Obituary
Christopher F. Sapp, 79, of Lehigh Acres, FL, passed away on January 23, 2022 after a brief, but determined, fight against COVID-19 and a bacterial infection.
Chris was born on May 1, 1942 to Richard and Anne Sapp in upstate New York. During his childhood, Chris lived in Maryland and Florida with his parents and five siblings. After graduating from Bishop Barry High School in St. Petersburg, FL in 1960, he went on to study English at the University of Virginia, though he was accepted to law school before completing his bachelor degree. He graduated from Stetson University College of Law as a Juris Doctor in 1967. During this time, he was also enlisted in the Navy ROTC program.
After graduation from Stetson, he moved to Immokalee, FL where he opened his first law office. In 1968, at the age of 26, he was elected Judge of the Criminal Court of the Justice of the Peace of the Fourth District of Collier County, FL. He was the youngest elected judge in Florida history. After his time as judge, Chris moved to Bonita Springs, FL where he became an active member of the community. A lifelong point of pride was his involvement in helping to create Bonita Springs’ first bike path.
Over the next five decades he lived in several towns across Florida, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia. He worked as an attorney, real estate broker, citrus farmer, independent publisher, pizza delivery driver, mango farmer and beekeeper.
Throughout his entire life Chris was a devout Christian- first as a Roman Catholic, later as an Episcopalian and during the last 25 years as an Antiochian Orthodox Christian. He was dedicated to making the world a better place and was especially fond of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. He had a unique and often facetious sense of humor and was passionate about poetry, good food, storytelling, fishing, pro-life activism, travel, American history, agriculture, and most importantly, family.
Chris was predeceased by his parents Anne and Richard, his brothers Kevin, Vince, Dick and Sean, his sister Nancy, his dog Piper and several beloved chickens. He is survived by his sister Mary Ellen, his former wife Penny, their children Casie, Valory and Christopher, his wife of 38 years, Jean, their daughters Nancy and Stephanie, Jean’s sons Dan and Mike, his grandchildren Chris, Cole, Oola Belle and Erika and a host of nieces and nephews.
A private, family burial will take place on Wednesday, January 26 in Fort Myers, FL. A celebration of Chris’s life will take place at a later date. For more details, please contact Jean.
The Sapp, Collier, Dalton and Lee families would like to thank the dedicated nurses and doctors at Gulf Coast Medical Center for their skillful and compassionate care of Chris during his last days, especially the staff of ICU 2 North and most especially Nurses Rebecca, Cindy, Andrea and Annia and Drs. Newman and Meena. Special thanks to Esme.
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