Christa Lynne Manna

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we announce that our beloved Christa Lynne Manna, aged 76, passed away at home in Parker, Colorado, on November 4, 2025, due to complications from Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. 

Christa was born on January 29, 1949, in Giessen, Germany, to Hector “Bud” and Antoinette Carrie.  Christa’s father was an Army Officer and along with her mom and two sisters, Susan and Leslie, moved all over the US as an Army family.  They were fortunate to live in beautiful places like Carmel by the Sea, and Orange County, California, both of which Christa loved.  She graduated from Foothill High School, in Santa Ana, California, in 1967. Christa later attended Stephens College in Missouri before moving back to Southern California.  She also attended California State College, Fullerton.  In 1974, Christa married her first husband, Jon J. Walkwitz and moved to Denver, CO, where Jon grew up.  Together they had one son, Jon C. Walkwitz.  In 1995, Christa’s first husband passed away.  In 1996, she met the love of her life, Robert W. Manna, at a Catholic Church singles dance.  Robert and Christa were married in 1997 and formed a blended family together with Robert’s four children, Bryan, Shayne, Heidi, Alexia and Christa’s son, Jon.  Christa and Robert were inseparable and would spend the next 28-years together having wonderful travel adventures, spending time with their family and friends, and practicing their Catholic faith.

While in Denver, Christa worked for several title firms, where she developed her lifelong love of home design.  She loved watching HGTV and always enjoyed undertaking home projects ranging from wall papering, to remodeling to complete home design.  Christa was also a talented artist.  She enjoyed painting all her life and produced many masterpieces over the years.  She enjoyed home decorating and adding a touch of humor with her love of gnomes and painted flamingos to her design projects.  In addition to her interests in art and home design, Christa liked to play the accordion and liked to brighten everyone’s day with a polka.

Christa had a big heart and passion for children, and after moving on from the title business, she later began volunteering at her son Jon’s middle school, Good Shepherd Catholic School.  Her volunteer work soon bloomed into a fulltime job, where Christa worked as a librarian and computer lab teacher at Good Shepherd Catholic School.  She later moved to Blessed Sacrament Catholic School where she was the computer lab teacher for grades 1 through 8.  After retiring from teaching, she took on her favorite role as a fulltime grandmother and being involved in all the family activities.  When Robert retired in 2006, Christa and Robert explored their love of travel and had numerous exciting adventures together to places like Israel (where they renewed their marriage promises in Cana of Galilee), Greece, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Italy, the Mediterranean, exciting cruises, along with many other adventures across the United States.  She especially loved being near the water and mountains, and spent many happy years in the Denver Colorado metropolitan area, Cape Coral, FL, and Lake of the Ozarks, MO, where she enjoyed boating, sunsets, snow skiing and even an occasional cocktail. 

Christa was a beautiful soul who was always more concerned about others and doing everything she could for anyone around her.  She would hand you her umbrella and stand in the rain.  She was a devoted and caring person who personified unconditional love, strength of spirit, and generosity that could be seen in her love as a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a great grandmother, a sister and a friend to everyone in her life.  Her thoughtfulness and kindness were unparalleled.   Christa also had an immense passion for her Catholic faith, in which she found deep spiritual fulfillment and meaning.  She was known for her extensive generosity and kindness that touched the lives of many to help make the world a better place.

Christa’s departure comes as a great shock and a deep wound that is gravely felt by the entire family and the countless others whose lives she touched.  Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) is an extremely rare and fatal disease, for which there is no cure.  We would like to invite you to please make a donation in Christa’s name to the CJD foundation (https://secure.qgiv.com/event/cjdfoundation/account/2186678/)  if you would like to do so.  Our hope is that with continued research funding a cure may eventually be found and that, in this way, Christa’s passing may help others, just like how she would have wanted and how she lived her life.  We sincerely appreciate your love and support during this difficult time. 

Christa was predeceased by her first husband Jon J. Walkwitz, CAPT, US Navy, who passed in 1995.  She is survived by her husband, Robert W. Manna; her son Jon C. Walkwitz, and her sisters Susan Monarch and Leslie Elbon.

Services

Thursday November 13, 2025

Ponderosa Funeral Home 10470 S Progress Way, Parker, CO 80134

·         500 PM – 700 PM Viewing

Friday November 14, 2025

Ave Maria Catholic Church 9056 E Parker Rd, Parker, CO 80138

·         1030 AM Praying the Rosary

·         1100 AM Mass

·         1200 PM Reception

Fairmont Cemetery 430 S Quebec St Denver, Colorado 80247

·         100 PM transit to Fairmont Cemetery

·         230 PM Burial Service

If you would like to send flowers, please send them to Ponderosa Funeral Home 10470 S Progress Way, Parker, CO 80134, (303) 872-6846.  If you would like to make a donation in Christa’s name to the CJD foundation, please use the following link: https://secure.qgiv.com/event/cjdfoundation/account/2186678/