Christina "Chris" Jordan

Christina Jordan, 79, of Salida, died peacefully on June 18, 2024 at Regional Hospice in Danbury, CT, with her family and dog Poppet by her side. She had traveled from her home in Salida, Colorado, to explore medical care near her daughter in Mt. Kisco, NY. Chris had been fighting cancer since 2007.

Chris, aka Krystyna and to her family as Ika, was the first child of Polish refugees Kazimierz and Ewa Swisterski. Her parents eventually immigrated to the United States and Chris’s adult life was spent largely in Ohio before she and her husband Joe retired to Salida. Chris began her life in Rome, Italy, in 1945, was baptized at the Vatican, and moved from Italy to Scotland and then England, where Chris’s brother George died at the hospital just after birth. In England, her physician father took a medical assignment similar to the Peace Corps in the British West Indies. The family eventually moved to Manhattan. Chris adjusted to New York City and read books on horses and other favorite subjects at the NY public library while her father completed his residency before taking a position in Warren, Ohio. In St. Mary’s High School in Warren, Chris remained shy but became an accomplished piano player, favoring Poland’s Chopin.

She loved water ballet, tennis, water skiing, and snow skiing, and later in life took up photography. Chris graduated from Trinity College in Washington, D.C., majoring in premed, then attended Boston University and completed the program in Science Communication. She discovered she had gifts of listening and compassion. She married Joe Jordan, a Warren native, and moved with him to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he had joined a law firm. Later, she finished an MA in Pastoral Counseling at Mt. St. Mary Seminary and fine-tuned her gifts. In Cincinnati, Chris worked for 13 years for Franciscan Communications coordinating books-on-tape and working with internationally known theologians. She also reviewed books on many topics in spirituality, such as Christian mysticism. Chris then completed CPE (Clinical Pastoral Experience) training and worked as a chaplain at Bethesda Hospital.

She was fluent in Polish and French, and spoke some Italian, Hebrew and Greek. A great gift from her parents was the opportunity to visit many countries, including Canada, France, most of the USA, the British West Indies, Denmark, England, Poland, Yugoslavia, Russia, Morocco, Greece, Turkey, France, and Spain. When encountering patients with a variety of international backgrounds, these connections were a blessing. Two memorable trips involved Chris and Joe accompanying their daughter Jackie and her husband Ted, who traveled to China to adopt their children. At home, Joe and Chris refurbished two Victorian-era houses, one in Cincinnati and one in Salida, her final home.

Chris is survived by her husband of 57 years Joe Jordan of Salida; daughter Jacquelyn Jordan (Ted Plonchak) of Mt. Kisco, NY, son Phillip Jordan of Los Angeles, CA; granddaughters, Sofia and Maya Plonchak of Mt. Kisco; and cousins Jon Markowski of Houston, TX, and Dorothy (James) Walters of Strongsville, OH. She was preceded in death by her parents and infant brother.

A memorial service will be held at noon on Saturday, October 5th, at St. Vincent Ferrer Church (7754 Montgomery Rd, Cincinnati, OH. 45236) in the Kenwood suburb of Cincinnati.

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