Christine Elizabeth Hensler of Amagansett, New York, teed off for her first heavenly golf outing when she left us peacefully Sept. 12 at the Kanas Care Hospice Center in West Hampton, New York.
Chris was born Nov. 4, 1955, in Long Branch to James Robert and Helen (Shields) Hensler. She graduated from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School in 1974, and spent time living in both the Rumson area and Tucson, Arizona before settling in Long Island. Chris was a celebrated member of the Amagansett EMT and Fire Company for 12 years, a respected pet sitter who ran her own business, Pets by Chris, an employee and advocate of the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, and an active member of the Women’s Golf League, playing in both Sag Harbor and Montauk Downs regularly. She is survived by her beloved Havanese, Elsie.
Chris was an avid golfer, fisher and animal lover. Her brothers and relatives often lament about her ability to best them any time on the green, her tendency to pull in the bigger fish on the beach, and her knack for embarrassing them every time they went skeet shooting. Nobody could shoot like Chris! When she wasn’t enjoying the outdoors and appreciating the beauty of the natural world around her, Chris could be found spending time with her friends, such as Loretta Sears, taking Elsie for scenic walks, working in the flower shop in Amagansett, or line dancing when she felt so inclined.
Born No. 7 in a family of 10 children, Chris had to tolerate not only the stunts of her mischievous older brothers, Jimmy, Thomas, Paul, Mark and Timmy, but the tenacity of her older sister Judy, and the high-jinks of her younger siblings, Margaret, Mary and Brian. Chris found solace from their escapades through fishing trips with her father, the company of her beloved grandmother Mum Mum, or from just pulling her favorite move, the Irish Goodbye. While she might have seemed decidedly more reserved than her siblings on the outside, we’ve heard stories of Chris’s own antics and have seen her silly side plenty, and she could always make us laugh whether she meant to or not!
Chris was preceded in death by her father Bob, mother Helen, brothers, James Robert Jr. and Timothy, and sister Judith Schweers. She is survived by her siblings: Brian Hensler and his wife Cori of East Hampton, New York; Thomas Hensler of East Hampton, New York; Mary Hensler of Oceanport; Margaret and her husband John Hendricks of Rumson; Mark Hensler of Rumson; and Paul Hensler of Jacksonville, Florida. She also leaves behind too many nieces and nephews to list, all of whom loved her dearly and share her affinity for dogs.
Please join us in raising a glass of chilled pinot grigio in her memory.
The article originally appeared in the October 22 – 28, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
