Christine McCann, Milford native
Christine McCann, 51, passed away in her home on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. Christine was born April 13, 1972, in Milford, to Daphne Dukes and Donald McCann. After growing up in Delaware, she moved to Northern Virginia, where she started a family, and a career, and perfected her ministry of unconditional love.
While Christine was in Northern Virginia, her passion for creating safe spaces for children to learn and grow together led her to begin her career as a religious educator with Unitarian Universalist congregations. In over a decade of work, she served five congregations, and at each one strived to center the children and their ideas. She made it her mission to show the kids she worked with that they had power, that their ideas were good and worthwhile. It was always Christine’s belief that the smallest voices were the ones that needed to be heard the most.
After two decades of living in Northern Virginia, Christine moved back to Delaware in the summer of 2022, and continued her efforts to cultivate community. As a resident of Frankford, Christine quickly established her home as a space, where any and all could come to have fun, express their sorrows, and most importantly, a space where all would be safe and loved. Along with her husband and daughter, Christine spent the past year in Frankford collecting, refurbishing, and distributing bikes to the children of Frankford, as well as planning to create a community garden next to her home.
One of Christine’s favorite authors, Tom Robbins, wrote in “Jitterbug Perfume,” “At birth, we emerge from dream soup. At death, we sink back into dream soup. In between soups, there is a crossing of dry land. Life is a portage.” If life is a portage, then Christine’s cargo was love, and she transported an abundance of it. Christine was a storyteller, a reader and a writer, an arts and crafts lover, a mope-rocker and car-ride choreographer, a collector of misfits, a daughter, mother, wife, and friend. She received every person she met with open, loving arms, and challenged all to be the best possible versions of themselves. She made it a point to ensure everyone she met felt loved and heard, especially those who felt unloved and unheard. Christine was the kind of friend everyone hopes to be.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations towards the Chrysanthemum Fund, a fund created in Christine’s honor to continue her community building and cultivation efforts. Donations can be made at bit.ly/CCF-donation.
There will be two celebrations of Christine’s life at the family’s home, one Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023, and another on Christine’s 52nd birthday, Saturday, April 13, 2024. To RSVP, go to bit.ly/CM-Celebration.
Letters of condolence can be sent to the family via burbagefuneralhome.com.
Arrangements are in the care of the Burbage Funeral Home.
