Christa Bauer Gilley

Christa Nicole Bauer Gilley (Feb. 7, 1986 - Oct. 8, 2024) had a rare gift: the capacity to welcome and care for everyone in her orbit. A born nurturer, she was blessed with a magnetism that drew in family, friends and strangers, who rarely stayed strangers for long.
In fact, it was nearly impossible not to be close to Christa. As a physical therapist, she had no qualms doling out a warm embrace. She knew just when to hold hands while sharing a clever joke or to link arms to smooth a moment of anguish. More often than not, she'd end up wrapped around another's shoulders, comforting or laughing, or both.
Christa had an innate ability to heal, and a God-given talent for sharing her love. She captured her parents' hearts the day she was born in February 1986, a ray of sunshine in gray, chilly Pittsburgh. The first of four girls, Christa was a quintessential oldest daughter, starting her caregiving career by looking out for her younger sisters; Samantha, Laura and Sara. Part role model and part cheerleader, Christa guided her sisters through homework and setbacks and the responsibilities of the family's multiple restaurants, where, there too, she served customers with warmth.
Christa regularly found ways to expand her already large family, both biological and chosen, enveloping her cousins on annual beach trips and playing second mom to her sister's friends as well as her own.
Christa handled a move in middle school - from Pennsylvania to Courtland, Ohio to Summerville, South Carolina - with characteristic grace, quickly making connections in the tight-knit community. Soon she was riding to school with neighbors who became life-long friends. She joined the Summerville High School color guard, and pitched for the softball team, her wiry frame belaying her ability to throw a curveball.
Behind her sweet exterior also hid a sharp intellect and wry sense of humor. She was an excellent and driven student, and outside the Greenwave halls, had an adventurous streak. Senior skip days (liberally adopted by all) were spent on jet skis singing made-up songs about alligators, or on trips to Folly Beach shouting the lyrics to the "Sister Act" soundtrack. It was during those years she met the rest of the "Pink Ladies," an inseperable friend group that adopted "Dancing in the Moonlight" as both theme song and mantra - a call to get out and dance, carefree, in the parking lots, fields, childhood bedrooms, and later, weddings and reunions.
Christa attended Clemson University in 2004, and Tiger football became part of her DNA. She rushed Alpha Chi Omega, latching on to pledge sisters, equally nervous at their first rush parties, and never letting go. Like real sisters, they shared shoes and secrets, had slumber parties and marveled at Christa's ability to make it to 8 a.m. anatomy class. Yet, even while studying abroad in Italy, she took time away from the food, wine and nightlife to watch reruns while nursing a feverish friend.
She graduated with a degree in public health in 2008, and went on to earn a doctorate in physical therapy at the University of Pittsburgh, a return that only strengthened her devotion to the Steelers. She became a board-certified clinical specialist in cardiovascular and pulmonary physical therapy, and after serving several years as a traveling physical therapist, settled in Houston in 2014, where she embraced her new home and community. There, Christa adopted Riggs - a golden retriever and her first child - and found her tribe in the Houston Clemson Club,where she was known to make those deemed bad luck leave a watch party or two, which she organized as president.
Christa found her dream job at Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center caring for critically ill patients with heart and lung complications, alongside colleagues who became her work family. She was a fierce patient advocate, developing and implementing protocols to improve their mobility. She later became an adjunct instructor of physical therapy at the University of Texas Medical Branch and at Pitt, using her mentoring skills to nurture and train the next generation of PTs.
In 2020, Christa fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming a mother to daughter, Madeline, then son Gannon in 2022. She excelled at motherhood, her most cherished role, and showed it in big ways, including her seemingly endless patience, and small, like carrying a box of sprinkles around Sicily to bring home because they were Madi's favorite. She was the first to plan birthday parties, usually months in advance (complete with plenty of sprinkles), and to enroll her kids in sports (softball, naturally). She also found the time to encourage other mothers in her life, lifting them up during the hardest points of parenting. She was thrilled to be pregnant with her third child, and to reveal to her family she was due in May.
Christa was humble in her strong Christian faith, serving others quietly without the need for recognition. Often she did it so seamlessly the recipients barely knew it, except that they felt better in her company. Christa and her unborn child returned to the Lord on Oct. 8. She is survived by her two children as well as her loving parents, Chris and Sharon Bauer, and devoted sisters Samantha Bauer, Sara Bauer and Laura Bauer (Nick) Walling - all of whom shaped her into the beautiful and considerate woman sorely missed by extended family and a sprawling network of friends, colleagues, students and patients.
A Gathering of family and friends will be held on November 25 from 6pm to 8pm at James A. Dyal Funeral Home, 303 South Main Street, Summerville, SC 29483. A Memorial Mass will be held on November 26 at 11:00am at St. John the Beloved Catholic Church, 28 Sumter Ave, Summerville, SC 29483. An Inurnment will be held immediately following the Mass at Dorchester Memory Gardens, 11000 Dorchester Road, Summerville, SC 29485.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to a fund for the Bauer family caring for Christa's children, and for legal and travel costs associated with her death.