Christelle Hendren Lindner, 52, passed away April 19, 2022. She was born in Chatellerault, France on August 31, 1969. She was the daughter of Sergeant Major and Mrs. Phillip D. Hendren (Ret.) of Huntsville, Alabama.
Christelle Hendren Lindner was a “family first” mother. She prioritized God and her family above all. Many will remember Christelle for a long list of accomplishments and adventures. In early adulthood, she was a NASA rocket scientist, a two-time national concrete canoe champion, and was well known as the 4.0 “curve breaker” for every course she took in undergraduate and graduate schools. She attended the University of Alabama in Huntsville receiving a Baccalaureate and a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. In 1996, she completed all coursework requirements for her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. In addition, she passed both the preliminary and qualifying examinations. However, she redirected her focus in life to taking care of her family and children because, simply stated, that was what she was called to do. She wanted to accomplish this task to the absolute best of her abilities.
Christelle had a unique ability to put people at ease when they were around her. She was patient and more concerned about her relationship with people than she was about proving her intellect. This is a rare attribute of true character that shines through when a person’s heart is stronger than their brain. Rare indeed.
She met her husband, Jeffrey Lindner, while working at NASA on Space Shuttle Structural Dynamics. They were married for 29 years having two children. In addition, Jeff and Christelle were blessed with a daughter who merged into their family in 2016. These three young adults have been the light of Christelle’s life with countless church youth group activities, vacations, and adventures.
Christelle was diagnosed with a rare form of high-grade Neuroendocrine Tumors (NET) in early 2013. While she wanted to be remembered for much more than her battle with lethal cancer, her heroics were beyond measure and deserve recognition. She endured countless surgeries, tests, treatments, and procedures with extreme courage over the years. The fact that she survived almost 10 years with metastatic NET was a testament to her incredible tenacity and willingness to fight to be with her family and serve God to the best of her ability. For those who have not had experience with cancer in their lives, imagine just for a moment what it is like to wait for cancer screening test results every three months in search of new cancer progression. The two-year survival rate for her specific cancer embodiment was dismal at best. When studying her specific cancer, technical papers use the term “poor outcomes” to convey how difficult it is to mitigate high-grade cancer. Yet, by the grace of God, along with world class doctors, she pushed the cancer back to a status called “No Evidence of Disease” (NED) and enjoyed life for six wonderful years before it returned in 2020.
These were important years in which her boys graduated high school and attended college. This is when Alisa Brewer merged into the family, graduating high school, attending college, and getting married. In fact, Alisa will soon make Christelle a grandmother. It was a life-long dream of Christelle’s to become a grandmother. Christelle again pushed the cancer back to NED status for a brief period during 2021. She thoroughly enjoyed her time with family with trips to the beach during the break from cancer. However, in 2022, the cancer returned yet again with a vicious progression that had modified its genomic characteristics. Even the most advanced treatments in the world could not halt its growth.
From her family…
We told the doctors in the ICU over and over not to give up on Christelle. We told them that she had a strength that could not be measured with their instrumentation. However, the progression of the cancer was overwhelming. She lost her battle surrounded by family that held her close telling her it was OK, she had fought well, and that the battle was over. God called her home and now there is an incredible new angel in Heaven. We are beyond comforted to know that Jesus has her now. Hopefully, she will put in a good word for all of us that have been left to live with the massive void in our lives that her departure has left. We are crushed and devastated to be here without her.
Christelle is survived by her husband Jeffrey Lindner and three children: Lance Lindner, Noah Lindner, and Alisa Brewer (Caleb Neiman). She is also survived by her parents Phillip and Pierrette Hendren, two sisters Cathy Morrison (Mike Morrison), Becky Harbin (Edd Harbin), one sister in-law Jill Campbell (Dwight Campbell). In addition, Christelle is survived by 8 nephews and nieces along with 5 grand nephews and nieces.
The visitation will be held Tuesday, April 29th beginning at 12:00 p.m. at Berryhill Funeral Home with a service following at 2:00 p.m. Interment will be at Maple Hill Cemetery directly following the service.
In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made to the non-profit “Minkahz NETs Mission” at https://www.netsmission.org. This organization is dedicated to connecting and educating cancer patients around the world with high grade NETs. Christelle and Jeff Lindner were extremely active in the group, constantly encouraging countless newly diagnosed neuroendocrine cancer patients to reach out to world class neuroendocrine specialists for the very best medical care. Jeff Lindner serves as a Board Member as well as a Neuroendocrine Group Expert and Moderator.
