Obituary of Christopher Giedlin

Commander Christopher Giedlin, USN (Ret) passed away in the presence of his family in Carleton MI on 02 October 2014 after a nine-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57 years old. Chris was born on June 23, 1957 in Alfred NY and was the third of five sons of the late Richard J. Giedlin and Mary Ellen Giedlin. He graduated from Alfred Almond High School in 1975 and received a congressional appointment to the U.S Naval Academy. An engineering major, he graduated in the Class of 1979 as a member of 24th Company. A career naval aviator with the call sign "Buck", he completed Flight School at NAS Pensacola FL and was selected as a Flight School Instructor for two years before joining the P-3 Orion submarine hunting community. His Patrol Squadron assignments included tours with VP44 in Brunswick MA, VP 65 in Point Magu CA, Master Augment Unit (MAU) in Brunswick MA, VP 60 in Glenview IL, and Base Operations Commander at NAS Willow Grove Joint Reserve Base in Philadelphia PA. He retired from the Navy following his tour at NAS Willow Grove. Chris was an exceptional naval officer, father, brother and friend. He married Lori Buell from Bloomingdale, Michigan and settled in to the local community of Carleton, Michigan following military retirement and worked for WH Canon. He enjoyed life with Lori and two daughters, 11-year old Brooke and 9-year old Kate and followed his passion of collecting and repairing vintage cars and tractors while retired. He loved riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle and snowmobiles, and was always willing to give a helping hand to repair an engine of any kind. He is survived by his wife, Lori; children Brooke and Kate; mother Mary Ellen; and brothers; Marty, Tom and Mike. His father, Richard, and brother, Tim, preceded Chris in death. The family requests that remembrances of Chris be in the form of donations to the 'The C.J. Giedlin Foundation" education fund for his two daughters c/o Tom Giedlin, 4858 Alcamo Lane, Cypress CA, 90630. Friends may gather on Wednesday, 08 October, 2014 at 2:00PM until 8:00pm at Merkle Funeral Service, North Monroe (734)384-5185. A Celebration of His Life will be held on Thursday, 09 October, 2014 at 1:00pm also at Merkle's with Reverend Taek Kim of Carleton United Methodist Church officiating. Procession will follow to Roselawn Memorial Park where graveside services will be under the auspices of VFW Post 1138. Online guests may leave words of inspiration, share a photo, or make a donation by visiting www.merklefs.com; Online Tributes page.