Chris Paxton’s legacy in Eudora is filled with passion for guiding young people.
For 11 years, he served as an auto collision and welding teacher at the high school, leaving an imprint that friends, students and co-workers said Monday went far beyond the classroom.
John Christopher “Chris” Paxton died Friday at age 62 from cancer.
Paxton grew up in Junction City, Kansas, with his two brothers and a younger sister before moving to Lawrence in the 1980s.
Paxton wanted to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, who had an auto body shop in his hometown. He went to a technical college in Kansas City and then got a job at a shop in Lawrence where he worked for years before being recruited to work at the high school.
“It was something that got in Chris’s blood at a young age,” his brother Doug said about working in trades.
When Paxton was a kid, he had a kind of charisma that was different from the rest of his siblings, and it followed him into the classroom, too, Doug said. He had the quickest one-liners and knew how to get the crowd laughing without trying, he said.
It was something that made Doug jealous as a kid, he said, but he grew up to understand that was what he loved about his brother. His natural charisma has always drawn people to him, he said.
“It’s just a gift that he had,” Doug said. “He uses that in the classroom, is what I’ve been told, and almost to the chagrin of some of the principals and other teachers, but it worked in such a way that they embrace Chris and they let him roll with his personality.”
He was so passionate about his teaching, even when he was sick, getting to see his students was all he cared about, his brother Craig said. It really hurt him when he had to miss school, so he would teach between cancer treatments, he said.
“He wanted to make sure he made contact with all those students, and he touched so many young people’s lives through the years,” Craig said.
Craig has heard numerous stories about students who weren’t even in his class and would come to ask him for advice because they trusted and respected him.
Having a rebellious youth himself led him to care deeply about helping other high school students, Doug said.
“In my heart, he knows what those kids are going through – some of them – and he wants to do everything he can to save those kids in the path that he went on,” Doug said.
Paxton was constantly helping people, Craig said. When a tornado touched down in Eudora, Paxton set out in his truck to help an elderly neighbor who lived alone. He climbed through the destroyed home and down to the basement to help get her out, he said.
When he commits to something, he was all in it, both brothers agreed. His auction business also kept him busy, Craig said. He had hundreds of auctions throughout the years, many of which benefitted charities. He likely raised over $1 million for various charities, Craig said.
Health sciences and careers teacher Amy Gabriel said the hole he will leave in the building is indescribable. It was like there wasn’t a single person he didn’t know.
“I just love that man,” she said. “The best thing about Chris is he didn’t pull any punches.”
He was honest, direct and genuine, she said. He went out of his way to make sure kids felt like they had a place to fit in. He would always find a way to make you feel important, Gabriel said. He was a jokester with the biggest heart.
As a teacher, he was unconventional, but in a good way, she said. He believed hands-on was the best way to learn, with safety as the main priority.
His goal was to make sure kids had a direction, a purpose and a skill when they left high school, whether the student was in his classes or not. He would show a student how to weld if they had spare time in their day, just because he was passionate.
Paxton was part of starting the Cardinal Clays trap shooting team. He loved to make students feel involved even if they didn’t feel super athletic.
Paxton was always the first person Gabriel saw when she came to school in the mornings. He would sit in the commons, drinking his coffee and talking to students as they entered the building.
“He would be sitting there and as soon as you walked in, he would have some smart aleck comment to make about how your day was gonna go or just trying to get you in a good mood,” she said.
Gabriel’s youngest son, Augie, couldn’t wait until he was old enough to take Paxton’s class at the high school, so Paxton started giving him rides in his cool cars.
“He would just find these kids who didn’t have a person, and he would take them under his wings so they felt important,” she said.
Gabriel knew Paxton before she started working with him at the high school four years ago. One day, she couldn’t get her car door to close. She had never met Paxton, but her husband, Jim, had known him for 20 years. She called him up out of the blue, and he immediately met her at the high school to fix her car door.
“I can’t even tell you how many different stories there are out there of people he had never ever met, that somebody would call and ask a favor and he would just drop everything to do it,” Gabriel said.
Culinary teacher Jack Low entered the district at the same time as Paxton. They had both come from their respective industries and had never taught before, which immediately established a bond between the two, he said.
Low and Paxton had to travel to Salina for college classes. They would share a hotel room, bond over their classes and just hang out. Eventually, the two started collaborating in school. They worked together on the annual ed-tech car show. Paxton used his auctioning skills to run the event, and Low cooked the food.
When Low’s daughter was born 10 years ago, Paxton became like a surrogate grandfather to her. Low said he has the fondest memories of him being great company to her.
