CHRIS HAROLD HOKANSON PH.D's Obituary
Chris Harold Hokanson, Ph.D. November 23, 1972 – August 15, 2015 Chris Harold Hokanson, Ph.D., a resident of Marion, Alabama and former Pleasanton, California resident, passed away August 15 at age 42 from amyloidosis stemming from multiple myeloma. He had been fighting blood plasma cancer since late 2014. Born in Castro Valley, California, Chris grew up in Pleasanton, graduating as Co-Valedictorian of Amador Valley High School, where he was a member of a two-time state champion team in International Future Problem Solving competitions. He graduated with honors in English from Stanford University in 1993 and studied for six months at Magdalen College at the University of Oxford in England. After honing his teaching craft at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts and a remote high school in the wilderness of Perho, Finland, Chris pursued graduate studies in English Literature at Indiana University, receiving the 2002 Lieber Memorial Award as the outstanding graduate student instructor university-wide and earning his M.A. and Ph.D. in 2007. His innovative doctoral dissertation, Copycat Culture: The Role of Memory and Parody in Nineteenth-Century British Information Society, explored his love of Victorian Britain. Chris also earned a Master’s in Education from the Harvard University School of Education, focusing on the interdisciplinary Mind, Brain, and Learning program. Following postdoctoral fellowships at Stanford University, the University of Illinois-Chicago, and the University of Alabama, Chris spent the past five years as Assistant Professor and Chairman of the English Department at Judson College in Marion, Alabama. He also served as Division Head for the Humanities, overseeing multiple departments. A much-beloved professor and colleague, Chris received both college-wide teaching awards, one from the administration in 2014 and one from the graduating students of the class of 2015. Exceptionally devoted to his students, he taught five courses over the past spring and summer terms, while undergoing six months of daily chemotherapy and multiple stints of radiation. Chris was a member and elected deacon of Siloam Baptist Church in Marion, Alabama. He loved planning and taking domestic road trips and international travel vacations, cooking and baking for his family and friends, reading mystery fiction, and going to (and discussing) the movies. He will be remembered as a kindhearted and loving son, brother, and friend, a brilliant scholar and teacher, and a fun-loving, quick wit. Predeceased by his father, Charles Hokanson, Sr., Chris is survived by his mother, Janet Hokanson of Pleasanton, and brothers Charles Hokanson Jr. of Tampa, Florida, and Craig Hokanson of Pleasanton. Christian funeral and burial services were held August 21 at the Chapel of the Chimes Memorial Park and Funeral Home in Hayward, California. Charitable donations may be made in his memory to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society or to Judson College, Attn: Development Office, 302 Bibb Street, Marion, AL 36756 (designate The Dr. Chris Hokanson Memorial Fund).
What’s your fondest memory of CHRIS?
What’s a lesson you learned from CHRIS?
Share a story where CHRIS's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with CHRIS you’ll never forget.
How did CHRIS make you smile?