Chris passed away on July 12, 2009. His entire family was at his side, and his family and children will miss him forever. Chris was not ill before his death, and we were not prepared for his passing. One of the greatest tragedies of Chris’s early death is that his children will not get to be with their father and learn from him. Chris was a devoted father, and he lived for his family.
Underwood Farms
Chris and I first visited the farm in late-April, 2000, when I was attempting to walk the boundaries. He loved the farm and visited almost annually thereafter. In late March 2002, Chris visited a few days and helped with the calving season. Chris and Gene pulled a calf that year, while I was at work in northern Virginia. We named the calf Chris.
Chris encouraged expansion of the farming operation and helped repair outbuildings.
Biography
Christopher Lewis Underwood was one of four brothers, born on March 28, 1973, exactly 18 months after me and one year before Jason.. Our brother Stuart is two years younger than Jason. Chris was named for his maternal grandfather, Lewis Headley.
As a kid, Chris had curly light reddish hair and brown eyes. We lived on a farm outside of Clanton, Alabama, until he was six. We learned to swim in the pool at the farm, and we played in a sand box. Our mother stayed at home with us, while our father ran a retail furniture store in Clanton, Underwood Home Furnishings.
In 1978, we moved to Orleans Harbor and lived in a condo on Lake Austin for two years. Austin is where Chris learned to ride a bike and where he started playing sports. We also learned to water ski on Lake Austin, and Chris was the best skier among us. He was unafraid of speed and of falling, and he slalomed before Jason and I did.
We moved to Destin in 1980 and to Gulf Breeze in 1981. In Gulf Breeze, Chris made many friends and played soccer, football, baseball, basketball, and tennis. Among his friends were Chris Nye, David Nye, Andy Harmon, Scott Southerland, Amy Wilder, Benjy Woods, Andy Woods, Mike Patrick, and Kevin Boogaerts.
Chris loved animals. He had many pets, including pet snakes, turtles, fish, dogs, frogs, and a raccoon named Richard. Chris was a good caretaker of his pets and was fascinated by different kinds of animals.
In school, Chris had a natural gift for spelling. He could spell words easily, and math was easy for him. Chris, however, refused to apply himself. His grades were poor in fourth and fifth grades, and he failed the sixth grade, putting him in the same grade as his brother Jason. Jason and Chris were best friends, but Jason did pretty well in school while Chris continued to not apply himself.
By seventh grade, Chris was in danger of being expelled. As Jason describes it, Chris was the opposite of the Teflon kid: he was the Velcro kid. Everything that he did wrong came back to him, and some of the things that others did wrong also were attributed to Chris.
In his teens, Chris worked as a mate on our father’s sport fishing boats. Chris was great on the boat, a hard worker who was meticulous about preparing the tackle for fishing tournaments. He truly loved bill fishing, and he was very good at it. As he grew up, Chris would try to live near the water, and he frequently would own a boat of some kind to be able to fish.
Chris went to Kemper Military Academy in Boonville, Missouri, for eighth grade. After two years at Kemper, Chris left. He refused to pay attention to his parents and he refused to submit to discipline. He left home around the age of 16 and went to live with his grandparents in Clanton, Alabama.
While in Alabama, Chris began working jobs framing construction. He also attended Clanton high school. While at Clanton, he was a member of the high school basketball team. He did not graduate from high school, but Chris did get his GED. After getting his GED, Chris attended George Wallace Community College.
By his early 20’s Chris had worked many jobs in construction and was very familiar with homebuilding. He moved to Destin, Florida, for a while, and then he moved to Ithaca, New York, where he ran a nightclub with his brother Jason. After New York, Jason and Chris moved to Aspen, Colorado. Chris and Jason enjoyed snow-skiing, which Chris did well, despite a knee injury from his teens.
After Aspen, Chris moved to Austin, Texas, where he worked for a couple of different homebuilders. He then moved to south Florida, where he worked to repair homes after Hurricane Andrew. Subsequently, Chris moved back to Destin for a while and then to Tampa by the late 1990’s.
In Tampa, Chris worked for David Weekly Homes, where he met his wife, Tiffany Jones. By 2002, Chris and Tiffany were inseparable, and they visited Underwood Farms in Virginia together a few times. While visiting, Chris constructed a shed on the side of the Gore wash house and he helped repair several farm buildings.
In 2003, Chris and Tiffany were married, and in late 2003, their first child, Grace Lillian Underwood was born. Grace was followed by Peyton in February 2006. Chris very much loved his family, and it was the thought and focus of his life. He was proud of Grace’s intelligence and persistence, and he thought Peyton was a natural charmer and athlete. He truly loved his wife Tiffany.
Throughout his life, one of Chris’s greatest strengths was his determination and resolution to do things his way. His strength was also a weakness. Chris did not listen to others, and he did not conform to anything or anyone. Chris’s refusal to conform made him a difficult employee at times, and it caused him to not perform some of the basic tasks required of a husband and man.
Chris passed away on July 12, 2009. His entire family was at his side, and his family and children will miss him forever. Chris was not ill before his death, and we were not prepared for his passing. One of the greatest tragedies of Chris’s early death is that his children will not get to be with their father and learn from him. Chris was a devoted father, and he lived for his family.
