CHRISTOPHER ALAN STRINGER

Former Wasilla resident Christopher Alan Stringer, 22, died July 23, 2004, in a boating accident on the Yentna River.

A celebration-of-life service was held Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Wasilla Lake Church of the Nazarene. Pastor David Pepper of Church on the Rock, where Mr. Stringer, his wife, Ardena, and his family attended regularly, will be performing the ceremony.

Mr. Stringer was born April 11, 1982, in Roseburg, Ore., to Alan and Becky Stringer.

He moved to Alaska with his family in 1995. He graduated from Palmer High School in 2000 and from Matanuska-Susitna College in 2002, receiving a degree in heating and air- condition technology. He married Ardena Mongeau in January 2001.

Mr. Stringer worked in many aspects of residential construction, including working with his father at Stringer and Son Construction, his grandfather and Uncle Roy with Roth's Construction and with Bowker Mechanical.

His family said, "With his never-ending energy he always found time to do many other construction projects, including building his own house and, most recently, building remote cabins. Chris was a true Alaskan in every sense of the word, including a memorable experience at the age of 16 -- he drew a pistol and shot a charging brown bear that died five feet from his Grandpa Ray's feet. From that day forward, he was considered a man in everybody's eyes. He was an asset to everyone who knew him and you were proud to be a part of his life. It's not hard to find something good to say about Chris. He knew how to enjoy life to the fullest and a lot of his life was focused on family, especially with his wife, Ardena, and daughter, Jordyn. We feel that God didn't take him from us, but Chris was received into God's arms."

Mr. Stringer is survived by his wife, Ardena Stringer; daughter, Jordyn Kylie Stringer; parents, Alan and Becky Stringer; sister, Ashley Stringer; grandparents, Ray and Shirley Roth and Lonnie Stringer and Kathy Sirs; father-in-law and mother-in-law, Art and Diane Mongeau; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Ali, Jason, Allison, Austin and Alec Kallander, Brad, Ari and Kambree Aho, and Arlon and Brooke Mongeau; the Porter family of Coos Bay, Ore., the Chapman family of Salem, Ore., and the Roth and Mosier family of Wasilla.

In lieu of flowers, the family has a memorial fund set up at Matanuska Valley Federal Credit Union in Palmer.

Arrangements were made with Kehl's Palmer Mortuary.