William Robert Christian passed away suddenly on January 10, 2025, at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital with his daughter Sheila Christian Janssen and her husband Jeff Janssen by his side. His Caregiver of three years that my Father loved and she loved him drove from West Virginia to say Good-bye Crystal Treadway and her husband Elijah. She kept my Dad happy working in the garden and doing all the things he loved. She went beyond what she had too and I knew he was in good hands. He would say Sheila go home, me and Crystal have this. My father's trade was welding which he learned in the Navy. He served from 1952 to 1956. His main ship during the Korean War was on the U.S.S. Vulcan.  This ship would repair the damaged ships at sea. My brother followed in his footsteps in careers as a certified welder.  Later my father also did Plumbing and Pipefitting. One of my father's passion's was gardening. He enjoyed sharing his vegetables and also his flower garden. Crystal and I got one over on him last year, when we planted about a hundred mammoth sunflowers and they grew between 12 and 17 feet tall.  My father had demacular degeneration but he knew when something wasn't growing right that he planted. So we had to tell my father about those sunflowers.  I will tell you he could see those and he loved them. My dad wanted to live long enough to see his great-grandson Andrew Frie graduate from East Carolina State University. He was one of Andrew's greatest supporters and he did live to see him graduate on May 4, 2024, which made him so proud. My father was the epitome of what a man should be as a Christian, Father, Grandfather and Great-grandfather. He led his life by example, by how he treated others and constantly by teaching lessons of life with his wisdom and kindness. He never missed an opportunity to teach about his faith in God because he wanted everyone to have the chance to be saved. My father's greatest passion was preaching which he did in his 80's in the Church of Christ in Welch, WV.  They had a small congregation so my father would do the class, preach the sermon and also be the song leader. Even with his demacular degeneration and being legally blind, this didn't stop him.

He used an Electronic Magnetic Machine and listened to tapes and memorized his sermons. I didn't inherit this gift from him or his math skills. Dad loved being outside in his garden and apple orchard. One story I'm going to tell is for a reason since he passed. He had a pet Robin that came back for the last 7 or 8 years of his life. I witnessed this when I was there caring for him. This Robin would come up to him wherever he was sitting. When my father got the old tiller out his Robin would followed him to get the fresh worms. Now after he passed my heart is crushed, we were so close and I was so blessed to take care of him the last two of the last three years of his life.  So we shared lots of stories and memories. After he passed away, I am at home crying and I looked out my window and saw 40 to 50 Robins in my yard. My grandson Andrew, came in to comfort me and he saw those robins.  In fact, they are still here because he probably knows how hard this is for me to write. They say someone from Heaven is sending you a sign to let you know that your loved is watching over you.  To honor my Father, I will continue to do good for others by living my life as a Christian and teaching others by the way I live.  We can only change this country one person at a time. My dad, loved this country and was proud to serve,  His family was proud of him as a Veteran. Now my father is in heaven, and he can see again and he has no pain. I know he is talking to family, and knowing my father, I can see him talking to as many people in the Bible as he can. We will miss you Dad and Papa and we will see you again one day.

My father's scripture as he was teaching is Acts 2:38 (KJV) "Now Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall received the gift of the Holy Ghost."

He was preceded in death by his grandfather who raised him when he was young, William Acon Whittaker, his mother, Lottie Whittaker Thompson, the mother of his children, Patricia Christian Whaley, his brothers, Thomas Watson Christian Jr. and Graham Thompson, one niece, Carmela Garrett, his brother-in-law, Robert Pendergast and his sister-in-law, Lois Castagna.

Left to cherish his memory are his loving daughter, Sheila Christian Janssen and husband Jeff Janssen; his loving son, Robert Eric Christian and his wife Nancy Christian; his granddaughter, Amber Christina Weaver; his great-grandson Andrew Joseph Frie, his sister Evelyn Jenkins;  his nephew David Thompson and his wife Kathy; his great- niece, Chelsea Thompson and her husband Larry and their son Niko;  his great-niece Lindsay Robert's and her husband Dustin; his niece, Sherri Horn and her husband Micheal and his great-niece, Kimberly Guice; his niece, Terri Vaden and great-nephew, Taylor Vaden; his nephew, Bobby Pendergast and his great-nephew, R.J. Pendergast; his sister-in-law, Phyllis Pendergast; his brother-in-law, Tony Castagna. A special thank you to Richard Scott Hogan who helped my father for many years. A special thank you to Crystal Treadway who was more than a caregiver she was family and made him so happy the last three years.

The family has honored William's request to be cremated with no services. Online condolences may be shared with the family via www.memorialfd.com . The Christian family is being served by the Memorial Funeral Directory and Cremation Center on the Athens Road in Princeton.