Saying Goodbye to Our Brother and Friend Tony Christian

Tony was born to Leroy and Rosa Christian on February 4th, 1965 in Richmond, Virginia.

At age 13, Tony left home to work for a traveling circus, eventually ending up in California. There, Tony ran a grocery store while enrolled in Santa Monica College to become a kindergarten teacher. Tony always had a big heart for children and wanted to help them succeed.

It was during his time there, in October of 2004, that he met Ella Heppell, who introduced him to the Family Federation for World Peace. As Tony put it in his testimony, “She was like an angel, at peace with the world.” From that day, Tony’s life changed as he began to learn the Divine Principle and devote his life to God.

Previously, he had never had a serious romantic relationship, because he had always believed that God would give him a wife. His belief became a reality on December 29th, 2005 when he was Blessed in marriage to Natalya Skydan (Natasha.)

While living in Los Angeles, Tony helped in many ways with the local church community, visiting churches and assisting with the American Clergy Leadership Conference prayer breakfasts. When Rev. Moon visited in 2006, Tony had the opportunity to talk personally with him, and Rev. Moon told him he could be so blessed because his last name was Christian.

Tony loved working with kids; his door was always open to help and teach them. While in LA he worked at the Huntington center, taking care of the children there and teaching them English, as well as the occasional Gospel song.

Tony and Natasha’s first child was born in 2008. Before they even knew they were pregnant, Tony dreamed that they would have a boy and that his name would be Timothy! After moving to Denver in 2011, Tony had a similar dream that they would have a girl. And sure enough, they soon discovered that they were pregnant with a girl. Divine was born in 2012.

Tony was a loving, protective, and devoted father. He was always helping his children with schoolwork, and always playing music and singing with his kids. Their family song became “I Need You To Survive” by Hezekiah Walker.

Two years ago, Tony suffered from a stroke and had to remain in a facility to care for him. He passed away on June 5, 2019. He is survived by his wife Natasha and children-Timothy and Divine, his siblings- Sherry, Cheryl, Andre, Marlon, and Ronny, as well as his Mother- Rosa.

Tony is loved and will be missed by all who knew him.

Photos from his Seonghwa (Ascension and Harmony) ceremony on June 10, can be found below, as well as a video slideshow of his life.