Christa Simon passed peacefully at Tacoma General Hospital on Monday, April 22, with her loving husband by her side. She will be greatly missed by her husband, Charles Simon, daughter Michelle Simon and son in law, Nathan Everson.

Born in Karlovy Vary in the former Czechoslovakia in 1936, Christa had a challenging childhood during World War II. After she, her mother, and grandmother were forcibly repatriated to Germany they began to rebuild their lives from scratch.

When she was 20 she met a young American GI whom she would follow back to America and eventually marry. She and Charles Simon settled in New Rochelle, New York. After attending night school to learn English, she became a secretary and fully embraced her new homeland.

Christa and Chuck had one daughter, Michelle Simon, who was born in New York but raised in Vermont, where they moved when she was an infant. They had a great life there, building a weekend cabin in southern Vermont. The family enjoyed skiing and sailing. Christa worked for the University Health Center for 30 years in the insurance claim department. She was a detail oriented, organized and fast worker who was highly valued. After her retirement she took a part time job at the Vermont Teddy Bear company, where she quickly became a key employee, asked to train new employees because of her exacting standards. As someone who didn’t have a storybook childhood it may have been a healing experience to work with those adorable stuffed bears.

After their daughter completed a PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of North Carolina she moved west to attend Bastyr University, graduating with a naturopathic doctorate. After getting married and beginning a practice in Seattle, Washington, Michelle convinced Christa and Chuck to move to Vashon in 2013. Here they lived close to Michelle and her husband, Nate Everson, and enjoyed Sunday dinners together every week.

Everyone who met Christa will remember her strong German accent, despite living in the US for 67 of her 88 years, as well as her love of plants, gardening and cooking. She was extremely conscientious and was the strong heart of her family. She will be missed very much.