Christopher B. Hixon

HOLLYWOOD, FL, U.S.A.

U.S. NAVY, NAVAL RESERVES

ATHLETIC DIRECTOR, SECURITY MONITOR, MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS H.S., PARKLAND, FL

02/14/2018, PARKLAND, FL, U.S.A.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School athletic director and wrestling coach Christopher B. Hixon, 49, of Hollywood, FL made a strong impression on the students he worked with. He was among those persons shot and killed on Wednesday, February 14, 2018 at the Parkland school.

For the wrestlers he coached, the news was devastating.

“Coach Hixon, for me, was a father figure,” said Karlos Valentin, a senior heavyweight on the team. ”We were pretty much with him six days a week – three-to-four-to-five hours. His loss is just terrible. I feel like I just lost an uncle.

“Coach Hixon was just a hard-working guy. He’ll make you sweat. He’ll make you bleed, but he’s always with you, [whether] you win or you lose.”

Several wrestlers talked about he impact he had on their lives and his character.

“He was such a sweet guy,” senior wrestler Ray Corniel said. “He was known by all the athletic directors and coaches from every team. He would bring us food for all our tournaments, and take care of us like we were his own children, and just watch over us, let us learn about life lessons.

“He was always hard on us because he treated us like we were his own kids.”

Christopher attended Easton High School through 10th grade and graduated from Pleasant Valley High School in Broadheadsville, PA.

He enlisted in the Navy in 1986 and transitioned into the Naval Reserves in 1992 where he retired in October 2013. Military awards and decorations include 3 Navy Achievement Medals, Good Conduct Medal, Navy Reserve Meritorious Service Medal and Navy Reserve Medal. He saw service in the Persian Gulf during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Chris was the Athletic Director and Security Monitor at Blanche Ely High School. Next, while he was South Broward’s athletic director in 2007, his stint with the Bulldogs was put on hold as he had been ordered for deployment to Iraq as a U.S. Naval Reservist.

Chris was honored through his Athletic Director career with a variety of awards; 2007 FIAAA Meritorious Award, 2008 NIAAA State of Merit award and 20017 BCAA Athletic Director of the year.

Fellow athletic directors across Broward County expressed strong feelings for Chris and about his death.

Among recent athletic accomplishments the school has had under Coach Hixon, the Eagles’ baseball team won a state and national championship in 2016.

Taravella athletic director Jason Stein said he feels for Chris Hixon’s wife and special-needs son. “It is devastating,” Jason Stein said. “His son was with him everywhere. Chris epitomized what an athletic director was all about.”

Charles Reed, a sophomore who wrestles at Douglas, said it didn’t take long for Coach Hixon to make an impression on people’s lives.

“I started wrestling this year. He really changed me,” Reed said. “I came in meek, not really confident, and he’s really made me a more confident, stronger person. Great man.”

Chris Hixon was the Broward County Athletic Association’s Athletic Director of the Year last year.

“As a younger athletic director, he always made himself available to answer my questions and help,” Cypress Bay athletic director Scott Selvidge said. “He was well respected among his peers and always willing to go the extra mile. It is just devastating.”

Chris Hixon’s father was a wrestling coach at Boyd Anderson.

Chris Hixon studied at Broward College and is from Easton, Pennsylvania.

He was buried with full military honors at South Florida National Cemetery.

Fellow athletic directors across Broward County expressed strong feelings for and about Chris Hixon’s death.