This will grow to be the the site for Kaleria Christianson and all she’s done for her family, friends and her students

Kal was a public school teacher for 37 years in the Laguna Salada School District in Pacifica. She taught US History, English and Ceramics, along with the “sport” of negotiating with the school district for fair pay for educators. Kal retired in 2002 in San Francisco. She lived mainly in the Richmond District where she raised her son, Tristan, as a single mother.  He attended many of the same schools she did in San Francisco. 

Kal had a love of China and the culture she was born into on March 13th, 1941, where she experienced WWII firsthand as a young girl during the Japanese occupation through the end of the war before moving to Somar and Tubabao, Philippines, in 1949. She finally emigrated with her family and parents, Valentina and Peter, and younger brother and sister Nikolai and Constance to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1951 aboard the General William M. Black. 

Her family spent their first years in Live Oak and Gridley in Northern California before moving to the Richmond District of San Francisco in 1953. She attended George Peabody Elementary School, Roosevelt Middle School and George Washington High School before graduating from San Francisco State in June 1965 with a degree in education. Kal married Dean Christianson in 1966 and had their son, Tristan, in 1967. 

Her love of education was defined in how much she gave of herself to her students, not just in the everyday classroom, but in helping them in their studies and understanding of today’s world and politics, making sure they would have a firm grasp on where they wanted their paths to go in the future. She was always willing to help students who wanted to learn more than what school had to offer and help them feel empowered to do more to make a difference in their lives. 

Kal retired in San Francisco just blocks away from where she grew up and attended school, and where she spent her years still enjoying time with friends and family. She  had a love/hate relationship with American politics as she watched the news on CNN. She had a love for Chinese food and the culture, cooking and entertaining. Her love of her sister’s nephews, James and Conor Flanagan, extended the family into her two grand nephews, Keagan and Kellan Flanagan, and their mother, Jenna. 

Kal is survived by her son, Tristan, and wife, Agnes, who were with her in her last days keeping her safe, comforted and cared for until she passed on July 9th from cancer in her sleep. She will always be loved and missed. Her loved ones will always be grateful for all she did to love and support her family with her advice, emotional support and humor. Kal gave so much of herself to make sure others were cared for in whatever they needed. We will always feel blessed to have had such an amazing mother, woman, teacher, aunt, and friend in our lives. 

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