Christian James Royston

Christian James Royston most recently of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, was born on June 29, 1998, in Elk Grove Village, Illinois and died on May 28, 2025, in a tragic accident.
Christian was a quiet but funny boy growing up. He loved to play video games and nerf wars with his friends. He loved to read as a child and later grew to love Anime books and writing. He was artistically talented and could draw anything. He loved Rubik's cubes, always taking them everywhere he went and could solve one in under 12 seconds. He was very gifted at solving puzzles and would often complete one with his mom when he visited.
Growing up he played baseball, soccer, and frisbee golf, learned to play guitar, loved and was loved by all animals, and loved to cook. In high school he participated in JROTC where he proudly earned the position of company commander. He was a longtime employee at Fareway grocery store starting in high school.
Christian was very intelligent and always a great student. While at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, he always enrolled in advanced level courses and earned high grades. Following graduation in 2016, he received a George Washington Carver full tuition scholarship to attend Iowa State University where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering in 2020. Following the pandemic, he returned to Iowa State to pursue his passion of becoming a sports journalist. He had just completed all coursework and internships for that degree. As a student, he worked at the Iowa State Daily, the campus newspaper, as a reporter, writer, and sports editor as well as creating podcasts. As part of his journalism degree, he completed internships with the Iowa Barnstormers professional indoor football team as social media coordinator and as a sportswriter and editor for the Carroll Times Herald in Carroll, Iowa. Christian loved watching sports and was a very gifted storyteller and writer. He found his voice and passion in college where he came out of his shell and developed into a strong and confident young man.
In August 2024, he moved to St Louis Park, Minnesota with his friends. Christian also loved to cook and was very talented. Many had great memories with him cooking and eating his food creations. For the last few months, he had been working close to one year as a chef at Kona Grill in Eden Prairie, MN.
He had plans to move back to Iowa in June to pursue a new life with his girlfriend, Gloria and begin full-time work as a sports journalist. He was very excited about this upcoming move and all the great things ahead of him. Christian was an amazing person. He was kind, caring, generous, smart, funny, and handsome. He was a great student, a hardworking and reliable co-worker/employee, and a dedicated and loyal friend. He was also the best son anyone could hope for and an incredible big brother to Jackie.
He is survived by his immediate family members including his mother, Christy Johnston and her partner, Todd Richards: father, Clint Royston and stepmother, Natalie Royston; his sister, Jackie Royston; girlfriend, Gloria Youngbear; grandmothers, Elaine Haugen and Irene Royston. As well as additional family members including his aunt, Marie Haugen and her children, Martha, Genevieve, and Brigitta Haugen, his aunt, Wendy; and uncle, Chad Berry and their children, Burke and Mardie Berry; and his step-grandparents, Kenneth and Ernestine Steele. He is preceded in death by his grandfathers, James Haugen and Bill Royston; stepfather, JR Johnston; uncle, Greg Haugen; great-grandparents, Jack and Goldie Royston; John and Margaret Eckrich; Albert and Martha Clark; and Conrad and Alice Haugen; as well as aunts and uncles on both sides of the family.
The following services will be held to honor the life of Christian.
Mass of Christian Burial at 10AM Thursday, June 5, 2025, St Pius X 3663 66th Street, Urbandale, Iowa, following the mass there will be a reception in the church hall. Visitation will be 9AM until service time.
Funeral service at 1PM Friday, June 6, 2025, at Polk City United Methodist Church 1421 W Broadway Street, Polk City, Iowa. Visitation will be from 12PM until service time. Following this service from 2PM-4PM there will be a celebration of life gathering and fellowship, at the church.
Memorial contributions should be donated to the Iowa State Daily in memory of Christian and his love of journalism.