Christina Rukavina

Christina Rukavina passed away last Sunday, April 6th, after a valiant 9 month battle with uterine cancer. She was 72 years young. She was preceded in death by her mom and dad, Martha and Louis Rukavina; her beloved nephews, Mark Timothy Rukavina and Peter Paul Rukavina; as well as her sister-in-law, Linda Scallon Rukavina. Chris is the first of our 10 to join our parents in heaven, and she leaves behind her grieving brothers and sisters, Lou, Mark (Linda) , Peter, Mary (John) Andy, Mike (Amy) Rosemary, Anthony (Christine) and Annemarie; dozens of nieces and nephews; numerous Butler, Blake, Gerich, Tarpey, Warburton, and Derksen cousins; and hundreds of lifelong friends, including Susan Doherty George. Chris was an amazing artist and incredibly talented writer, pianist, singer, and photographer. But her passion was dance. She began dancing at a very young age, ballet mostly, but she later engaged in tap and modern dance. Upon graduation from high school, she auditioned for the National Singing Group, The Brothers and Sisters, and they toured internationally with Doc Severenson and the tonight show band. She was also a very talented writer and began her career as a journalist with the North Shore Herald and later the old Milwaukee Sentinel. She eventually served as the editor of the Ripon Commonwealth Press. Chris was a devout Catholic and she practiced her faith every single day. (In her later years she taught dance to children from some of the poorer areas of New Orleans and if they showed up without ballet clothes or shoes, she would use her own funds to purchase proper ballet shoes for them because if a child wanted to learn dance- Chris would move heaven and earth to insure they were welcome in her class and that they would be properly outfitted.) Chris was curious and fed her curiosity by becoming a voracious reader. She loved both fiction and nonfiction and had a lifelong love affair with poetry. She was educated at Saint Monica Grade School, Dominican High School, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Tulane University with a BFA and later earned her master's in writing from Hollins University in Virginia. Virginia became her adopted state. Her retirement years were filled with taking long walks, praying, writing poetry and volunteering at her local Catholic Church. We will miss our sister forever, but we are comforted to know that she is at peace and in the loving arms of Jesus and our mom and dad. Sleep well Chris - we love you. Chris will be buried alongside our mom and dad at Holy Cross Cemetery, and we will hold a memorial service sometime this summer. An online guestbook is available at www.compassionatecremationva.com Compassionate Cremation Services of Ruckersville, VA is handling the arrangements.

Christina Rukavina

September 23, 1952 - April 6, 2025