Christian “Chris” Lee Burandt, age 16, was called to join his Father in Heaven on Saturday, January 19, 2013 at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Chris had been critically injured in an auto-pedestrian accident four weeks earlier.
The lifelong Prosper, Texas resident grew up playing football, soccer and earning a purple belt in Karate. Most recently, the sophomore at Prosper High School trained for track. Chris also enjoyed making the rounds of area ponds and lakes with his Dad, hooking lots of brim and some bass and then releasing most of the catch. Father and son were close to putting finishing touches on what was to have been Chris’s first vehicle, a 1977 4WD GMC truck. He had earned his driver’s license this past summer.
Family and friends remember Chris’s keen wit and how difficult it was to photograph him with a straight face. He also entertained with LED strobe light gloves, honing elaborate and amazing fingertip routines.
Chris was truly unique in the way he expressed affection; he was never too old or embarrassed to publically hug and aunt or uncle, pat a back or stroke or hold a hand. He was a steady comfort to his peers through good times and bad. Several of his friends describe him as a good listener, nonjudgmental, always sincere when he promised: “I got your back bro’.”
His boundless compassion and kindness extended to our four-legged friends. He was devoted to his pets, particularly his cat Ralph, and readily opened his heart and hands to help other animals as a volunteer with area rescue centers and the American Humane Society.
Chris accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior at the age of 10 and asked to be baptized. Chris’s father was blessed to personally perform his son’s baptism before the congregation of Lighthouse Christian Fellowship Church on March 25, 2007. His passing would be unbearable, if not for our faith that one-day we will be be reunited with our beloved for eternity. We are grateful that God in his mercy and kindness gave us four weeks to love and hold Chris after the accident, and that He helped Chris to respond to that love. We fervently believe Chris’s life and his passing have already had a profound affect on other lives and will continue to be a positive force in ways that have not yet been revealed.
Chris is survived by his parents, Jeff and Lisa Burandt of Prosper, Texas; brother, Jeffrey Burandt and wife, Shelley of Brooklyn, New York; sister, Lauren Burandt of Prosper, Texas, Ashley and her husband, Jonathan Patrick of Dallas; maternal grandparents, Sue and Richard Teeter of Fort Worth and Larry and Nancy Cogburn of Irving; aunts and uncles, Valerie and Anthony Araujo of The Colony, Cecile Burandt of Beaumont, Charles Burandt, Jr., of Oxford, Mississippi, Bob and Belinda Cogburn of Plano, Vivian Hand of San Antonio, Danna and Mark Lawson of Choctaw, Oklahoma and Brant Teeter of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; cousins include, Alyssa, Sarah Beth and Bryce Araujo, Charles III, Addie, Lena, Atticus and Zavier Burandt, Keith, Julie and Page Fulgham, Parker and Landre Oglesby, Samantha and Cash Teeter, Brad, Nora and Wesley Williams. Among those welcoming Chris to heaven are his paternal grandparents, Charles and Jacqueline Burandt.
The family is deeply grateful to the people of Prosper, the Prosper Independent School District, our extended family at Lighthouse Christian Fellowship and the thousands who reached out through Chris’s CaringBridge site with prayer, comfort and support. We are grateful to the physicians, nurses and staff at Parkland Memorial Hospital who used all their skills to help Chris and to all the members of the hospital staff who supported us with their prayers.
Family and friends will celebrate Chris’s life during a Memorial Service on Saturday, January 26, 2013 at the Lighthouse Christian Fellowship Church in Prosper at 2:00 PM. Interment will follow at Walnut Grove Cemetery. A Visitation will be held at the church on Saturday, prior to the funeral service, beginning at 12:00 PM. Contributions may be made in memory of Chris to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Northeast Texas Chapter, at www.cff.org