Chris died Dec. 18, 2022, after a life dedicated to social justice.
He prepared for Princeton at Upper Darby (Pa.) Senior High School. At Princeton, Chris majored in civil engineering and joined Dial Lodge. The roles of Chapel deacon, vice president of the Student Christian Association, and director of the Princeton Summer Camp were preludes to his ministry and leadership at the state and national levels.
He married Jane “Pudge” Eichner in December 1954, served in the Navy for three years, and then earned a B.Div. at Union Theological Seminary. His career giving voice to the voiceless began with ministry to the youth of East Harlem Protestant Parish, including brief incarceration for participation in a Freedom Ride sit-in. In 1961, he became director of the California Migrant Ministry under the umbrella of the National Council of Churches, which led churches in support of Cesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers. In 1971, he became the first director of the National Farm Worker Ministry, which continues today. He left the farm workers movement in 1987 to direct Loaves & Fishes, providing groceries for neighbors in need, and Clean & Sober in support of addiction recovery in Sacramento, retiring in 2003. Chris and Pudge later moved to Claremont, Calif.
Pudge died in 2017. Chris is survived by sons John, David, and Gordon; daughter Jane; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.