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In 1999, Doug Lane snuck into the Boston University boathouse with his roommate to watch the Head of the Charles rowing competition. Inside, he met Christine Lane, who was dressed in a “classic 90’s post-college” baggy sweater and chunky black boots.

Out of 40,000 people in the crowd, Doug was instantly attracted to Christine, but felt too shy to ask her out. After the race, Doug’s roommate got Christine’s email address. Before long, they were dating.

“When I started spending time with her, she was always very driven. There was always something to do,” Doug said. “We’re going to go do this activity, or we’re going to work on this project for the apartment, or what have you.”

Christine, a 1997 Syracuse University graduate, died on Jan. 29 when an Army helicopter and an American Airlines jet collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport outside of Washington, D.C. Her 16-year-old son Spencer also died in the crash. The two were returning from a development camp after the U.S. Figure Skating Championships ended.

Born in Cranford, New Jersey, Christine earned a degree in communications design from SU before moving to Boston, Massachusetts, where she married Doug. Years later, the two adopted Spencer and their other son, Milo.

Doug said while he and Christine were engaged, she made all their wedding invitations by hand, decorating them with elaborate embossing. She even made handmade soap for each of the guests at their wedding.

He said that her attention to detail allowed her creativity to flourish, and fueled her moments of spontaneity.

“I used to call her ‘Do-It-Yourself Conrad’ because she just refused to let anyone do anything that she could do better,” Doug said. “She was always just evolving and exploring new ways to express herself creatively.”

Christine’s closest friends from her days at SU also remembered her for her independence and artistic touch.

“I still have a hard time expressing in words what she meant to me,” Jen Imbaro, Christine’s college roommate, said. “It’s just flashes of how much in my life she was. She was there to take pictures of my baby. She was my maid of honor. She was there when I bought my wedding dress, and I was there when she bought her wedding dress.”

Courtesy of Jen Imbaro

Jen Imbaro and Christine Lane with their Design group after presenting their final project during sophomore year. The two bonded over their late nights spent working on the project, as Imbaro said she was struck by Christine’s “epic creativity and craftiness.”

Imbaro, who also graduated with a degree in communications design, said she first connected with Christine during their sophomore year at SU when the two worked on a group project together. Her “epic creativity and craftiness” struck Imbaro, and they bonded during the late nights spent completing the project.

The next year, when Imbaro needed a fourth roommate and Christine was looking for an apartment, living together was an obvious choice.

“She was always really good at befriending people and just kind of being all in on a friendship, or doing whatever people needed from her,” Imbaro said.

She also said Christine’s creativity became evident when they lived together. The two would often go to JOANN Fabrics so Christine could sew festive curtains to decorate their apartment windows for every holiday.

Imbaro recalled another class project, where the two designed the logo and signature packaging design of an imaginary business. As a fan of baked goods, Christine insisted on developing a bakery.

One morning, after the two stayed up late working on the project, Imbaro planned to help Christine carry the materials to class and set up the project. But when she woke up, Christine had already set it up, cleaned the kitchen and decorated three cakes.

“Around that time, I started calling her Martha Stewart’s niece,” Imbaro said. “I come down into the kitchen groggy, and she’s all dressed and ready to go.”

Leah Johnson, who was roommates with Imbaro and Christine at SU, said she loved watching the two complete their arts projects. She said they never made her feel left out, as the three were always together.

Courtesy of Jen Imbaro

Christine Lane and Leah Johnson outside of a pizza place on Marshall Street during their senior year. Lane and Johnson shared a love of sports, which Johnson said made them immediate friends.

Johnson said she often bonded with Christine over their love of sports — particularly at SU. When the men’s basketball team went to the Final Four in 1996, the two went to the airport to congratulate the team after their win.

“I remember feeling instantly comfortable with her,” Johnson said. “It was such a seamless friendship, and talking and relating to her was just so easy. She was so warm and funny.”

When they weren’t cheering on the university’s teams, Johnson fondly recalled the trio’s frequent trips in Christine’s “tiny, crappy Ford Escort.”

