Funeral of Sergeant Christos Karigianis

The funeral service for SergeantChristos Karigiannis
will take place at
Sainte-Rose-de-Lima Church,
219 Sainte-Rose Boulevard
Laval (Que)
on Saturday, June 30, 2007
at 11:00 a.m.

    At the family's request, media may attend the
funeral but will be restricted to the exterior of
the church. Interment will follow the funeral service
at the Sainte-Dorothée cemetary in Laval. The
interment will be open to the media but the family
wishes to mourn privately, hence no interviews will
be given. A 20-soldier escort with accompany the casket
and its pallbearers to the church where they will
be greeted by a 12-soldier ceremonial guard.
Sergeant Karigiannis was a member of the 3rd
Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light
Infantry(3 PPCLI),based in Edmonton.
He and two other Canadian soldiers died at
approximately 8 a.m. Kandahar time June 20,
when the vehicle in which they were traveling
struck a suspected improvised explosive
device on the main road, approximately 40 km
west of Kandahar City. The incident occurred
while the soldiers were conducting resupply
operations between checkpoints.
The Karigiannis family wishes that in lieu of
flowers, a donation be given to a charitable
organization such as CARE,in his memory.
In this manner, they hope to contribute to the
reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.

Chris' Obituary:

KARIGIANNIS, SGT. CHRIS PPCLI,
SEPTEMBER 20, 1976 JUNE 20, 2007
Chris was a proud and dedicated member of the Canadian
Forces. He will always be remembered for his strong
convictions and devotion to excellence. Chris is
survived by his mother Niki, his brothers Peter and
Spiro, his sisters-in-law Nancy and Panagiota and his
niece Anastasia. The funeral service will be held at
11:00 a.m. on Saturday,June 30 at Church Ste-Rose
de Lima, 219 Ste-Rose Blvd. in Laval.
Interment will follow at the Ste-Dorothée Cemetery in
Laval.There will be no public viewing. In lieu
of flowers, the family requests donations be made to
charities such as CARE,to help build schools and
hospitals in Afghanistan.

June 30th 2007

Pallbearers carry the casket of Sgt. Christos Karigiannis
after his funeral service at the Sainte-Rose-de-Lima Church
in Laval, Que. on Saturday June 30, 2007,
followed by his mother Niki Karigiannis
(second from right). Photo by CP Peter McCabe

In Montreal, eight members of the Princess Patricia Canadian

Light Infantry slowly carried the remains of Karigiannis under

sunny skies into a Laval church.

The 31-year-old was a member of the Princess Pat's 3rd

Battalion based in Edmonton.Soldiers stood guard as

Karigiannis's family followed his casket inside St. Rose Church,

where over 1,000 people filed by.

The words, "he was a humble man, fiercely proud of his

profession" drifted outside to waiting media - barred from the

funeral itself -- from a church service given in Greek, English

and French. Afterward, soldiers stressed the challenges their

fallen friend was willing to confront. "Nothing seemed to be to

big for him to get around or to overcome." said Sgt. Dwayne

MacDougall, who served in Canada with Karigiannis.

Church bells rang out as friends and family followed Karigiannis’s

flag-draped casket through a military procession.

Verses of O Canada echoed from the open doors of Sainte-Rose

-de-Lima Church during the ceremony. While the casket was

carried from the church, a tear rolled down the left cheek of a soldier

in the procession. Master Corporal Emily Cavanaugh was trained

by Karigiannis as a cadet. She says he was an inspirational

instructor. Cavanaugh says he told young trainees to love

whatever it was they chose to do.