Christian Owens Stevens

"His Smile Lit Up a Room" - I never saw Christian without a smile on his face - his smile lit up a room. He was so proud of his wife and children, his skydiving team and buddies, and all men and women who served their country in a military capacity. His heart was full of love, which you could see in everything he did - from greeting you with a big bear hug to sitting down and chatting, having a good time with one or with many. His welcome to Bobby Henline and me at the golf tournament to benefit his charity for kids at Christmas was nothing less than perfect. Christian was a special person and we will miss him terribly. May God wrap his arms around his family to bring Comfort, his memories will always make us smile.

"Memory Down Range" - I am heartbroken and angry by the loss of my best friend Christian Owens Stevens, my battle buddy, and fraternity brother. Regardless if we were training together in the Army, yelling at each other while valet parking cars or working the golf tournament, camping, out on adventures with our kids, skydiving together, or acting stupid while in college usually wherever Christian was it was always the place to be and it always seemed to be that way. He has been in my life for so long and with his courage and strength I believed like all of us that he was invincible like a superhero. He lived a thousand lives in a short amount of time. As Christopher Manning put it Christian was always chasing something he could never catch and we all loved to watch him chase it. A part of me is gone today. I will have a hard time telling Christian's stories to strangers without saying "you just have to know Chris and you would understand.... or maybe not". I have spent countless Birthdays and Holidays with him and his family and will continue to do so. Angel I am here for you and always will be. Whatever you need just remember I am right down the road. Christian loved being a devoted husband and a dad more than anything and Sean Katz I agree with you Christian is truly one of the best "daughter dads" I know. He and his family have always been very kind to my family and other’s as well. My children adore the Steven's camp that Angel hosts during school breaks. He did so much for the Veteran and Military community. Operation Santa /the freedom fighter open, sponsoring the Best Ranger competition, assisting Ranger Katz with the Steele's Bridge 100 year Memorial service, hiking with Highschool kids interested in a career in the Army to the Veteran's cemetery, answering phones with legendary Karl Beck at GA PBS to raise money to support the troops the list goes on and on and all of us believed it would continue. He opened his doors several times to veterans and would literally give the shirt off his back to help them out. He has touched the lives of law enforcement, politicians, and the medical community through his profession and efforts to give back. When you are in the presence of Chris it motivates you to be a better person and live life to the fullest regardless of where you are. Kenneth Randall nailed it when he said I have never seen Chris back down from a fight, but sometimes he goes looking for that fight…why is that? Chris is a true Patriot that would call out anyone and anything when necessary and often when no one else would. Rest in peace Christian I will miss you. Patriot, devoted husband, father, son, proud US Army Ranger, and above all else a great friend and brother. Blue skies & Rangers Lead the Way!

"Disabled Veterans Charity Golf Event" - Christian helped me raise money for Disabled Veterans through a Charity Golf Event I host in Asheville, NC. He was my hero, friend, and Ranger Buddy. RLTW!

"Always Optimistic and Passionate" - Angel, Riley and Charley, we are so sorry for your loss. Christian and I knew each other for almost 17 years. He came to the office with a smile, always optimistic and passionate about what he did. He always asked about my stepson who is also military and had words of encouragement. We have fond memories of Christian personally and professionally. Our hearts break for your loss of a husband and father. Racheal and I are praying for peace and comfort during this difficult time.

"Condolences" - So sorry to hear of Christian's passing. I always enjoyed our conversations at Dermatology meetings and the occasions when he visited my office. As former Army men we shared several interests, and could always pick up the conversation where we left off the last time. Condolences to your family. May the Lord grant you that Peace which passes all understanding.

"An Anspiration" - Chris was an inspiration. Saw him down at the VA hospital. His smile was awesome. He was committed to helping all those in need, was fiercely patriotic, & completely devoted to his family. He will be missed but his legacy and his caring spirt will live on. His kindness will never be forgotten. Charlie & Jeanne may God comfort you & walk with you during this terribly sad time.

"Christian Saved My Life" - I went skydiving with my daughter, Kim, on July 7, 2019. My tandem free fall instructor was Christian. My daughter went with someone else so we could jump from the same airplane. I jumped with Christian because I knew him from BridgeMill and he had lots of experience. My daughter and I arrived at the airport in Cedartown and met with our tandem instructors. They got us into our harnesses, gave us a lot of safety instructions and we walked to the airplane. I got into position on a metal bench with Christian on my back. He buckled us together. He asked me what I should do if we crash. I said I did not know. He said "Walk toward the light". Up, up and away to 15,000 feet or 3 miles we went. The red light meant we had 2 minutes. The yellow light meant we had 1 minute. Christian said to put on my goggles. The green light meant go. The side door was opened. Christian scooted me along the bench to the door. I squatted in front of the door with my hands on my chest (safe position) and Christian pushed us out. We did a flip. Christian tapped me on the back and I moved my arms out for the free fall. Wow, here comes the earth at a very fast pace. Did I really do that? What is the matter with me? As we fell, I was focused on breathing. Then there was a big jolt as the primary parachute was deployed and we slowed down a bunch. We started to spin. I thought it was part of the thrill. I guess not. According to Christian (what he told me after we were safe), the primary parachute did not open properly or the lines were tangled or both. Anyway, we were spinning so much that the parachute and us were parallel with the ground and we were dropping at a rapid rate. I was looking at the ground so I did not see the parachute. Here is where Christian's cool-headed experience comes into play. He told me to get into the safe position. He cuts the primary parachute and we go into free fall for a second time. I saw the primary parachute floating into the woods below us. Shortly thereafter I get another jolt. This time the reserve parachute opens properly. Thank you, God. All that is left now is to get onto the ground. Christian told me to lift my legs, lock my knees and point my toes. Roger that! The landing was smooth. We skidded on our butts for a short distance on the grass to a final stop. I laid back on Christian and did not move for a while. I thought he would ask me to get off of him but I think he liked laying there too. He told me later that he had major "pucker factor" during the ordeal. We got up and walked back to the holding area and discussed the jump. Christian has skydived many, many times (over a zillion, I think) and he only had to use the reserve parachute twice. Lucky me. OK. It was on the bucket list. It is now off the bucket list. I most likely will not be jumping again. Thank you Christian. I will see you in heaven in a long time and thank you again. Jeff Smith

