Space Coast Pops Orchestra
P.O. Box 3344
Cocoa, Florida 32924

In Loving Memory and Honor of Joe Christ
February 22, 1924 - January 5, 2010

Joe was born in Hamburg Germany in 1924, immigrated to the United States at age 5, and grew up in Peoria, Illinois. Joe played trumpet in high school and through common interests met his future wife Alyce. He served overseas in the US Army Air Corp during World War II. After returning to the states in December 1945, he married his high school sweetheart on June 16, 1946. In 1949, Joe graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in Physics. He and Alyce moved to New Mexico for him to pursue postgraduate work. With his G.I. Bill running out, he entered Civil Service and worked at White Sands Proving Grounds for about a year and a half. Being lured away by RCA, he moved to Florida in January 1953 as one of the original consultants hired to assist RCA with managing the Joint Long Range Proving Grounds (Missile Test Range). Although intended to be a temporary location, he continued working in Florida's space industry until retiring in 1986, following the Challenger disaster.

Throughout his Florida residency, Joe was involved in all sorts of community activities. He was an active member of the Cocoa Beach Community Church for 56 years, serving several terms as Chairman of the Board of Trustees and singing in the church's choir. He was a past member of the Kiwanis Club of Cocoa and Toast Masters. For 40 years, Joe helped bring quality musical plays and concerts to his community by serving as the production manager for several outstanding cultural organizations such as Kovak & Christ Benefit Productions, the Brevard Light Opera Association, the Brevard Symphony Orchestra and the Space Coast Pops Orchestra. He loved raising horses and maintaining a boarding stable with his daughter in Cocoa.

After 33 years as co-founders with the Brevard Symphony Orchestra, Joe and his wife Alyce founded the Space Coast Philharmonic, which evolved into the Space Coast Pops. Both Joe, as Vice President of Productions, and Alyce, as Executive Director, pledged their hearts to the preservation of live music. His legacy lives on in the Orchestra today, and his presence will be greatly missed by all of us.