Johnson lived 15 minutes away from Christine’s hometown in New Jersey, so Christine drove her to and from SU during breaks. During their junior year winter break, the two returned home through a snowstorm even though their parents told them not to. Johnson said trucks flew by them while they carefully drove in the small car through the snow, but they bonded over the multiple hours it took to get home.

“Her energy was amazing, like sparkling, and everyone loved her, and her laugh was just contagious,” Johnson said. “She was just an amazing person.”

Christine’s sister, Kathleen Wolfanger, also remembered driving to and from Syracuse with her. She said Christine always wanted to go to SU and came to Syracuse for a six-week summer program in high school before applying for early admission.

While Wolfanger didn’t want to attend the university herself, she said Christine strengthened their relationship when they were away from home since it encouraged Wolfanger to visit her frequently.

“For me, as the little sister coming to her school here, that was really when our relationship and sisterly bond started,” Wolfanger said. “Syracuse University holds such a special place for my family, because we made really, really good memories here together.”

When Wolfanger came to visit, she would also spend time with Christine’s friends. She tagged along with Johnson to her classes and ate in the dining halls with Christine and Imbaro.

“Those friendships that she made at SU, that really set the path for the rest of her life,” Wolfanger said.

Courtesy of Leah Johnson

Christine Lane in her car, which Leah Johnson described as a “tiny, crappy Ford Escort.” The trio often took trips together in it, which Lane also used to drive her sister Kathleen Wolfanger home after her visits at Syracuse University.

During her time in college, Christine dealt with brain tumors, which Wolfanger said was difficult for her to process from hundreds of miles away. After seeing Christine’s resilience through the many hospital visits, Wolfanger later wrote her college application essays about her sister’s inspiring perseverance.

Despite her medical conditions, Christine graduated cum laude from SU. Wolfanger said that on the day of Christine’s graduation, she cried so much that their father only included graduation pictures without her at Christine’s celebration of life.

“I think I was the only one in my family crying,” Wolfanger said. “I was so proud of her.”

A decade after Christine, Imbaro and Johnson graduated, they all returned to SU in 2007 for homecoming weekend.

During their visit, the three took a photo of the brick on the Einhorn Family Walk they had inscribed with all their names the year they graduated. Johnson said she felt grateful the three of them decided to buy the brick before leaving. Her family takes a picture with it every time she visits.

“Every time that I’ve gone back to school since then, I always find it and take a picture. I have a picture of my kids right next to the brick when I took them to see it when they were younger,” Johnson said. “It’s a symbol of the three of us together for all those years. The two years that we lived (at SU) together, it’s just the best memories of my life.”

With many fond memories of central New York, Wolfanger moved back to Syracuse in 2022. She had worked with her husband in the Hudson Valley for 15 years when he was given a promotional opportunity and three relocation options, one of which was Syracuse.

The decision was easy.

Wolfanger said it was “crazy” she ended up back at Syracuse after being so resistant to attending SU herself, but as she reminisced on her memories of games at the JMA Wireless Dome, she hopes to give her kids the same experience.

“Nobody ever expected that this tragedy would happen,” Wolfanger said. “So I feel thankful that I’m still here, and that I’m close to the place that was really special and that my kids will get to experience that.”

Despite living so close to the school where she and Christine made lifelong memories, Wolfanger said her sister’s death is a loss she feels every day. She said their bond grew even stronger after they both started families and became mothers, relying on each other for everything.

Wolfanger’s kids, who affectionately knew Christine as Aunt CC, might keep her in Syracuse for the foreseeable future, she said. With an aunt that went to SU and a father that graduated from SUNY ESF, Wolfanger said her kids could easily end up enjoying the same college community Aunt CC did.

“It feels like I have 100 reminders a day that she’s gone,” Wolfanger said. “(An) obituary, it’s never going to be long enough to capture all the stories and all the things that she meant to us.”

Published on March 27, 2025 at 3:30 am
Contact Henry: hdaley@syr.edu