Christina Marie Alm

May 8, 1973 – June 25, 2013

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Christina Marie Alm who passed away suddenly in Vancouver British Columbia.

Christina is survived by her daughter Shelby McNelly, mother Lone Rasmussen, father Denis Alm, stepmother Myrt Brewster, sister Laurie Moring (Sean), step-sister Gale Ranta (Duane), step-brother Lee Johnson, nephew Andrew Moring, grandmother Verna Alm, partner Christopher, and many aunts, uncles, cousins and extended family members.

Christina spent most of her childhood years and some of her early adult years in Mayerthorpe, Alberta, where Shelby was born, before moving away and eventually settling in the city she loved, Vancouver. She worked at an organic food warehouse where she moved by hand up to sixteen thousand pounds of bananas per day. This kept her healthy and strong. She was affectionately known as the Banana Queen.

While continuing with her work, she decided to attend college to study urban planning. She graduated from the Human Geography Program at Simon Fraser University in 2012.

Christina was always an explorer and adventurer, inquisitive and curious about the world around her. From her earliest days of exploration and discovery on the farm near Mayerthorpe with sister Laurie and collie Sandy, to her days of exploring cityscapes, caves, mines, mountains and deserts, Christina’s inquisitiveness never left her. She loved the outdoors. She grew more strong, resilient, principled, disciplined, kind and loving. It was her instinct to nurture those around her, and she was particularly sensitive to those in need or those experiencing hardship.

Christina valued and greatly enjoyed her work colleagues, her university acquaintances, her many bicycling friends, and the people with whom she explored the world around her. She also treasured and nurtured close bonds with her family. She cherished every moment spent with her daughter Shelby. She enjoyed family reunions, family trips, family gatherings and many other similar occasions.

Christina was not oriented toward wealth or material gain, believing instead in the need for all to strive to treat the earth well, taking from it only what was truly needed and giving back the rest. She left a very small footprint on the environment. She lived her core values in her day to day life. She rode a bicycle or public transit. She grew gardens and encouraged others to do the same by becoming a board member for MOBY (My Own Back Yard) Community Garden, one of the organizations in Vancouver encouraging the utilization of small available land spaces as community gardens.

Christina was greatly loved and will be dearly missed. A celebration of her life has been held in Vancouver. In coming weeks, others will be held in Creston B.C. and Peace River Alberta, with friends and family welcome to attend. Condolences may also be expressed at www.anaffordablecremation.com.