Christa grew up in Davenport, Iowa. She attended St. Alphonsus Catholic School, grades K-8. Aside from wanting to be a cartoonist for Walt Disney Studios, she loved the thought of being a teacher. After high school, she decided to work a few years in an office before attending college.
At the age of 21 Christa entered the Dominican Sisters of Oakford novitiate and spent the next 18 years in this religious community. After studying at De Anza College and later Santa Clara University, she taught middle school and then was principal at St. Justin School in Santa Clara.
In 1986 she attained an MA in Art Therapy from Notre Dame College in Belmont (now Notre Dame de Namur University). She also left the Oakford Community and moved to Southern California where she worked at Maryvale, a social service agency for at-risk children. A love for the Catholic school system and Northern California drew her back to the Bay Area, where she became principal of St. Mary School in Gilroy for 22 years. She alan Associate member of the Presentation Sisters Community.
After 30 years working in the Catholic elementary school system of the Diocese of San Jose, Christa accepted a new challenge by becoming the executive direction of The Learning and Loving Education Center in Morgan Hill. The Center was a sponsored ministry of the Presentation Community and was a literacy program for immigrant women. She ministered there for almost eight years, until the Center had to close due to Covid-19 pandemic issues.
The next year she began teaching art to all grades at St. Mary School in Giloy. Besides teaching art for the third year, she has now also joined the St. Mary School middle school faculty is is teaching 6th and 7th Grade Religion. This makes her 25th year of ministry at St. Mary School!
