Thomas Christie

1925 - 2020

Thomas Christie, MD July 8, 1925- May 18, 2020 Tom Christie was born in Partick Cross, Glasgow, Scotland on July 8, 1925 to Sophie McBride and Thomas Christie. Around the corner lived the Gardner family. The eldest son, Tom Gardner, and Tom Christie became life-long best friends. Tom Gardner’s younger sister, Jean Gardner, would later become Tom Christie’s wife. On his eighteenth birthday, when World War II was at its peak, Tom Christie received a draft letter from the United Kingdom Armed Forces. He entered basic training with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of the Scottish Army and was sent to Italy in the summer of 1944. After the war, he returned home and entered medical school at the University of Glasgow. In quick succession starting on July 8,1952, he took his medical board exams, on July 9th, he married Jean Gardner and on July 10th, they boarded the USS United States as she returned to NYC from her maiden voyage. He often said he came to the United States with less than $100 in his pocket. When they landed in New York City on a hot July day, trunks full of woolen clothing, a family friend took them into a bar and introduced them to a drink called a Tom Collins. To the end of their days, Jean and Tom would never forget how good that drink tasted on their first day in the U.S.A. Between 1955 to 1965, Tom and Jean had 5 children and moved from Western Pennsylvania, to Virginia, to West Virginia and eventually to Wayne, PA where Tom stopped practicing medicine and embarked on what became a 30 year plus career running the International Medical Affairs division for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. In his final years of work, Tom reveled in having Jean travel with him internationally. Often, when they would find themselves in one of the world’s great cities or beautiful locations, they would often turn to each other and say, “It’s a long way from Partick Cross.” They never forgot their roots nor the opportunities the U.S.A. had provided them. After a brief illness, Jean passed in 2008 and Tom continued to live in their home in Wayne surrounded by caring neighbors for another 9 years. Tom will be remembered as a man who was all personality. He had a fabulous joie de vivre and a quick witted sense of humor. He loved to entertain, to dance, to make people laugh and to make his family and those he cared about feel loved. He was a man of generous spirit and was a devoted son, husband, father, uncle, and grandfather. He is survived by his son Tom Christie and daughter-in law Sandra Mitlas, daughter Linda Christie and son-in-law Curtis Mills, daughter Michele Christie and son-in-law Richard Kahn, and daughter Diane Christie Shaffer and son-in-law Dan Shaffer; and his 9 grandchildren Thomas D., Julia, Stanton, Thomas, Stephen, Stephanie, Andrew, Liam and Nicholas. The family will have a private burial on Saturday, May 23rd at Calvary Cemetery where Tom will be laid to rest next to his daughter Stephanie and his wife Jean.