LOVED ones have paid tribute to a Basingstoke tennis player who has died of cancer.
Christine Linda Fowler passed away on July 23 at the age of 65 in a care home in Australia, after moving there seven months ago.
The long-serving member of Old Basing Tennis Club was well-known in Basingstoke through her connection to the sport.
At her funeral on Monday, loved ones paid tribute to Chris and described her as "passionate" and "enthusiastic".
Playing the sport since the 1980s, Chris played a key role at Old Basing Tennis Club as a committee member, chairperson and secretary. She also captained the Ladies’ B team.
In a eulogy televised online from Australia, Chris’s family wrote: “From an early age, Chris took strongly after her parents, Peter and Jean Barns, with academic success as she sailed through school.
“She was the first in the family to go to university and excelled as a mathematician at Bedford College in London.
“Chris was one of few lucky humans who was always interested in the detail around her, with her searching and inquisitive nature.”
The 65-year-old loved to travel the world and took a real interest in the cultures she immersed herself into, including Kuala Lumpur and Australia.
She shared her adventures with her soulmate, Tom, who she met in 1972 at university.
The couple enjoyed travelling and took on Asia with a five-year stint using Kuala Lumpur as a base.
The family said that Chris showed a “love and aptitude for music” and will always be remembered as a “passionate singer”.
As a student, she formed a lengthy association with the Basingstoke Choral Society, where she performed some of the world’s most beautiful music.
To mark her tenth wedding anniversary in 1985, she travelled to Peru with her husband, Tom, and canoed up the Amazon, scaling the heights of Machu Picchu, a narrow mountain ridge where the Andes meets the Amazon.
A lover of Japan, Chris relocated to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia with her husband, working as a project manager in the mid-1990s.
“Chris had a love of languages in school, and took A Levels in Latin and Ancient Greek, reciting poetry and prose at competitions.
“She completed a post grad diploma in Systems Engineering from Cranfield University in 2013, at the age of 59.
“An avid participant and watcher of sport, she travelled around the world to watch formula once racing, golf and tennis.
“She will be greatly missed as a wife, loved daughter, sister, sister-in-law, cousin and dear treasured friend.”
Committee member, Lynne Thomas, from OBTC, told The Gazette: “Chris thoroughly enjoyed playing tennis at Old Basing Tennis Club from the 1980s until a couple of years ago.
“She was very involved with the club throughout this time.
“Chis was a great asset who volunteered to take on tasks and unselfishly gave up time for the club.
“Nothing was too much trouble, and everything was always done with enthusiasm and commitment.”
Chris was described by Lynne as a “tenacious” and “enthusiastic player” who was a regular at club nights over many years.
Born on November 10, 1954, in Manchester, she leaves behind a family who paid tribute to her in a moving statement.
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