Christina Maria von Schwerdtner

April 26, 1972 - January 11, 2021

Christina Marie von Schwerdtner passed away in her sleep on January 11th at age 48. Her death was unexpected and a shock to her family and friends. Tina is survived by her mother, Patricia Guyton, her step-father John Guyton and his daughter Sheryl Jenkins, her aunts Susan and Carol White and her siblings, Anna, Thomas, Jon, Eric and Julianna von Schwerdtner, and her Austrian exchange student sister, Jutta Popp. Tina graduated from Annapolis HS and spent her senior year in Germany as an exchange student. She received her BA from James Madison University, focusing on pedagogy and German. After college, Tina moved to Seattle, WA where her grandmother and aunts lived, and she stayed for about 10 years before returning to Maryland. Tina loved to travel and never missed an opportunity to explore new places and meet people who lived very different lives from her own. She spent several years in Germany and in Israel and both gave her something she needed. Her time in Germany helped her understand her extended family; who they were and how their histories shaped them. Her love for lsrael was pure passion. She admired the people and their commitment to a common cause. She would have moved to Israel had it been possible. Christina was a devout Christian and active in the Chesapeake Church in Huntingtown, MD. Her faith was central to who she was, how she saw the world, and how she saw herself. She believed she had a calling to serve others and she lived that conviction. There are no words to capture Tina's generosity of spirit, her kindness and her gift for making people feel that they mattered; that their stories were important. She could never have imagined how many lives she touched and how much she will be missed. The Chesapeake Church will stream a memorial service on Wed., January 20th. Please see the Facebook page “Christina von S. Memorial” for details. There will also be a Unitarian Universalist memorial service in the spring. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Chesapeake Cares Food Pantry.