He was also always willing to try anything Low’s cooking classes were making, often leading him to liking new foods he would have otherwise never tried, Low said. He was above-all supportive of all the students in the building.
“He was all about our students here, so he never discouraged them on doing things,” he said.
He was able to forge personal connections with his students, and understood the importance of them learning through doing.
Former longtime principal Ron Abel hired Paxton after knowing his son and that he had done work at an auto collision company in Lawrence.
Abel pursued him to get into teaching in Eudora, although Paxton claimed he didn’t know how to teach. Abel disagreed, saying he was a great teacher and just had to pull the knowledge out of him.
Abel said Paxton was one of the hardest working people he’d ever known. He was relentless and when he set his mind on doing something, he did it. He was also extremely caring, and wanted to make sure his students had the guidance and support they needed.
He set high expectations for his students, but was also caring and compassionate.
“The kids knew that he cared and that’s a big deal with anybody when you’re working with them that whoever’s teaching you cares whether you’re successful or not,” Abel said.
Former students of Paxton’s were frequently coming back after graduating to visit him, a symbol that he touched a lot of people’s lives in Eudora, Abel said.
After starting the Cardinal Clays club, there was a student who had no knowledge of shooting. He struggled to hit the targets during the first practice, but by the end of the season, Paxton was taking him to nationals in Michigan.
“That’s the kind of thing he could do in the classroom and the kids when he was working with them in any capacity,” Abel said.
He was always looking for ways to support the community and the school, one of which was the annual auction. He was passionate about fundraising for the ed tech programs, and he was always good at getting the community involved in the event.
Senior Lane Hadley had a special bond with Paxton. He took all his classes – auto body 1 and 2, and welding 1 and 2 – but that wasn’t where their relationship ended. Hadley also hung out with Paxton at his home garage, helping to work on projects and learn more about trades.
Hadley and his dad would go to Paxton’s auction events, too.
Hadley spent time with Paxton during Cardinal Clays, and went to nationals with him. Even outside of school, he was a fun guy and made everything a blast, Hadley said.
Paxton wouldn’t just push students into college, he would try to help you focus on whatever career path you were interested in pursuing, Hadley said.
“He was more of a friend when you’re in his class,” Hadley said.
He respected his students and held them accountable and he made sure students got knowledge out of his class, he said. He focused on teaching students to have that same level of respect, he said.
Junior Nathan Steinlage said Paxton was focused on making sure he taught students all the tricks of the trade, while making a student’s day better. Steinlage agreed Paxton taught the class like they were his peers.
His class was a true case of leading by example, and it taught Steinlage that sometimes you just have to do something to learn.
When Steinlage was a freshman and not yet able to take his class, he would walk past the shop every day. Paxton always thought Steinlage was his older brother, Blake. He didn’t realize until a year later, when he had Steinlage in class. This was one of Steinlage’s fondest memories of him, nonetheless.
Junior Nick Younkin said Paxton was always there for his students, hoping to teach them something new or just talk things out, he said.
When Younkin was in middle school, he was in an introductory class with Paxton. Low needed a rack welded back together after the wires came off. Paxton started welding it with his bare hands, he dropped the rack, shouted and then went back to doing the exact same thing, he said. He did it over and over until the welding was complete.
“That’s probably one of my favorite memories of him,” Younkin said.
His emphasis on respect will definitely help his students in the long run, especially in the real world, Younkin said.
He looked forward to his class because of the way he would teach and allow for such a hands-on environment.
High School Principal Justin Bogart agreed Paxton was always focused on the kids. When Bogart met him last April after the announcement of his new position of principal, it was clear Paxton was the kind of teacher who would always strive to make students feel comfortable.
If a student was off by themselves, he would always make an effort to introduce himself, especially at freshman orientation day, he said.
“Chris was seeking out those kids who seem to be uncomfortable and trying to make them feel welcome and I know that extended into his classroom a lot, to help kids who often feel that high school is not for them – to make high school feel like it’s for them,” Bogart said.
He ran an orderly classroom, making sure all the equipment was handled safely, an important part of any technical industry, he said.
When Bogart’s side-view mirror was torn from his car, Paxton was more than willing to help get a new mirror – painted and all – on his car. He was responsive to everyone’s needs, he said.
“He was deeply embedded into the Eudora High School community, and was, in the short time that I knew him, you could tell that he cared so much for his kids, and he also cared for how we could connect Eudora High School to the Eudora community and he showed that to kids,” Bogart said.
Paxton’s obituary can be found here.
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