Obituary of Christopher F. Agler

Christopher Francis Agler 1956 to 2018

Chris was an amazing, special man whose untimely passing shocked and saddened all who knew him. He was the beloved husband and companion of 38 years to Gwen; proud, devoted father and mentor to Ryan and Brett; caring son and brother; fun loving friend, golf partner, and active outdoorsman. He was deeply loved and is dearly missed. His story ended far too soon.

Chris passed away December 9, 2018, at the age of 62 from complications of heart bypass surgery.  He generously donated his organs and three successful transplants were performed. His family is comforted and very grateful that part of Chris lives on and other lives were saved through this donation. 

He was predeceased by both parents, Jack and LaVerne, and both siblings, Craig and Susie. He was the last of his family, which came to a sudden end as his sister passed away just one month before he did.

Chris was born and raised in San Jose. He graduate from Pioneer High School and San Jose State University.  His family owned a vacation house in Capitola, and he grew up spending weekends and summers at the beach where he developed a lifelong love of the beach and ocean sports.

Chris and Gwen met in 1980 at a newspaper in Southern California where they both worked as photographers. They married in 1982 and almost immediately moved back to Santa Cruz where they celebrated their 1st anniversary, raised their family, and where he lived the rest of his life.

Chris began working for Lockheed Missiles & Space (later Lockheed Martin) in 1985 and spent his entire career there before retiring in 2016. He worked his way up through the ranks and ended his career as Senior Manager of FBM Flight Test and Evaluation. Along the way he made many lasting friendships. Over the years they had lots of fun times. They enjoyed mountain biking, climbing Half Dome in Yosemite, hiking up Mt. Whitney, yearly golf weekends in Napa and Reno, as well as work-related trips to various parts of the world.

Chris was well known for his wicked sense of humor. He loved to make people laugh. He was so quick witted that most people gave up trying to get the last laugh or one up him. Many tried, but few succeeded.

As a young man Chris was a stereotypical long-haired surfer dude. He took up scuba diving and spear fishing, as well as free diving for abalone. He enjoyed waterskiing and snow skiing. In retirement he obtained a fishing kayak with plans to paddle out in the ocean and spend days fishing, and a standup paddleboard that he hoped to one day ride with his dog Biff.

Foremost among his love of all things outdoors was his passion for golf. Chris and Gwen had purchased a retirement dream home in San Luis Obispo County overlooking a golf course. They were splitting their time between there and Santa Cruz but were poised to make the permanent move after the holidays. It was always Chris’ dream to live on a golf course. He had joined several golf groups and couldn’t wait until he could golf nearly every day. They had begun making a network of friends in their new home and were very much looking forward to this next chapter. It is heartbreaking that he never got to live his dream full time.

A Celebration of Life is planned for Sunday February 24, 2019, 10:30 a.m. at Pacific Gardens Chapel, 1050 Cayuga St., Santa Cruz with a buffet reception following, 12:00 noon at Seacliff Inn, 7500 Old Dominion Ct, Aptos.

In lieu of flowers please consider a donation in Chris’ memory to Ocean Conservancy https://oceanconservancy.org/donate/honor-memorial-giving/ or Santa Cruz Junior Golf http://www.santacruzjuniorgolf.org/support/