Christopher Kern

Chris was born at Great Lakes Naval Hospital in North Chicago, Ill., to Ron Kern and Sharon Oslund Kern. He was small but he was mighty.

He lived in Cherry Valley, Ill. until the age of nine when the family moved west to Troy. Chris attended elementary and high school in Troy, graduating in 1982. Chris joined the Navy in 1983 as an Operations Specialist serving on both the USS Kirk and USS Gary. Chris met and married his wife Gerri in May of 1987, when after dating for seven days they ran off to the Hitching Post in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Chris left the Navy in 1988 and moved to Tacoma, Wash., where Chris worked construction. Their son Nicholas was born in 1991. In 1994 the family moved to Prince of Wales Island in southeast Alaska where Chris worked for a logging company. Two years later he decided to push further north to North Pole, Alaska. Chris worked as a gold miner for 10 years, as a grader hand, truck driver and loader operator. Chris made the decision in 2004 to join the Alaska Air Guard at Eielson Air Force Base, working first in logistics and then attending the Security Forces School at the age of 40 and working both with the 168th Air Refueling Wing and the 354th Fighter Wing. Chris was activated and deployed to Kyrgyzstan in 2007-2008.  

After retiring, Chris attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks as a film major and psychology minor and was involved in the making of two films in the Fairbanks area. Chris was heavily involved in the mounted shooting club, the North Range Riders, in Salcha, Alaska. After being diagnosed with brain cancer in 2012, they moved to Spokane, Wash. to be closer to family.

Most recently, Chris and Gerri finished his bucket list, visited family and friends and enjoyed each other’s company. Chris loved to hunt Freeman Ridge in Troy and fish both ocean and stream in Alaska. Chris was an avid horseman, enjoying nothing more than a trail ride with James Kinchen and his daughter Amie and finishing up the day with a big bowl of Jeanie’s crawfish etouffee. Chris was a huge fan of the Seattle Seahawks and his beloved Chicago Cubs. Chris maintained many friendships from his Navy and Air Force days and always said those were some of the best times of his life. The pinnacle of his life was being able to attend college and classes with his son Nicholas, where they worked on a film together. Chris was a wonderful husband, father, son, brother and friend and he will be forever missed.  

Chris is survived by his wife Gerri and son Nicholas of Spokane, Wash.; mother Sharon Denney of Missoula; father Ron Kern of Troy; sister Carrie, brother-in-law John and nephews Alex and Adam Cummings of Missoula; brother Carl Kern of Eugene, Ore.; aunt Becky and uncle John Bader of Troy; brother-in-law Russ Fox, wife Jodie, and niece Avery of Spokane, Wash.; sister-in-law Jacque Quantrille, husband Terry and nephew Joshua of Anchorage, Alaska; and beloved friends Trina and Jody Baskins of Newman Lake, Wash., James and Jeanie Kinchen of Laramie, Wyo. and Aimie and Shawn Meredith of Nebraska; and his extended family in Rockford, Ill.

A celebration of life will be held later this spring on the banks of the Kootenai River near Troy. The date will be announced at a later time.  In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations in honor of Chris’ life be made to Hospice of Spokane, P.O. Box 2215, Spokane, WA 99210-2215. To view Chris’ online memorial, please visit www.hennesseyfuneralhomes.com.