Christi Ruscigno was born and raised in Seattle, Washington, the middle child of five. She attended Saint Matthews Catholic School through eighth grade and graduated from Nathan Hale High School in 1968. She married young and, in December of 1969, welcomed twin daughters, Jenifer Noel and Juniper Joy. The family moved to Whidbey Island in 1973, shortly after the birth of a third daughter, Treela Blue. When her marriage ended, she raised her daughters on her own and, in 1978, built a house on a family lot in Scatchet Head located in Clinton, Washington, where she lived until her passing on October 12, 2024.
In 1980, she opened and operated Angelina’s Café and Bakery for 4 years. After that, she enrolled at Skagit Valley Community College, graduating in 1986. She received a B.A. in English at the University of Washington in 1989 and went on to earn an MS in Technical Communications in 1991. After graduate school, Christi worked at several startups as a Technical Writer. She eventually took a position as SeniorInstructional Designer in Online Learning at UW Educational Outreach where she worked until retiring in 2016.
Once her children were grown, Christi got the travel bug and toured Europe several times, visiting Paris, Dijon, Rouen, Rome, Venice, Naples, Madrid, Seville, Granada, Toledo, Vienna, and Prague. She has also been to Hong Kong, the Philippines, Tanzania, Venezuela, Mazatlán, Montreal, and Quebec.
Much of her spare time over the years was devoted to reading and writing, a devotion which began in childhood. Christi visited her local library often as a child. She kept a journal for years, which later spun off into writing short stories, mostly for children, an (unpublished) novel, and a plethora of poetry. Eventually, her love of reading turned into starting a book group which celebrated 30 years in 2024. The ten women in this group, next to her daughters, are some of the most important people in her life.
The past year put the mall (family and friends) to the test… Christi was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer eight years ago and reached the end of treatment at the start of 2024. Christi spent the last ten months of her life in at home hospice, modeling strength, independence, compassion, creativity, humor and generosity. On October 12, 2024, surrounded by her three devoted daughters and the joyful memories of numerous visitors, Christi transitioned to her next adventures.
Christi will be remembered by her three daughters, four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren, her sister Vicki and brother Rory, and two nieces, as well as many life-long friends–who celebrated whenever and whatever they could, supported each other in good times and bad, ate well, laughed long and hard, and most importantly, showed up when showing up was necessary and warranted.
A toast to Christi will be hosted at Ott & Hunter’s in Langley on Nov. 17 from 12:30-2:30. We will raise our glasses at 1:00 pm. Correspondence can be sent to Christi’s home address.
