fallen soldier

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.


John 15:13






Christopher Gathercole


Born October 16,1986. Died May 26, 2008, during combat operations while serving his country in Afghanistan. Loving little boy, precocious teen, strong warrior. He gave what he could, but left us wanting so much more.

Chris came into the world with a wonderful smile. It defined his being and captured anyone's heart who ever met him. He and his brother Edward were the inseparable pair. Quick to laugh, oblivious to harm, and always looking for mischief. Those early years became difficult and Chris entered the Sonoma County foster care system. Because of many different circumstances, Chris was eventually separated from his brother Edward, and he ended up residing in several different foster placements throughout Sonoma County. Chris and his brother traveled parallel, but separate, paths during their teen years and finally were able to reunite in 2002.

Chris' life was an odyssey. He went from the security of family to the unfamiliarity of foster placement; from one school to another; from friends in one place to friends in another; from high school graduation to Army enlistment; and finally from infantryman to the elite status of Ranger.

He was a social being who loved interaction with his friends, but chafed at the mechanics of school and work. Chris sometimes put too much of his love and belief in others who were unable to reciprocate in-kind. That led to increasing turmoil in his later teens when he was finally forced to face some harsh realities. During that time came the transformation from child to young man. Gone was the dismissal of personal responsibility. Gone was the disregard for those who cared about him most. Chris embraced his newly found direction and committed to making his life worthy of the love and support he had received from others. That resolve motivated him to graduate from high school, join the Army, set higher goals, excel at all the challenges he faced, and ultimately emerge as a self-made man.

Chris is survived by his close brother Edward; loving sisters Jennifer Daly and Sarah Ferrell; caring grandmothers Maryann Haines and Heidi Moore; devoted CASA Terry Vail; Aunts Charlene Haines, Candace Wilson, Claudette Biemeret, and Nancy Giordano; Uncles Gordy Giordano and John Wilson; cousins Amber Haines, Emily and Sophia Wilson, and Sharmagne and Todd Sterbens; niece Ahnna Peterson; second cousins Cheyenne and Sierra Sterbens; Stepdad Stan Ferrell; Uncle Bill Ferrell; father Eddie Ray Gathercole; and mother Catherine Ferrell.

Individual respects for Chris may be paid from 1PM to 8PM on Saturday, June 7, 2008 at Eggen and Lance Mortuary, 1540 Mendocino Ave. S.R. (flowers may be sent to the mortuary the day before). Full military burial services for Chris will be conducted at 1PM, Sunday, June 8, at Santa Rosa Memorial Park Mortuary (Franklin Park Cemetery).

The family wishes to extend their deepest appreciation to those individuals who cared for, protected, and showed love to Chris during the time he was in the foster care system: True to Life Children's Services, Millie Gilson, Jacqueline Gillespie, Rebecca Parker, Deborah Gilday, Mimi Donahue, Sue May, Alex Hamberis, Greg Begin, Lupe Dyer, Laurie Sutton, Judge Arnold Rosenfield, Judge Mark Tansil, Commissioner Carla Bonilla, and Commissioner Dennis Beaman.

Donations may be made in Chris' name to Court Appointed Special Advocates of Sonoma County, P.O. Box 1418, Kenwood, CA 95452. Any funds donated will be used to further CASA's mission of advocating the interests of children in the foster care system. And to the 2nd Ranger Battalion (BN) Assistance Foundation, c/o Merrill Lynch, 1630 So. Lindbergh Blvd. St. Louis ,MO 63131. Any funds donated will be used to support the families of these elite class of soldiers for which only the second battalion has no outside source of sustained monetary support.