BajaNomad

RIP Annie and Jimmy Christopher

Mula - 9-22-2015 at 01:12 PM

Last night Jimmy Christopher passed away in his sleep.

There will be a wake at his house #55 in the Oasis tonight at 6/7.

[Edited on 9-29-2015 by Mula]

chuckie - 9-22-2015 at 01:16 PM

What a shame...He did so much, for so many, for so long. Go with God, Jimmy.....

mtnpop - 9-22-2015 at 02:05 PM

Very sad news.... We worked with Jimmy quite often and enjoyed talking with him..
He will be greatly missed...
rest in peace my friend....

bajabuddha - 9-22-2015 at 02:36 PM

Triple dittos. There hasn't been anyone like him in Mulegé since I've been stopping in.... he will be sorely missed by the entire community.

RIP, Jefe.

Bruce R Leech - 9-22-2015 at 03:11 PM

:( RIP Jimmy

BajaBlanca - 9-22-2015 at 05:05 PM

RIP Jimmy.

EngineerMike - 9-22-2015 at 05:06 PM

I spoke with his daughter Ruth, from Las Vegas, this a.m. Of course she is broken up, and more so since the assumption was Jimmy would be here to bury Annie who has been in the old folks home on the hill in Santa Rosalia for a few years now.
I an odd turn of events, Annie's ailments required hospitalization so she is in La Paz and has not heard the news. Jimmy, following an accident on the road between Sta. Rosalia (visiting Annie) and Mulege, was taken to Fidepaz Hospital in La Paz for a few days, and after being stabilized was taken to the old folks home in Sta Rosalia to convalesce and await Annie's return. There he passed away.
Ruth & hubby will venture down next Tue the 29th.

Christophers have been a fixture in Mulege since long before I knew there was such a place. Management of the Rotary Clinic there was transitioned to other volunteers this last year, but the Clinic will always bear the indelible mark of Annie & Jim. Other notable projects recently completed by Rotary with Jimmy's assistance (among many others) are a new 100hp water pump for the town water system, and a new pila well up on the hill north of town so water doesn't need to be every other day. And of course for many years, Jimmy was the U.S. Consulate designatee & contact in Mulege, which put him in interesting circumstances from time to time.

Truly the passing of an era.

Robinhood - 9-22-2015 at 05:25 PM

Descansa en paz.

Un buen y tranquilo viaje para usted.

A sad day in Mulege.

Mula - 9-22-2015 at 05:41 PM

Jimmy and Annie are truly Baja Legends.

DENNIS - 9-22-2015 at 06:24 PM




Sad. I'm sorry.

AKgringo - 9-22-2015 at 06:37 PM

I did not think I knew this man, but if he was acting as a US Consulate contact in 1986, then he did indeed help me with a money transfer from the Us that went wrong. Did he speak several languages other than Spanish and English?

It sounds like the community lost a lot, my condolences!

bajabuddha - 9-23-2015 at 12:21 AM

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  
I did not think I knew this man, but if he was acting as a US Consulate contact in 1986, then he did indeed help me with a money transfer from the Us that went wrong. Did he speak several languages other than Spanish and English?

It sounds like the community lost a lot, my condolences!


AK, I think you may have been dealing with Don Johnson back in the '80's as consulate. I'm not stating, just guessing from the past. Jimmy was always involved in Rotario work and especially the Bomberos; my first year was winter of '95-6, and my beach family were heavily involved in Rotary from Kennewick WA, and I met Jim at the Serenidad then where they held their meetings. Don was then the 'consulate' guy of the area. J.C. was then, and always has been a fireplug for the Rotary, Bomberos and EMS of Mulege, and who knows what else. Unstoppable energy and a drive to cement an ethos of work, community, and giving. There are a half-dozen Mulegeños to turn to if you have a serious issue; Jim was mostly top-of-the-list. Can't tell you when he took over the 'consulate' post, be it temporary or whatever, but he was a truly giving cornerstone to every single person in the Valley. No hidden agendas, no gringo-greed.

To E-Mike, i'd heard Annie had passed; a heartbreaking story, and wouldn't life be grand if it could follow a Hollywood script? My first thought was, "now he's with his love...." And the world goes 'round and 'round and 'round.... Such twists and turns our lives take down the pathway of existence.

As Paul Harvey said, "Now you know (some of) the rest of the story". The clinic, the town's infrastructure... so much due to the tireless guy with the indelible energy and persistence. The word that comes most to mind is "DEVOTION". He loved Mulegé, and they, him.

Jim Christopher will be sorely missed. Legacy passed on, but to... ???

[Edited on 9-23-2015 by bajabuddha]

EngineerMike - 9-23-2015 at 02:52 PM

I'm not sure when Jimmy took over from Don Johnson. Don was full time in Mulege back in the '80's, but spent more time out of town as he has grown older and his daughter Diana has been able to handle the Serenidad. By the time Johnson was out of town much, Jimmy was in town full time and active in Rotary year round, so the swap made sense.

