At the Flowing Lake home she loved, Nancy Christian opened her doors to foster children and to people struggling with the destruction caused by substance abuse. Opening that door, she opened her heart.
A wife and mother, teacher and foster parent, Christian turned strangers into family. People of all ages gathered at the lake last month to pay homage to her.
Kimber Booth, in the 1980s a foster child helped by Nancy Christian and her husband, Steve, described a scene from the memorial service befitting her foster mother’s life. “We all held hands in this great big circle, like we were one giant family,” said Booth, 39, of Lake Stevens.
Booth said one man at the service wondered how many people it would take “to measure up to who Nancy was.”
“He came up with the number 14. He was just stating how remarkable she was,” said Booth, who was 17 when she came to live with the couple on Christmas Day in 1985. “She truly was an angel among us.”
Nancy Lou Christian died at home, surrounded by family and friends, Sept. 14. She was 65.
During the two weeks before she died, after a three-year battle with ovarian cancer, dozens of people came to give thanks and say goodbye, Steve Christian said. Among them were some of the 27 foster children who’d made a home there, and many others helped by the couple’s work in 12-step sobriety programs.
“When Nancy got very sick several weeks ago, there were never fewer than eight or 10 people in the house, from 9 in the morning until 10 at night,” Steve Christian said of the celebration and vigil.
Born Nancy Lou Laz on April 10, 1942, she is survived by her husband of 41 years, Steve Christian; sons John, Steve and Jim; brothers Stan Laz, of Snohomish, and Gary Laz, of Marysville; and five grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Bob and Sis Laz.
Bob Laz and his twin brother, George, built Wonderland Park Resort on Flowing Lake, and the family was also instrumental in building Flowing Lake Golf Course.
A graduate of Snohomish High School and Washington State University, Nancy was a teacher in the Edmonds and Snohomish school districts, working in special education and as a substitute teacher.
Her husband said his own struggle with alcohol was an eye-opener for his wife. “I’ve been sober for 26 years, and she went to Al-Anon 32 years ago,” Steve Christian said. “I educated her on alcoholism and drug addiction. The disease of alcoholism is a family disease, not singular.”
Al-Anon offers help to family members of problem drinkers. Nancy Christian was also active in Alateen, a group associated with Al-Anon that helps kids affected by alcoholism in their families.
Living in a rural area, Steve Christian said they began their work with foster children for partly selfish reasons. “We wanted to make sure our children didn’t grow up alone out here,” he said. After retiring as a teacher at Spruce Elementary School in the Edmonds district, Nancy Christian worked as a substitute teacher in Snohomish. And they began helping foster children through the state Department of Social and Health Services.
“They were anywhere from 9- and 10-year-olds to 17,” Steve Christian said. Some came from families affected by drug or alcohol problems. “We understood the disease,” he said.
The couple hosted clean-and-sober celebrations for major holidays and Super Bowl Sundays, when drinking can be a big part of family gatherings. The now-closed Wonderland park became a setting for alcohol-free picnics, Steve Christian said. “Addicted families need to know there are healthy, sober ways to enjoy life,” he said.
“I lived with them for a year,” said Kaye Carner, 27, of Snohomish. “I had always lived in town somewhere, and to move into the woods was kind of scary. But Steve and Nancy were very welcoming, very loving.”
Carner said Nancy Christian “always had a smile on her face. She could be strict, but you could never be mad at Nancy.”
Now the mother of a 4-year-old son, Carner said Nancy Christian helped her go to beauty school. She now works at a Marysville salon. “If it hadn’t been for her, I never would have been able to do it,” she said. “It’s amazing the impact one person can have.”
Booth, who is married and has two teenagers, will never forget her wedding day with the Christians. “They had my wedding at their house in August of 1988, in the beautiful barn,” Booth said. “Nancy bought my wedding dress, a tea-length dress made of real silk. Steve walked me down the aisle. Nancy loved me like I was her own child.”
“Interacting with people, that was her love,” Steve Christian said.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
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