CHRISTINE GAWNE WICK

WICK CHRISTINE GAWNE
Christine Gawne Wick, age 95, died Saturday, July 30, 2011, at the Kendal-Crosslands Community in Kennett Square, PA. She and her husband Paul, who died on April 22 of this year, had recently celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary. Born in Pittsburgh, PA to the late Jane Lazear Gawne and Capt. James Orville Gawne, she lived in many places during her father's naval career, but was raised primarily in Washington, DC. While the family was stationed abroad, she attended North Foreland Lodge, Broadstairs, Kent, England. She graduated from The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, NY and Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School in New York City. Christine worked as a personal secretary in the 1930s for Anne Morrow Lindbergh and Col. Charles Lindbergh, helping them with their book manuscripts and voluminous correspondence. During World War II she worked for the Red Cross as a nurse's aide. On February 2, 1945, she was married in Washington, DC, to Paul Myron Wick and traveled around the country with him until the end of his wartime naval service. Christine and Paul raised their four daughters in Sewickley, PA, outside of Pittsburgh, where she was an active volunteer in a number of organizations, including the Junior League and the Colonial Dames. She was a lifelong amateur naturalist and ornithologist, hobbies that she shared with her husband. She introduced her daughters to all her enthusiasms, including ballet, music, camping, and sports. Christine could beat all her daughters in tennis for many years and would frequently start family songfests. She was also certified in a Japanese flower arranging technique called Ikebana. Survivors include her four daughters, Christine Wick Sizemore, Laura Wick, Wendy Wick Reaves and Sandra Wick Ruggiero; along with their husbands and Christine's eleven grandchildren; and six great- grandchildren. She was predeceased by her brother James Gawne. Memorial services will be held at the United Church of Dorset, 143 Church Street, Dorset, VT on Thursday, August 11 at 1:00 p.m. and at Crosslands, 1660 E. Street Road (Route 926) Kennett Square, PA on August 28 at 2:00 p.m. The family will appreciate thoughts and prayers instead of flowers. Christine's favorite charities were Heifer International, the Lower Brandywine Presbyterian Church, Waldorf High School of Massachusetts Bay and the Christine and Paul Wick fund at the National Portrait Gallery. Arrangements by the KUZO & GRIECO FUNERAL HOME Kennett Square, PA (610-444-4116).
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