Christina Rice, 53, passed away Tuesday, April 2, after a short, valiant battle with bladder cancer.

She was born and raised in Pinellas county and graduated from Countryside High School. She attended St. Pete College as an art student.

In her teens and early 20s, Christina was a wheelchair athlete who competed nationally and internationally, representing the US in the Junior Paralympics in Australia in the late 1980s.

More recently, Christina was the activities director at a small ALF in New Port Richey, working with adults with disabilities, a position she truly enjoyed. It was a reflection of her kind and generous heart, in a life that was filled with challenges about which she never complained.

She was a crack marksman, an avid naturalist observing wildlife in her yard, and a whiz at Jeopardy.

She is survived by her loving parents, Sharon Rice and Larry Rice, Larry’s wife Susan, her uncle Bill, aunt Jane, and many cousins.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Shriners Hospitals for Children, or the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network .