1955 - 2020
Kristi grew up in a Seattle family of professional musicians. When her parents, Dorothy and Leon, introduced her to the cello there was no stopping her. She followed in the footsteps of her teachers: Eva Heinitz, Gabor Rejto, and Pierre Fournier.
Kristi first concertized in Seattle in her early teens. As her career progressed, she concertized in Los Angeles, Geneva, London, Paris, and finally in New York. She received many enthusiastic reviews. Along the way, she prevented a Stradivarius from being decapitated and played a memorable concert in a pasture to an audience of Swiss farmers.
Kristi chose to take early retirement in order to pursue her twin passions, philosophy and musicology. She returned to Seattle and began to give private classes focusing on Plato’s philosophy. She could easily discuss Plato’s work for extended periods of time without notes.
Encouraged by her successful classes, she launched an ambitious personal quest, establishing the common links between and among the works Plato, Mozart, and Freemasonry created in their common search for absolute truth. She eventually built a library of 10,000 books printed in all her languages—French, Spanish, Italian, German, Ancient Greek, and even basic hieroglyphics, Sadly, her research remains unfinished.
In addition to all her demanding work, Kristi still found personal time to socialize. When she was concertizing, her list of acquaintances extended from O.J. Simpson to Jacque Chirac—when he was mayor of Paris—to Luciano Pavarotti and a host of other celebrities. When Kristi retired, she could finally indulge her wide range of personal interests. They extended from Hobbits, dolls and trolls to decorated Christmas trees and the NASA space program to Charlemagne, Louis XVI and John-Paul II. If that weren’t enough, Kristi, like her Icelandic grandfather, wrote poetry. Her poems were largely about nature and spiritual subjects. Everyone needed to increase their speed to keep up with Kristi’s energy and enthusiasm!
Kristi’s most poignant memories were of the early morning walks she and Dorothy took through Woodland Park Zoo just across the street from their house. All the animals knew both mother and daughter and eagerly awaited their arrival. On one walk they unexpectedly came across Kiki the gorilla who had, to his keeper’s disbelief, escaped from his exhibit. The highlight of every walk was Kristi’s chance to bond with Salat the Komodo dragon. Kristi and Salat eagerly rubbed forearms across the glass window of Salat’s exhibit. Kristi’s love for animals, especially reptiles, knew no bounds.
During the last third of her life, medical problems—especially mold poisoning—that had dogged her from childhood worsened. Without the skilled treatment of her medical team, Kristi could not have survived. Kristi was especially grateful to John C. Burgoyne, M.D., Raymond Singer, Ph. D., and David Buscher, M.D. for their devoted care that gave her a high quality of life for the last twenty years. Eventually, however, the cumulative burden of her illnesses led to repeated hospitalizations that could not restore her health. During her last hospitalization at Overlake Hopital, Kristi was thankful for the exceptional care she received from the 4th floor South and Critical Care Units, especially Lori Walund, M.D., even while they were forced to deal with the Covid-19 virus.
Kristi never did things by halves. She was always totally committed to everything she thought, said and did. She was, at her core, kind and compassionate. She thought constantly of others’ welfare and helped many people. She loved passionately and unconditionally. She will be missed.
Kristi is survived by her fiancé Louis Janson, her Canadian cousins and her close friends.
Remembrances to the Woodland Park Zoo.
If you have photos or recordings to share, please call 206-536-4030.