Mike Smith, president of HSLDA announced by email, “Chris
Klicka went home to be with the Lord at approximately 1:00 p.m. Eastern time [Monday, October 12, 2009]. His family was all present and simply watched
him peacefully slip into the hands of His Savior. He was in Colorado
Springs, having gone out for the Alliance
and HSLDA’s leadership conferences. He
was hospitalized on Sept. 24th and after several days, was taken to a friend’s
residence in Colorado Springs where
he received medical care through hospice.
The family will be posting more information on the Caring
Bridge web site.
“We will be posting a tribute in the next day or two on our
web site to Chris. (www.hslda.org) One of the blessings we had was at the HSLDA
leadership conference, we did a tribute to Chris that was videotaped. Many of
the leaders were able to look right into the camera and speak directly to Chris
as we recalled the many experiences we had with this home schooling giant. He was actually able to view the tribute
before he left us.
“We cannot replace Chris but all of us can remember the
attribute that most impressed us about Chris and strive to emulate it in our
life. This will be the greatest tribute
we can give to this great man.”
- Mike Smith, President of HSLDA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I (Gary) have been blessed to know Chris personally since
founding WCFS. I first met him in a small two room office space, he had just
left CWA to begin working with HSLDA. My last meeting was a lunch meeting last
January. From the first to the last, Chris has always been a kind and
encouraging brother in Christ. While his legal labors have been the backbone
for good home school laws across all 50 states, his greatest affect has been
the open-book manner by which he has shared the difficult journey of MS. His
life has touched hearts around the globe.
Chris was the author of Homeschool Heroes, a beloved
conference speaker, and the lead attorney for HSLDA for over 26 years. Chris is
survived by his wife Tracy and their seven children. Chris had suffered for 15
years with an aggressive kind of MS that accelerated after a serious car
accident last December.
Tracy began
sharing Chris’s final journey back in June when she began a website for Chris
at the Caring Bridge
website. As of today, nearly 250,000 visits have been registered at the website
as well as 3,200 guestbook entries sharing love and compassion and gratitude
with the family. You may access the
website @ http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/chrisklicka for a personal visit. Tracy’s
post of his passing was precious, and I’ve taken the liberty to share it here…
PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD IS THE DEATH OF HIS
SAINTS...
Dear praying friends,
There is a part of me that would have liked to keep this
news to ourselves for a little while. Chris’ journey toward Home has been very
public, which has been a blessing to us through your intercession and words of
love and encouragement. Yet, at this moment, while his loss is so fresh, I had
hoped to savor his last moments with us and his passing all to ourselves, but
such is not the case.
So with great sadness and with a joy that we can barely
contain, we announce that our husband/father Chris has gone Home to be with the
Lord. He slept peacefully last night, though his breathing was shallow and very
rapid. Then this morning when the hospice nurse came to check him over, she
commented specifically how low his blood pressure had gotten and that with the
mottling around his knees and ankles, grayer skin tone and coldness in his
face, that he didn’t have much time left with us.
I had been sitting with Chris this morning telling him about
Megan and her wedding dress and how kind God was to let all us girls be
together when she found it. I told him I had so hoped he could see her in her
dress before he went Home, and as I was talking two little tears trickled down
his cheeks. I know he would have loved to see her! I know, too, he so wanted to
be able to communicate with us at the end. It broke my heart to see his
sadness. I imagine, though, too, that his tears were mingled with joy for
Megan’s future with Brendan.
After Anna (the hospice nurse) took Chris’ vitals a second
time, his blood pressure having dropped some more, she recommended that I get
our kids down to see and talk to their dad. I called them all from wherever
they all were around the house, and when the last child came, Bethany
announced, “Hey, Dad, we’re all here. We love you!” Chris took one more breath
and was gone.
I know to try and describe our sadness—the longing and
aching in our hearts right now—would be impossible, so I won’t try. I will
share a picture the Lord gave within minutes after Chris’ departure.
I saw him with his old western boots and jeans on (like he
used to wear at Grove City College when he would run over to see me at my dorm—he
was a senior and I was a freshman when we met there), running at top speed in
Heaven. I pictured a huge smile (the one I love best) on his face and fellow
saints yelling out greetings of welcome to him, some even asking him to stop
and visit with them, and heard his reply, “I’ve got to run for the Lord up
here. I’m making up for lost time down on Earth. I’m praising God and have to
use my legs to do it. Stop me in about 100 years, and we’ll sit down and have a
nice long visit!”
Two days before God brought Chris home the Lord gave me this
short verse to encourage me:
“No longer cloaked in frail humanity,? His spirit soars to
gain Celestial joys,? Unimpeded by death’s dark night? And free from the weight
of sin’s alloys.
My beloved sings! The object of his song? Is the One who
bled and died for him,? No sweeter name did e’er he speak? Or treasure in his
inner man.”
Thank you, for both grieving AND rejoicing with us, and for
your continued prayers for us these next weeks and months!
Looking forward to that day, when we too, shall see our
beloved Jesus face to face,
~Tracy, for
Chris (one last time) and the whole Klickaclan
~~~~~~~
…We grieve not as others who have no hope!
~Gary, for WCFS
Chris Klicka Tribute
In tribute to Chris, Paul Butler at Moody Radio produced a
seven minute segment. It includes clips from Paul’s interview with Chris last
year. To hear this encouraging clip online, go to: http://moodyradiopaulbutler.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/chris-klicka-tribute
[note: originally
published in the November 2009 Family Heritage Developer]