Friends and family gathered in Rollins Chapel Friday to celebrate the memory of Christina Porter '06, who recently passed away from head trauma received during a skiing accident last February. Close friends shared personal stories about Porter, affectionately known as Stina, and her fellow Glee Club members performed some of her favorite songs for the emotional crowd.
French professor John Rassias, one of Porter's favorite professors, described her as "a blazing fireball, a passionate human being who asked questions about everything."
Porter surprised him one day by plastering newspapers, Latin and Greek sayings, sketches of gnomes and a plethora of other imaginative art on his office door to create a striking collage. A trail of pieces of paper with some of Porter's favorite sayings and authors' names written on them led up to the door. Later that day Porter burst into Rassias's office to see the impact of her surprise.
"I glimpsed her soul that day," Rassias said, "and I will never be the same."
Such enthusiasm was characteristic of Porter's personality. Nathan Hamilton '06 remembered Porter as "brilliant, and unconstrained by the limits we so often impose on ourselves."
"I think we can honor her memory by seeing the world the way she did, through a lens of possibility, and spread her sense of wonder," he said.
Lindsey Davis '05, who sang with Porter in the Subtleties, said she was easy to get to know and even easier to get attached to.
"She broke down all the walls I put up around myself," Davis said. "Because of her, I'm more forgiving, less selfish, and maybe those walls she broke down will stay down for good."
The same energy and spirit Porter put into all of her relationships was also expressed in her art and music.
"Art was everywhere for her, and she carried it around with her," Rassias said. She often sketched on napkins and scraps of paper whenever inspiration struck, and according to Davis, Porter could turn anything into art.
"She sculpted a dog from a brownie, made hair products from kitchen supplies and helped create a mural in the Tabard bathroom, which she infused with her love of hippos," Davis said.
Tessa Woodward '05 also remembered Porter making "new and amazing Halloween costumes" every year, such as a picnic table and a candy corn.
The funeral attendees encountered an example of Porter's creativity firsthand when Alexa Spielhagen '06 read one of her poems, "Song of Silverware," about a love affair between a fork and a spoon. The reading elicited laughter from the mourners.
Woodward, who knew Porter since third grade, finished the words of remembrance portion of the service with a slide show and her own memories of Porter. She concluded by saying how much she missed her friend, and Porter's father Brent was moved to kiss her hand as she went to sit down.
Musical performances by the Glee Club preceded a prayer and sermon. They sang Gabriel Faure's "Requiem," which was the first song Porter sang with Glee Club and Claudi Monteverdi's "Quell Augellin Che Canta," one of her favorite pieces. Many of the mourners started crying during the songs and some hugged each other.
Spielhagen, Hamilton, Sarah Ball '06, Ann Volanakis '06, Elizabeth Ranson '06 and Margot Metzler '05 organized the service. Attendants were invited to a reception in McCulloch afterwards and to a benefit for the Christina Fund for Head Trauma on Feb. 8.
Porter's parents established the Christina Fund to foster research and development addressing head trauma received during skiing accidents.
