Christene B. Ford, 80, a 58-year resident of Richland and the Hanford area, died on Wednesday, June 20, of leukemia. She passed away at her home in Richland in the arms of her sons, Joe and David. Chris was born in August 8, 1920, in Mitchell, Louisiana, to Obed Britt and Sue Sistrunk Britt. She was the second child in the family, and first daughter. As a child, she accopanied her parents and older brother Clifton and younger sister Ruby as her father drilled for the Texas Company in oilfields in Arkansas and Louisiana. She attended Schools in Louisiana and Arkansas, and graduated from Louisiana Polytechnic Institute in Ruston, LA in 1942. She worked on several war-related construction projects in 1942 and early 1943, and was recruited to the Hanford Projectin August 1943. She had a great fund of stories related to early Hanford, to dormitory and mess hall life, and to troop transports used to ferry workers to job sites. In March 1944, she married Joseph E. Ford, whom she met at Hanford. They made their first home in a fourteen-foot trailer at the Hanford trailer court, and in January 1945 moved into Richland when their first son, Joseph B. Ford, was born. Their second son, David R. Ford, was born in January 1948. Chris and her husband Joe had 25 years of devoted marriage. Chris worked for Dupont, General Electric, and Battelle during those firms' contracts at Hanford. She retired in 1982. She enjoyed her family, her garden and its flowers, and the natural history of the Pacific Northwest. She was precceded in death by her husband, Joseph E. Ford, by her parents Obed and Sue, and by her younger sister Ruby and brother Cliff. She is survived by her loving sons Joe and his wife Mary Wilkinson of Olympia, David of Richland, grandson Ryefield of New Hampshire, granddaughters India and Baillie of British Columbia, sister-in-law Chris Britt of Renton, and Nieces Darlene and Jolene Britt of Renton, nephews John Britt and his wife Elaine of Scottsdale, AZ, and Jack Odell of Yakima. At her request, there will be no services. The family wants to acknowledge the care and attention Chris received from Dr. Thomas Rado and his staff of the Columbia Basin Hematology Clinic, and Linda Zilar and her colleague Robin Vaughn of the Tri-Cities Chaplancy Hospice and its In Home Hospice Program. Memorials or donations may be made to the Tri-Cities Chaplaincy Hospice, 2108 West Entiat Avenue, Kennewick, WA. 99336, or to the Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 613, Annapolis, Maryland 21404-0613.