Armand Christopher Kampela

On December 19, 2019 after a courageous 14 month battle with glioblastoma, our Son, Brother, Father, Uncle, Cousin, Godfather, fellow officer and friend has come to his End Of Watch at the age of 48 years.

He leaves behind his two young Daughters Lauren 16 and Emerson 11, Parents Victor and Lil, brothers Rob (Susie), Shane (Suzanne and Lawson) and Jim (Fernanda), Nephews Lance, Kade, Lukas (Godson), Tyler and Louka, Nieces Khara, Melanie, Victoria as well numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

Chris was born in Dryden, Ontario in 1971, and moved with the family to Thunder Bay in 1972. He attended Sherbrooke Public School and spent early years growing up on Huntington Court. The family then moved to Geraldton in 1981, where he attended public and the Geraldton Composite High School until moving again in 1986. The family returned to Thunder Bay where Chris attended Westgate High School, graduating in 1989. Chris then attended Confederation College taking the Radio/Television Broadcasting for 1 year before deciding to “take a year off” to make some money. Chris found employment at various places where his older brothers worked until becoming a Police Officer; A-One Filter & Supply 1989-1990, SKAF’s 1990 – 1992, Longlac wood industries 1992-1997, Northern Wood 1997-2002, Auxiliary OPP Constable 2001-2003,Thunder Bay Comp center 2002-2004, Thunder Bay Police Service 2004-2019.

Chris was a natural born leader, and was proud to be a Police Officer. He was fair, approachable, and respected. He had a love for fast cars, trucks, and motorcycles, sometimes having 2 of them at one time or another. And if it had 4 wheels, it had to have a stereo that you could feel miles away. Always happy and a great guy to be around, he had a great work ethic. He loved being a Dad; that’s all he cared about. Unless he was at work, he was with his daughters Lauren and Emerson. Summer vacations together was a highlight of his year, and he always looked forward to them. Chris even ran an Instagram page he called EverybodylovesEmerson, and posted stuff an eight year old found interesting. He usually hash tagged it “iwishiwaseight”. If asked why, he’d say “being a kid is great, I wish I was eight sometimes”. He was like a kid at heart. If you want to know what Chris looked like at 16, just look at his Daughter Lauren. She’s the female spitting image of her Dad, and Emerson is quite chatty like he was at that age. Chris had a sense of humour like no other, usually one or two words that would make you laugh is all he’d say.  He loved music. He loved life. He disliked Spruce Bugs. He loved tattoos. He loved family. He had a big heart. He loved being a Momma’s boy. He loved nice clothes. He loved being the baby of the family. He loved long hair. He loved sitting around chatting. He held his nose when jumping into water. His smile was contagious. 

 We got punched in the stomach in October, 2018 when he was diagnosed with the worst brain cancer possible, Glioblastoma. He was pretty much unable to care for himself since that time, and relied on others to help. A full time Police Officer one day to a man unable to walk unassisted the next week. He was given 12 to 16 months to live with treatment. No surgery without damage. No cure. Chris wasn’t having any part of that, and started the battle to beat his cancer. He did radiation, chemo, took pills to help keep pills down.... he took it all in stride. He actually told a friend a few weeks ago “I sometimes think I’m not going to win this fight”. The medicine that keeps you alive longer is worse than the disease. But he kept up with the chemo after radiation, and just kept fighting. The steroids destroyed his muscles, he was having seizures, but he still kept fighting. He took his diagnosis in stride, never complaining “why me?” His short term memory loss was very frustrating for him, but in the end we would laugh about having the same conversation 3 times. Or when he would forget you were there all day with him the minute you left the room. He always had a smile if you asked for one, and it lit up the room.

Music was a big part of Chris’ life, but regrettably he couldn’t listen to music after the diagnosis. He said it sounded like noise to him, and he had no interest. Even going for car rides would make him nauseous, or pushing his wheelchair too fast. Luckily his taste for food wasn’t changed with his disease, as he was still the pickiest eater known to man. It may have even gotten worse. It should be mentioned that every appointment, every hospital stay, Hogarth and especially at Southridge Roseview, he always had a smile or a quick remark or joke. He was loved everywhere he went. We are thankful for the love and care he was shown by the fine people at Roseview Manor, we will be forever grateful. As well, we thank the Thunder Bay Regional Cancer Centre and the staff at Hogarth transitional care unit. His Brother Jim and wife Fernanda were at Chris’ side when he left this world, and the family were instrumental in ensuring his needs were met for the past 14 months. The world was a better place because of him, and we were blessed to have him for 48 years. He will live on in our hearts, kept alive by all the good times we had and through his children. If you have a story to share about Chris, please write it down and give it to a family member. We would love to keep it for Lauren and Emerson, as time passes it will be the greatest gift you can do for Chris. Thank you.

Services will be held on Tuesday, December 24, 2019 leaving the Harbourview Funeral Centre at 10:00 a.m. to Corpus Christi Church, 664 Red River Road, for the Funeral Mass to be celebrated by Rev. Victor DeGagne beginning at 10:30 a.m. Procession will follow, under the auspices of the Thunder Bay Police, to Harbourview Funeral Centre for the reception. Cremation of our beloved Chris will follow at a later time as per his wishes. Shane Kampela, Jim Kampela, Kade Kampela, Lukas Kampela, Aaron Monty and Eric Niemi will pay tribute as pallbearers.

Visitation for family and friends will be held this evening, Monday evening, December 23 from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Harbourview Funeral Centre where the Prayer Service will begin at 7:00 p.m.