Christina “Chris” Jordan
1945 – 2024
SALIDA, Colorado – Christina Jordan, 79, died peacefully on Tuesday, June 18, 2024, at Regional Hospice in Danbury, Connecticut, with her family and her dog, Poppet, by her side.
She had traveled from Colorado to explore medical care near her daughter in Mount Kisco, New York. Chris had been fighting cancer since 2007.
Chris’ life was spent largely in Ohio, first in Warren, then in Cincinnati, before she and her husband, Warren native Joe Jordan, retired to Salida.
Chris was the child of Polish refugees Kazimierz “Peter” and Ewa Swisterski, and was known by them as Krystyna or Ika. She began her life in Rome, Italy, and was baptized at the Vatican. As an infant Ika was cared for by a very organized Swiss nurse while he mom worked for the Red Cross. As refugees of World War II, Chris’s parents moved with her to Scotland, then England, where her brother George died just after birth. From England, her physician father took a two-year assignment similar to the Peace Corps in the British West Indies.
The little family moved from the West Indies to Manhattan, where eight year old Chris read extensively at the New York Public Library while her father completed his medial residency. A pet sheepdog left behind, died in Barbados. In New York, Chris adjusted to New York City English, new ways of writing, and to getting beaten by the boys in the class because with a dark tan she “looked Puerto Rican.”
Chris’s physican father then took a position as an anesthesiologist at Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren, Ohio. There, Chris attended St. Mary School, graduating from St. Mary High School (now Warren JFK) in 1962. In high school in Ohio, Chris remained shy but became an accomplished pianist, favoring Poland’s Chopin. She loved water ballet, tennis, water skiing and snow skiing.
Chris went on to graduate from Trinity College in Washington, D.C. majoring in premed, then attended Boston University, completing a science communication program.
Recognizing she had gifts of listening and compassion, she later obtained a Master of Arts degree in pastoral counseling at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Cincinnati, and fine-tuned her gifts. She worked for 13 years at Franciscan Communications in Cincinnati, and coordinated their books-on-tape working with internationally known theologians. She also reviewed books on many topics in spirituality, such as Christian mysticism. Chris later completed CPE (Clinical Pastoral Experience) training and worked as a chaplain at Cincinnati hospitals, particularly Bethesda North. As a chaplain, she regarded encountering patients with various international backgrounds a blessing.
Chris was fluent in Polish and French, and also spoke some Italian, Hebrew and Greek. A great gift from her parents was the opportunity to visit several countries, including Canada, France, England, Denmark, Poland, Yugoslavia, Russia, Morocco, Greece, Turkey, Spain, and most of the USA.
Two memorable trips involved Chris and Joe accompanying their daughter, Jackie, and her husband, Ted, to China to adopt two daughters.
At home, Joe and Chris refurbished two Victorian-era houses, one in Cincinnati and one in Salida, her final home.
Chris is survived by her husband of 57 years, Joe Jordan of Salida, Colorado; daughter, Jacquelyn Jordan (Ted Plonchak) of Mount Kisco, New York; son, Phillip Jordan of Los Angeles, California; granddaughters, Sofia and Maya Plonchak of Mount Kisco.
She was preceded in death by her parents, and infant brother.
A memorial service will be held at noon Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, at St. Vincent Ferrer Church in the Kenwood suburb of Cincinnati.