I knew of Chris for many years at the Maryland Beagle Club. He was part of a group of veteran beaglers and he was among the best. As time passed, many of Chris’s close buddies departed to that big beagle club in the sky. Loving the sport myself, I often ran into Chris out training on the club grounds. He was a big help to Paul Davis who was confined to a golf cart. Chris and Paul would invite me along to analyze new pups and talk sports and politics. We would actually run pups in the puppy pen so that Paul could watch from his wheelchair.  Jerre Houck would join us to further analyze dogs and give us his opinion on the latest current events. I enjoyed our time at the club and became good friends with all of them and I learned quite a bit from their gathered experience.

Timber Grove Libby and Timber Grove Roxie were Chris’s favorite hounds. These were two Frenchie bitches out of Walk-A-Line Roxie. Both bitches finished easily and were successful in the federations as well. Timber Grove Diamond, who was sired by close friend Glenn Hilbert’s Dixie Dutchman, was another favorite that actually won the Pennsylvania Winners Stake 3 years in a row! Chris was also the breeder of Timber Grove Diesel that turned out to be a decent producer with offspring like Amity Hill Stoney, National Champion Bun-E-Patch Cummings, Timber Grove Dianne and my favorite Awesome Run Makita.

Chris was a dedicated breeder. He was so focused on making sure that every pup lived, he often slept on a cot in his kennel so that he would be aware of any situations while a bitch was in whelp. He always said that a lost pup could have been the best one. Through his perseverance, he made it into the Breeders Hall Of Fame.

Chris was a respected judge in all aspects of the sport. In his younger years, he was often called upon to judge but he eventually started to turn down the offers so that he could participate in the competition. I heard about a trial that Chris and his good friend Gerre Houck judged together. But, apparently the participants at this trial didn’t get the word. Chris and Jerre found themselves getting tongue lashings after each class they judged! Chris turned toward Jerre and said “Well how do you like judging with me now?”.  They both had a good laugh and continued to be great friends until the end. In my opinion, Chris and Jerre were true judging veterans.

Many times, we sat on the back porch of the club telling stories and pointing out highlights of our beagling careers. It’s amazing how many times we heard the same stories over again but we enjoyed hearing them again. Chris would often say that he would drive 5 hours to Cory in the wee hours of the morning to run in a major event. Then, drive all the way home, jump into bed then get up to go to work the next day! That’s how dedicated he was! We often would put a friend like Dale Pliscott or Bob Hartman on the speaker phone when we had a hard time trying to think of a beagler’s name or the name of a dog.

Chris reluctantly took the position of field trial secretary as a favor to me. Like many clubs, the number of able bodied members was declining. I knew that he would much rather be sitting at the tables shooting the breeze with everyone. But he still did an outstanding job. In fact, it was his idea to get the field trial software that Richard Baumann had written. Chris loved it because he no longer needed to do data entry on the AKC forms.

Over the years, Chris faced some health issues that he was able to overcome. Unfortunately, one of those issues resurfaced with no hope of resolution.

Chris was able to see his derby, Timber Grove Bella, run via a cell phone video at the Derby Rodeo at Delsea and hear the positive comments from the participants, which brought a smile to his face. Additionally, Chris was able to participate in phone conversations with Ray Alexander and Jerre Houck.

I would like to thank Ray, Jerre and others for sharing their memories of Chris.

I will miss our times together in the field with our hounds talking about dogs, football, politics and any other topic that came to the surface. Chris, I hope you are able to run Libby and Roxie where you are now.

--Doug Lesight