CHRISTOPHER SIFFORD

PUXICO, Mo. -- Funeral service for Christopher Dale Sifford of Jefferson City, Mo., will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at Puxico High School gymnasium. The Rev. Kem Lumley of Memorial Baptist Church in Jefferson City will officiate. Eulogies will be given by Gov. Roger Wilson and Roy Temples. Burial will be in Puxico City Cemetery, with the Rev. John Buttry and the Rev. Ray Placher conducting the committal service.

Friends may call at Morgan Sifford Funeral Home in Puxico after 2 p.m. Saturday.

Chris, 37, died Monday, Oct. 16, 2000, in a plane crash about 25 miles south of St. Louis, that also killed Gov. Mel Carnahan and his son, Roger Carnahan. Chris was Gov. Carnahan's senior aide in his bid for the U.S. Senate.

He was born Aug. 6, 1963, in Poplar Bluff, Mo., son of Dale and Margaret Anne Sifford.

Chris was a 1981 graduate of Puxico High School, and received a bachelor of science degree in communications from Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield.

During college he was a disc jockey and news director at KDEX Radio in Dexter, Mo. He was also a disc jockey at KTTS Radio in Springfield, a staffer for the congressional campaign of Wayne Cryts in 1986, radio news reporter with KTTS, and an assistant metro editor, reporter, and assignment editor at the Springfield News-Leader.

In 1992 Chris became the spokesperson for the Carnahan gubernatorial campaign and later the Carnahan transition team. Chris then became the director of communications and later the governor's chief of staff during Carnahan's term of office.

He was a member of Memorial Baptist Church in Jefferson City.

Chris enjoyed sports, playing the piano, riding horses, and most of all spending time with his niece and nephew.

Survivors include his father and stepmother, Dale and Shelby Sifford; a brother and sister-in-law, Morgan and Pam Sifford of Puxico; a sister, Sue Sifford of Sikeston, Mo.; grandparents, Joe and Lena Keepers of Dexter; two stepbrothers, Bob and Tim Mullins of Piggott, Ark.; a niece, Julie Sifford of Puxico; a nephew, Josh Sifford of Puxico; several aunts, uncles and cousins.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Margaret Anne Sifford, who died March 14, 1992.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been set up at First Midwest Bank in Puxico. Memorials may be sent to the Chris Sifford Memorial Fund, c/o Morgan Sifford, P.O. Box 160, Puxico, Mo., 63960. Contributions may also be made to the Stoddard County 4-H Rodeo Club at P.O. Box 169, Bloomfield, Mo., 63825.