Loving, helpful, organized
Determined, beautiful person inside and out
C.J. was described as a family man, a loving partner and a devoted father to his three daughters. He wrote in his self-profile: “my girls are my everything.” He also had great relationships with his family and friends and treasured spending time with them at family events.
He was friendly, outgoing, free-spirited and went with the flow. He took things day-by-day and easily embraced whatever the day brought. He didn’t stress over small things and calmed others by his easy approach to life. He realized that reaching goals takes time and knew that with hard work, dedication and patience, he would realize them.
He was into super heroes, and video games; Superman and Call of Duty were his favorites. He rode dirt bikes and was working toward getting a motorcycle. He had a lot of dreams and passions, most importantly establishing a home for his family and registering for school so he could graduate. In his written goals during rehab he stated he wanted to be “headstrong and free-minded off drugs.”
Throughout his life, C.J. helped people by fixing things for them or showing up when they had car issues or other problems. At the sober living house he took new residents under his wing encouraging them to stay on track. He was described as “a very good guy.”
C.J. was also a jokester; he loved to be goofy and play pranks on people, making them believe his tricks, then later revealing that he was fooling them. When songs by his favorite artists, Chris Brown and Kane Brown came on the car radio, he would roll down the windows and sing his heart out.
C.J.’s addiction has changed his wife, Lianna, in many ways. She looks at life differently, is finding more peace in her faith and taking life one day at a time, much like C.J. did. She wishes people would not judge others by their addiction but realize that tough times do not define an individual; “there is so much more to a person than one thing.”
What Lianna misses most about C.J. is simply spending time together: “It could be anything, going to the grocery store, on dinner dates or a movie; it was special to have one-on-one quality time together. There is no one like him – he was one of a kind.”
C.J.’s wife, Lianna Kunschman, was interviewed for this profile.
November 12, 1988 – March 7, 2019
Age 30
Lived with addiction for 10 years