"Generous Heart" - Christian lived life to the fullest, I and you could always see that when he smiled. I knew him for 10 years and he took my husband skydiving for his birthday one year. It was a special treat for my husband. He was a kind and gracious man. I will miss him, mostly his smile and him asking me "how is your moral" I will be inspired by his memory to not let fear conquer me. I love you Christan. May you continue to smile upon us and grace the Heavens with your huge and generous heart.

"Great American and Ranger" - Christian was a great American and a great Ranger. I last saw him 6 months ago when he parachuted in to the Atlanta Blaze Major League Lacrosse game in Atlanta during their salute to the Armed Forces and Veterans. He loved doing those jumps with a flag. I was employed by the team and I met Christian on the field when he landed and helped gather his parachute. What a surprise to see it was Christian doing the jump! He was a key planning team member for the 2011 annual meeting of the US Army Ranger Association in Savanah. Many still consider that the best ever annual meeting, and Christian played a key role in the success. Every time we met he talked about his family and how much he loved them all. He had relentless energy and enthusiasm and was a joy to be around. RIP Ranger, you now occupy the High Ground.

"The Beach" - One of Chris and I’s fraternity brother’s house backed up to a lake and he wanted to have a beach so he ordered a dump truck full of sand and placed it on the end of his driveway with the intent of moving the sand from the driveway to his backyard. He asked me for the low low price of $325 to move the sand for him and I agreed because I was in college and broke. So the first day went as expected with a wheel barrel moving the sand was ridiculously hard so I asked Christian if I could borrow his pickup truck and load the sand on the driveway in the back of his truck and just drive it to the beach in the backyard. Chris agreed so I used his truck, but I forgot to close the cab window on the truck so some of the sand and the dust from the sand went inside the cab and unfortunately some of it got into Chis’ CD player. When I returned the truck to Christian we decided to road trip down to Ft Benning to get high and tight haircuts at Ranger Joes. During the trip Christian started to play his CDs on a CD player. Unfortunately every CD that he put in the player would skip and after the third CD started to skip Chris would hit the eject button and would throw the CDs out the window meanwhile his facial expressions got angrier and angrier. It was on the fourth CD that I finally grabbed my checkbook that was in my back pocket. I pulled out the book and said “how much” and then Christian started yelling at me and I said it again “how much”. He yelled even louder to which I responded “how much do I have to pay you to shut up about this”. Needless to say I lost every dime of the money I made building that beach and then some. Fast forward to about 3 years ago. I was going over to Christian‘s house and I parked in his driveway but two of my wheels on the passenger side of the car were in his grass and it left marks in his yard. When I came outside with him to the driveway he noticed that my tires were in his grass. He then said something about how hard it’s was going to be to fix the marks and repair the grass that I have now killed in the yard and to that I responded “how much Chris how much”. He didn’t respond immediately so I went to go and grab my checkbook and I said again this time with blank check in hand “tell me how much I need to pay this time”. Chris responded by saying “don’t worry about it”. I said that is not acceptable. I will pay whatever amount that guarantees that I won’t have to hear about this again. I can’t remember what I paid, but I wrote a check. The check was never cashed but I took that as a personal victory over the wrath of Christian Owens Stevens. Chris and I often fought like an old married couple. We had so much history that usually one argument would bring up several prior arguments. So people wouldn’t understand why he and I would get so intense over something that from the outside seemed so insignificant. This was one of those arguments. I miss him.

I met Christian in a Costco when he approached me to ask about a memorial band I was wearing for a friend of mine who was killed in Iraq. His extroverted, exuberant, larger than life personality resulted in him discovering that I was also a Ranger. He graciously invited me to a cookout as well as a golf tournament he was hosting. I was fortunate to meet Angel, and eventually little Riley. Years later, while I was on a deployment to the middle east, Christian asked for my grid coordinates so he could send me a box a Girl Scout Cookies. This turned out to be hundreds of boxes of Girl Scout Cookies. Initially, the mail guys were not too happy about having load and unload so many boxes, everyone was happy when I shared the wealth. It was wonderful to get a taste of home and remember the support we all had from our friends, families and fellow Americans. He showed me what it was like to give back to others and be a hero to those less fortunate. Christian, I'll see you on the high ground, RLTW!!!