Christopher Shane Strickland

November 4, 1980 – April 22, 2021

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Christopher Shane Strickland, 40, passed away on April 22, 2021, in Tempe, Arizona.

Christopher Shane Strickland was born on November 4, 1980 in Tucson, Arizona to Vivian Joan Strickland and Reynaldo Fuquay Magdaleno, both active duty military members. When Shane was 6 months old, he and his mother moved to his mother’s hometown of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where she later met and married Shane’s stepdad, Patrick Bullock, who was also in the military. Being in a military family, Shane had the opportunity to grow up in many different places, including South Carolina, Texas, Germany, and Illinois.

As a child Shane enjoyed meeting new friends, playing soccer, and video games. He tried his hand at hunting with his Uncle Robert, but soon found that since he had to be quiet and not talk that it wasn’t really for him. He enjoyed playing street hockey where he became quite the talented rollerblader, a skill he tried again recently and realized it wasn’t as easy as he remembered. When Shane was young, Patrick helped to cultivate Shane’s love of travel and sports by taking him to different places such as the Football Hall of Fame and the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Shane spent his teenage years in South Carolina. Influenced by his mother’s Southern roots, Shane developed an early love for Southern cooking and college football. To the dismay of many of his friends, Shane’s mother tried to sway Shane away from being a University of South Carolina Gamecocks fan and to instead root for her revered Clemson University Tigers. In the end, Shane ended up cheering for both teams. Shane attended Sumter High School in South Carolina. There his charm and charisma earned him many fast friendships that he cherished the rest of his life, including Fred, Dusty, Jeremy, Chris and Aaron. In highschool, Shane competed in wrestling at a lean mean 119 lbs. For his senior year, Shane moved to Mesa, Arizona to live with his father and attend Dobson High School. His father recalls the promise he made to his son as soon as he arrived in Mesa: if Shane could find a job, his father would help him buy a car. An impressive three days later, Shane reported back to his father–not only had he found a job, but he had a date as well–with none other than the homecoming queen herself, a story he would later remind his wife of time and time again. His father upheld his end of the promise, helping Shane buy his first vehicle, a small pickup truck, his infamous grey 1995 Ford Ranger.

The truck served Shane well until he graduated from Dobson High School in 2000 and for many years after.

Shane’s endeavors led him to a few different jobs, but he soon realized that his entrepreneurial spirit and energetic personality made working with people and sales a natural fit. He would go on to become an independent insurance agent.

Then in 2002, Shane’s life changed completely when he met the love of his life, Claudia Masters. It only took a mere six years, but he finally convinced Claudia to marry him. Claudia and Shane were married on April 26, 2008. Claudia and Shane would soon start their own insurance business, leveraging Shane’s natural ability with people and Claudia’s business and accounting experience. Shane used his extraordinary ability to meet new people to launch his business networking where he personally connected with hundreds of people. Shane explored several local churches and after finding that the Emmanuel Lutheran Church closely followed bible principles, he was baptized on December 5, 2010. Then on July 27, 2017, Shane’s life changed again when he and Claudia welcomed their daughter, Violet Sayuri Strickland, into their family.

Shane was passionate about his daughter and his family. He enjoyed daddy-daughter activities with Violet including going to the park to play on the swings and slides, going to the swimming pool, taking naps, and the occasional walk to the Circle K to get Violet her favorite strawberry milk. He loved gathering with friends and family to eat and share stories. Shane’s love of history and his adventurous spirit led him and Claudia to travel all over the country visiting historical places from the site of the Boston Tea Party to the Civil War battlefields of Gettysburg to Washington DC to Monticello and many more places. He even sold Claudia on visiting lesser known places like the home of James Monroe and the city of Franklin, Tennessee.

Shane was a trivia buff. He had an uncanny ability to remember trivia facts and sports statistics and eagerly shared them with anyone that would listen. He reveled in talking about and sharing different foods, including taking pictures of mouthwatering dishes to exchange with his other food loving friends. Shane also loved working a hot grill and slow smoking a good cut of meat to share with friends.

Shane liked to watch all sports, but especially enjoyed cheering on his beloved Arizona Cardinals and Arizona Diamondbacks. He was hopelessly optimistic in believing that each year was going to be the year for his Cardinals to finally make it to the Super Bowl.

Shane is survived by his wife, Claudia Jean Strickland; daughter, Violet Sayuri Strickland; mother, Vivian Joan Strickland; father, Reynaldo Fuquay Magdaleno; stepfather, Patrick Bullock; brother, Tye Everett Magdaleno; grandfather, Reynaldo Renteria Magdaleno; aunts, Darcy Cocita; Marcia Christensen; Jean Santa Cruz; uncle, Robert Strickland; step-uncle, Michael Edward Bullock; and step-aunt Cassandra Bullock.

Shane is preceded in death by his grandmother, June Fuquay Magdaleno; uncle, Andy Strickland; grandmother, Frankie Haynes; grandfather Jack Strickland; step-grandfather, Mack Edward Bullock; and step-grandmother, Dorothy Tanner Bullock.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 15, 2021, 2:00 PM at Mountain View Funeral Home, 7900 E. Main St., Mesa, Arizona 85207.

 

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Interment to be held at a later date at Mariposa Gardens Memorial Park, 400 S Power Rd, Mesa, Arizona 85206.

 

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to Sunshine Acres Children’s Home (sunshineacres.org/donate).