Last report on Annie I had was from Jimmy in August; the Parkinson's was taking a heavy toll and it sounded like she was not long for this world. However, that happened one prior, andshe recovered to the point she, from her bed, was teaching German (Aleman) to the nuns at the old folks home! What a fighter!!

toneart - 9-23-2015 at 04:28 PM

RIP Jimmy!

As we age, more and more people who were significant in our lives die. It is always shocking and we are never ready for it. When it happens, it is cause for sadness because of the void they leave here on earth, but it is also cause for happy memories. It is a time to retreat, to go inside oneself and reflect.

He was a giving, big man in a small town, but for his life and his deeds, that makes him a giant man of this earth! And now he gets to walk with the angels.

JimsNephew - 9-23-2015 at 05:05 PM

Hello all,

I'm Jim's nephew Tim. My mother was Annie's sister. I just want to say thank you for all the memories. He was actually "Uncle Chris" to me, which always confused me because no one else seemed to call him that! But it wouldn't surprise me if he did it as a joke way back in the mists of time and it just stuck.

He was one of a kind. Unfortunately, being down in Baja, I never saw them as much as I wanted to, but we did visit them down in Mulege about 20 years ago around the time I got married. Watching Jim do his thing was just wonderful. He was involved in so many projects and worked so tirelessly to make things better for people. A family joke was that he never seemed to age and always looked eternally young. Looking at recent pictures, age had caught up a little, but he still looked like he should be immortal. He was just a smart, hilarious guy who was always up for anything.

My Aunt Annie was a character as well. She was definitely never a wallflower and wasn't afraid to speak her mind. I have a lot of her artwork hanging up in my house (which she started when she got to Mulege). She was beautiful when she was young, incidentally. I have some pictures from Germany when she was a young girl and she was stunning. Age is cruel to us all.

Anyway, I just wanted to toss in my two cents and just say thanks again. It's good to know that he left his mark on the world.

Tim Behrendsen

Mr. Rotarian - Jimmy Christopher

RV6flyer - 9-24-2015 at 09:27 AM

The last time I saw Jimmy was February of 2014 after he had placed Annie in the old folks homes as he could no longer take care of her 24/7 needs even with two local nurses. It was Sunday and 5 of us where on motorcycles heading south to La Paz when I punctured my oil filter riding out of the Serenidad. Got a hold of Jimmy and he called the owner of one of the auto parts stores and fortunately my Honda Goldwing and several Honda automobiles use the same filter so I was back on the road again. Jimmy was always willing to help someone in need.

The irony in all of this is first time I met Jimmy and Annie was in April of 1990 when I had flown my first experimental to Mulege and he helped find the materials to make a repair to my broken tail wheel spring and meet another friend, Howard Story. After that, we put on a couple of air shows for the Rotary, where proceeds went to funding the clinic down there, along with numerous other trips bringing equipment and supplies for the clinic. The clinic's need for voluntary dentists is how my wife Sue and I met two friends of ours from Australia, Dick and Les Milner.

Jimmy was a catalyst for meeting many lifelong friends and was one of the reasons I continued to ride motorcycles down there to see him since I quit flying down there in 2006 as a result of the Mexican Insurance companies tripling the liability insurance.

Yes, I’ll miss Jimmy, a man of compassion for the Mexican people he so loved, and a man who would go to extreme ends to help anyone in need. A VERY dedicated Rotarian!

His daughter lives here in Las Vegas and I would like her to now how many of us thought of Jimmy as a most generous and giving person. Hopefully she will read this as I do not have her contact information.

Roger Hansen

I’ll pass this on to other friends here in the states who knew him.

capt. mike - 9-26-2015 at 08:27 AM

Sorry to read this. He was a great man!!

EngineerMike - 9-29-2015 at 10:12 AM

Heard this a.m. that Annie just followed Jimmy on their final Nomad journey. She was truly a class act and a good deal of the driving force behind the annual Christmas drive for toys for the rancho kids outside of Mulege. Each year she organized the baking of a gross of cupcakes for a party for the kids & she & Jimmy would conscript a Santa to distribute gifts from a pickup truck.

Buen Viaje Annie! Say hola to Jimmy for us.

micah202 - 9-29-2015 at 12:13 PM

Quote: Originally posted by EngineerMike  
Heard this a.m. that Annie just followed Jimmy on their final Nomad journey. She was truly a class act and a good deal of the driving force behind the annual Christmas drive for toys for the rancho kids outside of Mulege. Each year she organized the baking of a gross of cupcakes for a party for the kids & she & Jimmy would conscript a Santa to distribute gifts from a pickup truck.

Buen Viaje Annie! Say hola to Jimmy for us.



wow,,,,not able to be close in the past couple of years,,,

. ......but together in the end,,,,verrry touching! :smug:


.

bajabuddha - 9-29-2015 at 12:47 PM

The last I talked to Jimmy was at the Chili Festival a few springs back. When I asked about her, his eyes teared up a little when he spoke of her. He truly loved her deeply.

Their suffering is now over...... Via con Dios, y Buen Viaje, Christophers.