Christina Van Buskirk

Christina Van Buskirk, 74, of Millerstown, Pennsylvania died July 21, 2023 after a courageous battle with a sudden illness.

Christina was born September 27, 1948 in Baltimore, Maryland, a daughter of Harvey and Betsy Powers.  The family moved to Lewisburg in 1949.  Christina was a 1966 graduate of Lewisburg Area High School.  She married her best friend and the love of her life, Clayton George, ("Cork"), Van Buskirk on June 10, 1966.  Christina and Cork celebrated 39 years of marriage together before Cork's death on February 27, 2006.

Christina earned a bachelor's degree in English Literature from Bucknell University in 1970 and a master's in English from Bucknell in 1978.  She started her professional career in 1970 as an English teacher in Milton, Pennsylvania where she taught 6th through 9th grade students.  She taught at Milton until 1978 and then spent many years working in higher education as an administrator.  In addition to her administrative roles, she was an adjunct faculty member at Muhlenburg College (1987-1989) and Cedar Crest College (1981-1986), both in Allentown, Pennsylvania.  Christina spent the last nearly 25 years of her professional career at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  She retired from Dickinson in 2014 as the Associate Vice President for College Advancement and Associate Provost for Academic Affairs.  She cherished her relationships with colleagues and took great pride in her work.

Christina — Chris, or Grandma Chris to many — was an incredibly intelligent, strong, and generous person.  She taught her children, and their children, to be inquisitive and independent. She was magical in the way she made those around her feel loved.  She gave selflessly to her family and her friends in every way, and always.  She made time for the people she loved despite having many responsibilities.  She was creative and had an excellent eye for design.  She worked side by side with her husband, Cork, on the restoration of an 1860 farmhouse outside of Millerstown that was their home.  Christina continued with restoration projects the couple had planned even after Cork's death in 2006.  She loved gardening and had a wealth of knowledge about flowers and herbs.  She was an avid reader.  She loved to play Scrabble and rarely lost a game; she enjoyed playing in Scrabble tournaments for many years and cherished equally games at home with her family.  Christina was most driven by her love for family and friends.  She will be sadly missed by so many whose lives she has touched and molded.

Christina is survived by her two daughters, Betsy Van Buskirk, of Lewisburg, and Katherine Oliver and her husband, Christopher, of Pennsylvania Furnace; her grandson, Aaron Van Buskirk and his wife, Amanda, and their son, Clayton, of Waltham, M.A.; her granddaughters, Guinevere Oliver, of Falls Church, V.A. and Tegan Oliver, of Pennsylvania Furnace, Also surviving are her sister, Dianne Powers, of Lewisburg, and her brother, Marc Powers and his wife, Audrey, of Trumansburg, N.Y.

Funeral services will be at 1:00 p.m. Friday, July 28 at the First Baptist Church 51 S. Third St. Lewisburg with the Rev. Dr. John Colatch, officiating.

Burial will follow in Lewisburg Cemetery.

Contributions may be made in Christina's memory to the Van Buskirk Student-Faculty Research Fund for Environmental Fieldwork, https://our.dickinson.edu/gift

Dickinson College, Office of College Advancement, P.O. Box 1773, Carlisle, PA  17013

The family is being assisted by Cronrath-Grenoble Funeral Home, South Second and St. Louis streets, Lewisburg.