Chris Redmond Ford was passionate about painting, existential philosophy, tennis, nature, the fight for justice, and Comme des Garçons. She was a five-year resident of Fishkill, New York, formerly residing in New York City. Chris was a practicing philosophical psychotherapist for 35 years.
Chris was a maverick at blending existential philosophy into psychotherapy. She believed it was the most effective way to help people find their unique inwardness, existence and voice. Her understanding of existentialism, both studied and lived, combined with her therapeutic practice, led Chris to painting. Painting was a passion for the last 25 years of her life, and her art will live on, reminding us all to live the life we love.
Chris loved love and after probably too many love affairs, she finally met the woman with whom she spent the happiest 15 years of her life, Ruth H. Walker, a neurologist in New York City.
Chris is survived by her spouse, Ruth; her two sisters, Sudie Redmond of New York City and Laure Redmond of Portland, Oregon; her father and stepmother, Beau Redmond and Peggy Friedmann of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida; her stepsisters Carroll Ann Friedmann, Lee Taylor and Marie Marquardt; and her cousins Macon, Gabrielle, d’Arby and Cleanth Toledano.
Chris was born on June 26, 1959, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Beauregard Redmond and Suzanne Toledano. She attended Louise S. McGehee School and St. Martin’s Episcopal, both in New Orleans, before graduating from Ravenscroft High School in Raleigh, North Carolina. After her undergraduate degree at Chapel Hill, she went on to get a Master’s in Psychology and Counseling and a Ph.D. in Existential Philosophy.
After a short illness, Chris died peacefully at home at the age of 64 surrounded by her loved ones.
There will be no memorial or funeral service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to one of these causes that were important to Chris: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology (birds.cornell.edu), The Ali Forney Center (aliforneycenter.org); Immigration Equality (immigrationequality.org); Save the Manatee Club (savethemanatee.org) or Veterans for Peace (veteransforpeace.org).
