgan Poole of Juneau, and Ella Dunlap, and Ingrid Dunlap of Anchorage; niece Joann (Thompson) Burrett and her husband Steve of Seattle; nephew Travis Beauchamp of Seattle; niece Jessica Beauchamp and her fiancé Jack Lew of Portland; grandnephews Shawn Beauchamp of Sitka, Keith Burrett of Seattle, and    Lennox Lew of Portland; and grandniece Katie Burrett of Seattle.
   Services are being planned and will be announced at a later date.
   Donations may be made in her honor to the Alaska Youth Choir at Box 22202, Juneau, AK 99802. The family can be reached at Box 34342, Juneau, AK 99803 or (907)209-7223.