Chris Pickle

Chris Pickle was born in Japan and spent her first elementary school years in a Catholic school in Chatellerault France, where instruction was in French. A self-described “military brat,” Chris and her family moved with her career Army officer father to postings across the United States and abroad. Although they had lived in both northern and southern California, when Colonel Eilert retired the family settled in Virginia since both parents had relatives on the east coast. After high school Chris started a modeling career with the landmark Richmond department stores Thalhimers and Miller & Rhodes, appearing in their newspaper advertising and in the legendary Tea Room fashion shows at Miller & Rhodes. After Leonard Pickle “fell in love” with a studio portrait of Chris, associates at the studio arranged a sneaky meet-up, and Chris and Leonard (now in Memory Care at Westminster Canterbury) have been married for 51 years. They have a son, Tim, and daughter-in-law, Lynn, in Mechanicsville, Virginia, and a daughter, Krista Hollo, son-in-law, Ted, and two grandchildren, Tyler and Savanna, in Vienna, Virginia.

Chris worked for Lynchburg City Schools for 28 years, as the school secretary at Bedford Hills Elementary and then on the LCS administration staff downtown. She is a volunteer at both Virginia Baptist and Lynchburg General hospitals and performs multiple roles as a “patient” for Centra’s Simulation Center and education program. She studied Interior Design at Blue Ridge Community College and enjoys watercolor and some oil painting, especially landscapes and botanicals. She loves to cook and makes great cheesecake.