In lieu of flowers and at any time, please make a donation in Jeanine’s name to Turtle Lake Refuge

The story of Jeanine…

Jeanine Frances Christman was born in St. Louis in 1941, the second of five children born to Mark and Virginia Christman.

She was a tomboy at heart who loved sports. Since her father played third base for the St. Louis Browns, she spent many glorious hours at the ballpark. Jeanine often told the story about holding onto her father’s belt loop as he signed autographs so that she could be a part of his professional life.

Jeanine met her first husband, Jeff Boehm, while in high school and it was love at first sight. Although she was offered a scholarship in art to Webster University, she chose to “get on with her life.” They married, and a year later, in 1965, they welcomed their daughter, Jyll Boehm, into the world. Shortly after they divorced, she met Jon Paul at an architecture firm. As Jyll recalls, “She met Jon Paul when I was three and we all fell in love! My dad remarried too so I had a village of four bringing me up!”

Jeanine and Jon started an enormously successful business together, designing and building restaurant interiors throughout the country. They purchased and dismantled old buildings and country homes, and then they recycled all the wood, the windows, and other finds to incorporate into their projects, gaining a reputation that kept them in demand for years to come. Jeanine was always inventive and creative. Jon’s carpentry skills brought her ideas to life.

In the early seventies Jon, Jeanine and Jyll moved to Durango, where they “set up shop” and quickly became part of the community, holding their own with the other Flower Children who lived there at the time. Jeanine was a natural at business, always with an enthusiastic approach to making a living. In Durango her entrepreneurial talents inspired her to open a studio on Main Street, capitalizing on her artistic talents. She was in demand as an interior designer. In Colorado she started painting faux finishes and murals before graduating to painting canvases, and her career as an artist officially began.

In 1980, when she was in her late thirties, she decided two very important things: to never live anywhere without planting a garden, and also to have another child. Wonderful Jenny Jeanine Paul was born and completed the family.

While Jeanine was living in Durango, she became conscious of the importance of what we put in our body. She went from being the mom who fixed Wonderbread sandwiches for Jyll to the one who packed organic, vegetarian lunches for Jenny. Jenny’s breakfast usually included a handful of sprouts or something else growing in Jeanine’s garden. The organic healthy food for Jenny worked well at the Waldorf school she went to for a while and for some of her friends (since Jeanine always fixed them food when they were around), but was a bit problematic when Jenny went to public school. Jeanine was a pioneering health nut who was way ahead of her times with advocating for organic, non GMO foods, and she was instrumental in the establishment of the Durango Food Coop. She followed this path the rest of her years and was a role model for many friends and family members in making healthy choices.

In the 1990’s Jeanine followed business opportunities to Vail, California, and Santa Fe, where she continued to leave an incredible impression on friends and clients. She created a foundation called Kids with Wings in California during the late 1990s to help children express their creativity.

Jeanine moved to Nevada City, California, in the early 2000s where she moved Jeanine Christman and Associates from Vail/Beaver Creek Colorado. In that time she worked in high-end residential projects and some commercial spaces. Her daughter Jenny moved to Nevada City in 2002 to support the growing business, followed shortly by her soon-to-be son-in-law, Matthew Taylor, who also helped with the business. Together they created beautiful spaces and enjoyed working together as family. At that time in her life her paintings were being established in permanent collections, and her work was in demand.

Jeanine always made sure that her family and friends received packages of joy. For birthdays and Christmases, she would send a box full of little delights such as rocks and plants from her garden, treats for her furry “grandchildren”, all with attached little notes of love and delight.

Jeanine met artist Albert Handell at one of his pastel workshops in the 90’s and reconnected with him about 2011. They married in 2014 in Santa Fe. She created and marketed an art workshop program for Albert. They traveled together throughout the country sharing their love and expertise of pastels in creating art. Among other things, Jeanine opened his studio to the public, which proved to be very successful. Her ingenious ideas and love of life were a great assets to Albert.

Throughout her life, Jeanine’s spiritual life was intensely important to her. Her first spiritual teacher in Durango was Larry Short, and she followed several other teachers including Leslie Temple-Thurston and Adyashanti, whose teachings she listened to until her passing. Jeanine was intensely proud of earning ck belt in karate. Besides studying from various masters, Jeanine would share her wisdom with others in workshops and just in her interactions with everyone she met. In her own words, Jeanine invited us in “to be still, and explore what is possible in each moment. From this place, this space, is a wondrous invitation to love more fully, to laugh more often, and to share the joy of who and what we are. Express this essence as appreciation and as creativity.”

At the time of her death, Jeanine was working on writing her memoir. She was also making arrangements to put her artwork back in the spotlight with plans to exhibit a series of her pastels at La Posada in Santa Fe, famous for being the Art Hotel of New Mexico.

Her unexpected death in December, 2017, came as a crushing blow to those of us everywhere who knew and loved Jeanine. Although Jeanine is deeply missed by those who loved her, her spirit lives on through her art and our memories.

Hers was a full life, well lived. May your colorful spirit light up the heavens.