After a long illness, Christopher (Chris) Pence died peacefully at home on Christmas Eve. In his last days, Chris was visited by many loved ones, some of whom travelled great distances to say their good-byes.
Tomorrow would have been Chris’ 75th birthday. Chris was born in Spokane, Washington, the youngest child of Dr. Lawrence Pence – the first board-certified surgeon in Spokane – and Christine Pence née Snow. Like his father, Chris graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane. While in high school, Chris was the editor of the student newspaper. He also joined the Spokane Mountaineers and participated in climbs with members of similar age who would go on to become world-famous climbers, including John Roskelley and Chris Kopczynski. At Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, Chris was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and served as editor of The Pioneer, the student newspaper. He was one of three Whitman students who in 1970 participated in an exchange program with Howard University, an Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Washington D.C. Chris attended Spring Semester at Howard, a tumultuous time that included the last major demonstration against the Vietnam War, the shootings at Kent State and Jackson State, and the periodic closure of campus for the safety of students. Photographs he took chronicling his experience were shown to audiences upon his return, extending to others the wisdom Chris gained through his participation in the program.
After graduating from Whitman University in 1972, Chris worked as assistant editor at the Walla Walla Union Bulletin, a job that honed his writing skills and kindled his interest in the law. Before starting law school, however, Chris traveled extensively in Europe with friends, ending his stay with an intensive study of French at the Alliance Française School in Paris. From 1974 through 1977, Chris attended Willamette University Law School, where he was elected an editor of the Willamette Law Journal and earned his Juris Doctor. After graduation, Chris went to work as a lawyer for the Washington State Bar Association, enforcing the state’s ethical rules and disciplinary standards designed to maintain the integrity of all lawyers practicing before the bar. Later, Chris started a practice with a law school classmate, forming one of Washington’s preeminent personal injury law firms. Eventually, Chris specialized in representing the victims of medical negligence. For the last decade of his professional life, Chris worked as a solo practitioner out of the home he designed on Bainbridge Island’s Blakely Harbor. All who knew Chris will remember him for his passionate advocacy for the
downtrodden, his concern for social justice, and his deliberate approach to the serious questions of life. He was generous, unpretentious, and loyal, and had a hearty and infectious laugh.
In his recreational time, Chris pursued his passion for growing fruit trees, fishing, photography, farming oysters, and rehabilitating a 1940’s-era wooden trawler, which he captained on pleasure cruises with family and friends throughout Puget Sound and the Canadian Gulf Islands. His yearly trips to the family cabin on the Pend d’Oreille River in Idaho restored and energized Chris – a cabin built by his father in 1951.
Chris is the last of the Pence siblings to pass away, having been predeceased by sisters Sally and Judith, and brother Rob. With their parents, they constituted the “Six Pence,” as proclaimed on the road sign leading to the family cabin. Chris is survived by his daughter Christine, former wife Therese Coad, and longtime partner Teresa (Tess) McMahill. Chris also leaves behind nephews Braden Pence, Matthew Pence, Christopher Rooks, and Benjamin Hoisington; nieces Anna Chorey, Maria Bingham, and Rosa Coad; brother-in-law Charles Rooks, sisters-in-law Michele Coad and Shirley Kolm – and his beloved 15½ year old yellow lab, Annabelle.
The family requests that any remembrances be donated to ChildFund International. Plans for a celebration of Chris’ life are being developed.