Christopher (Chris) Towne Selby

March 11, 1952 – Sept. 25, 2019

Christopher (Chris) Towne Selby, 67, of Ninilchik, Alaska, died on Sept. 25, 2019 at Swedish ICU Hospital in Seattle, Washington.

He went home to be with the Lord Jesus after suffering liver and organ failure.

Chris was born on March 11, 1952, in Baltimore, Maryland to Harry Joseph (Joe) and Madelene Towne Selby.

Chris spent his early years in Kennebunkport, Maine, where his mother was born and raised and his grandfather was a grocer. When the family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where Chris went to high school, he did not like city life, but enjoyed exploring the Chesapeake Bay area. Chris followed in his father’s footsteps as a master carpenter and gardener. He married his high school sweetheart, Connie Fetoe. They were married for about 15 years. Later he traveled through Europe and lived in England.

He was married to Lisa Rowe of Cambridge, Maryland, for a short time. When his friend, Randolph Murphy, who had a B & B in Ninilchik, invited Chris to travel to Alaska with him in June 2005, Chris told his family he was moving to Alaska. He felt at home in Alaska and enjoyed cooking on fishing and hunting boat trips with Tom and Aaron Mahoney. Lingcod fishing was his favorite.

In 2009 he married Martesue Chapman of Ninilchik. In spite of Chris’ many talents, he had a life-long battle with alcohol until 2012 when he fell from the balcony of a house he was working on. When the paramedics found him, they were concerned he would not survive. He suffered a concussion and broken pelvis, but the Lord spared his life and touched his heart with a saving faith in the Lord Jesus. After Chris accepted God’s free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, his drinking addiction ended. He became a new creature in Christ and the obvious change was apparent to all who knew him. He started attending Calvary Baptist Church and became a member after he made a public profession of his faith through baptism in Cook Inlet in September 2012. He loved reading his Bible and C. H. Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening devotional.

Chris was not at home in this modern age and was most comfortable in his wool pants, red long underwear and LL Bean low-cut Leather/Rubber Mocs. Chris will be greatly missed and remembered by the beautiful things he made and his very special garden that he shared with all, including sunflowers he grew for his friends and neighbors throughout the summer. As Chris would say, “It’s all of God’s grace.”

Chris is survived by his brother, Charles (Chuck) and Chuck’s wife, Janet of St. Michaels, Maryland; and his niece, Jennifer and her husband, Ted Sizemore of Delta, Pennsylvania.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his younger brother, David.

There will be a memorial service for Chris at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019, at Calvary Baptist Church in Ninilchik. Friends and family are invited to share their special memories of Chris.