City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
Christopher Beichner
Pittsboro, North Carolina
Age 57.
Died 08/07/2023.
Chris was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1966 and spent most of his childhood growing up in the North Hills neighborhood of Pittsburgh. He graduated from York Suburban High School in 1984 and attended Penn State University and, later, California University of Pennsylvania. Born significantly premature, Chris was predicted never to walk as a child, but surpassed all odds to become a baseball-playing, bike-riding, ping pong champion of the local swim club by his teens.
As a young man, Chris - inevitably known as “Beek” - began his career working for grocery food distributors based out of Pittsburgh, and loved going to baseball games, bars, and concerts in downtown Pittsburgh with his brothers and friends. In his mid-30s, he decided to go back to college and train to become a high school Social Studies teacher, a career that would take him to North Carolina.
During his 20 years in education, Chris taught at Northampton County High School - West, Roanoke Rapids High School, and Carrboro High School. He cultivated a gruff classroom persona, and was particularly known for declaring, in response to students plaintively asking if they would ever get a free day to “just have fun,” that there was (quote): “No fun in Civics!” Despite, or more likely because of, his sarcastic ways, he had a gift for connecting with students of all levels and backgrounds and was much-loved for his dry sense of humor, his encouragement of students to develop their own opinions and voices, his passion for history, and his penchant for tossing mints to students with correct answers.
In addition to teaching, Chris also loved coaching baseball for the Northampton West Hurricanes - taking that team to the playoffs in 2007 for the first time in local memory - and the Roanoke Rapids Yellow Jackets, until he physically could not any more. Even after moving to North Carolina, Chris remained an avid Pittsburgh Pirates fan (a true sign of his capacity for faith, even in the darkest times) and followed Penn State football religiously, if occasionally angrily.
In North Carolina, he met his wife, Anne, a fellow Social Studies teacher, and won her over with his humor, kindness, intelligence and willingness to go on history-themed vacations. They were together for 19 years total and had just celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary a few days before Chris’s death. He was a loving and supportive partner and husband.
Chris was preceded in death by his parents, William Max and Ellen Marie Beichner. Surviving him are his wife, Anne; his brothers, including Bill (and wife Kelly); his nieces and nephews Chelsea (and husband Joseph) Matarazzo, Nicole Beichner, and Max Beichner; numerous aunts, uncles and cousins, including his cousin and best friend Mike Roseman (and wife Christina); and in-laws, Tom, Betty, and Mike Waznis.
In a lighthearted conversation a few months before he died, Chris insisted that his wife include the following in his obituary:
First, potential titles for his (inevitable) biography, which included Bright, But Not Quite Shining: The Chris Beichner Story (from a college professor’s comment on one of his papers) and Surprisingly Better Than Average: The Chris Beichner Story (from his high school guidance counselor, in response to his SAT scores).
And second - so destined to offend that we almost left it out of this obituary - that in a world where three-time Cy Young Award winner Chris Beichner regularly strode to the plate for a Major League Baseball team, his walk-up music would be the guitar riff from “Your Own Personal Jesus,” with fans encouraged to sing “Your own. Per-so-nal. Beich-ner.”
In Chris’s honor, the family will be attending a Pirates baseball game next Spring. If you are interested in attending or would like to share a memory of Chris, please reach out to cbeichnermemorial@gmail.com. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Pirates Charities, online, or at 115 Federal Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15212.
For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.
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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.
Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.
Our Promise
Apples to Apples
Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.
The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.
Genuine Care
We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.
Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.
We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.
State Wide
Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.
Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.
Our Services
$1196.75
Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.
$2875.66
We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.
$1917.84
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.
$2497.50
An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.
$5866.98
We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.
$3033.75
This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.
$2640.59
As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.