Christopher R. Barnes Memorial Scholarship

The Christopher R. Barnes Memorial Scholarship was established in March 2009, in loving memory by his wife Michelle and his four children: Kalika, Alex, Christopher and Steven to honor the memory if their beloved husband and father who battled melanoma for 14 years and passed away on March 21, 2009 at the age of 53. Christopher always spoke of how important education was and expressed that he would like a fund set up to support Tesoro High School Students academic aspirations. Not only was Christopher an avid sports man enjoying golf, waterskiing, snow skiing, and body surfing.  He was very proud of his children and their many accomplishments in both their educational and sports endeavors. All four of his children have participated in water sports throughout their lives and have continued to enjoy swimming, water polo and surfing in high school.

The details of this scholarship fund have been defined by his children because of their father’s tremendous pride in their many achievements in academics as well as sports. Such as Principal’s Roll, Superintendants Honor Roll, Scholar Athlete, Team Captain, Most Improved, Most Inspirational, Athlete of the Year, All League, and CIF Participants. 

To apply for this scholarship you must be a graduating senior at Tesoro High School in Las Flores, California, accepted to a four year college or university, have a cumulative academic GPA of at least 3.5, and participate in high school water sports for all four years of high school.

Click here to access the application for the Christopher R. Barnes Memorial Scholarship.

About Christopher
Christopher was born in England on an American Air force base in 1955.  He was the fourth child and third son of Harry and Corrine.  His siblings include Greg, Mark, Kimberly and Michael.  The family returned to the United States when Christopher was 18 months old, after Harry’s mission was completed. The family was stationed in Wichita, Kansas for a few years then re-stationed to Castle Air force Base in Central California.  Christopher’s family moved to Irvine, CA. when their father Lieutenant Colonel Harry Barnes retired from the Air force and accepted a position as one of the first 16 pilots to be hired with the new up starting Airline Air California in 1967.  The family grew up in Irvine and Christopher graduated from University High School in 1973.  He graduated from University California Irvine with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts in 1976.  He earned his pilot’s license in 1974 at El Toro Marine Base then flew for C. E. Miller Corporation for his first corporate job as a pilot.  Christopher instructed and flew in the charter department at Martin Aviation out of Orange County Airport before getting hired at Air California in 1985. A year later American Airlines bought Air Cal, and Christopher’s career continued for 23 years first as a First Officer then as a Captain.  He flew as an International Captain for eight years heading to Hawaii and Central America.

Christopher’s passion, besides talking about his family, was the game of golf.  At the height of his golfing hobby he was a five handicap.  He enjoyed playing out at El Toro Marine Base with his father Harry and their group of friends at the break of dawn.  He and the family would travel every year to a lake in northern Nevada where he and a high school friend taught the kids to single and barefoot water ski when the kids were very young.  This has been a family tradition for the past 13 years.  Christopher was so very proud of his landscaping, that he spent all of his spare time gardening when he wasn’t golfing or flying.

Christopher was married to his wife for 25 years; two of their four children graduated from Tesoro High School and are now at universities.  The other two children are still attending high and middle school.  Christopher expressed a desire to assist students graduating from our local high school towards their goals of higher education.  With that in mind the family has set up his memorial fund in making his wishes come true.

 

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Fund Administrators:

Michelle Barnes

 

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Donations:

All donations to the Christopher R. Barnes Memorial Scholarship (a division of CHARITYSMITH) are tax deductible in accordance with federal tax laws. Donations can be made using one of the following secure methods:

• By mail: send your donation check payable to:
  Christopher R. Barnes Memorial Scholarship
  c/o CHARITYSMITH Nonprofit Foundation
  PO Box 10750, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
• At Wells Fargo Bank: donations can be deposited directly to the Christopher R. Barnes Memorial Scholarship. For account information, please contact CHARITYSMITH at 800-276-6546.
• Gift Card: Donate in honor of someone and we will mail a gift card directly to your family, friends, or business associates telling them you’ve made a donation in their honor. Make a Donation

• By phone: donate with a credit card by calling our office at 800-276-6546.
• Online: donate with a credit card or your PayPal/Google Checkout account by clicking one of the links below. Please note: PayPal deducts a small transaction fee from each donation. CHARITYSMITH is a Google grant recipient, and Google Checkout does not deduct a transaction fee.

• Thank you for your tax-deductible donation to CHARITYSMITH's Christopher R. Barnes Memorial Scholarship.

• You will receive a receipt by mail within one month of your donation.

  This memorial fund is established as a division of CHARITYSMITH Nonprofit Foundation EIN 87-0636433. CHARITYSMITH is dedicated to the creation and governing of memorial endeavors. All donations are tax deductible in accordance with federal tax laws.  If you have any questions regarding this donation or memorial fund, please contact CHARITYSMITH at your convenience.