Christine Davis Lykins

is honored with a Large Paver from Paul and Sheryl Davis.

Christine Davis Lykins To her parents, Christine Davis-Lykins Brewer is truly a heroine and it is our privilege to recognize her for the person she has become and the contributions she has made and will continue to make to those around her. While she may accomplish much in her life, she has already accomplished the most important thing by becoming a thoughtful, caring person, not only to her family, but to all who have the good fortune to know her.

Waneta Christine Davis was born January 3, 1969 in Wichita, Kansas. She attended Kensler Elementary, Wilbur Junior High, and Wichita Northwest High School. In 2000, she changed her name to Christine Elizabeth Davis-Lykins to better reflect who she was.

Chris learned independence quickly. She was a latch-key child and her parents were non-traditional WSU students for much of her childhood. During her senior year in high school, her parents relocated, leaving her to live with friends. She joked that she and friends at school who had also been "abandoned" were calling themselves "American Exchange Students."

Her strength of character became evident during her high school years. In each of three years, she experienced the death of a friend. Through all of this, she learned to cope with tragedy and worked with her classmates to support each other. In another incident, when a classmate was doing drugs during lunch period, she verbally chastised him in front of her entire class, saying that if he wanted drugs more than school, he should just leave. With all of the temptations available, she managed to reach adulthood relatively unscathed. Now she delights in telling her parents that they are still not mature enough to know everything she did. (This was originally written in 2000, but in 2015, we are still not mature enough.) While she is not perfect, she is definitely on the right track.

Chris has grown into a wonderful young woman. When she was born she began the fifth living generation in her family. She treasures the grandparents who have been such an important part of her life and is giving back the love and support she has received from them. Now that she is a grandmother, she is passing that same love to the current fifth living generation. As an only child, she developed a circle of close friends that serve as surrogate brothers and sisters. As in any family, they turn to her in good times and bad.

Chris worked in the health care industry for ten years. She now holds a Masters Degree in Education, has taught elementary school for 15 years and is beginning a new adventure in middle school in the fall. She comments that she went to college "as I was shown, not as I was told." She has two daughters, Stephanie and Jaclyn, both of whom are attending college as they were shown, not told.

Chris has not found a cure for disease, founded a Fortune 500 company, or accomplished anything that would win applause from the world. She has done the most important thing one can do. She has become the kind of person who is an example for us all. If the world were full of more people like Christine Davis Lykins, what a wonderful place it would be.