A Gentle Reminder of a Celebration of Life Sunday Evening for A Boy Known as “the Campus Hippie,” Christian Stehlik, Who Died at Age 16 from Cancer; He Went Out with the Colors of the 1960s;Tie-dye Shirts Are Available for Sale at Fifth Street This Weekend for Those Interested in Wearing The Startling Tees to Honor His Time; His Best Friend Sends Us a Reminder of Who He Truly Was

A celebration of Christian Stehlik’s life will be held Sunday at 5:30 p.m. at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium where he volunteered for many years.

Christian, 16, fought a long, painful battle with neuroblastorma, a cancer that starts in the glands and nerves and typically works through the body, often eventually appearing as tumors.
Because of the years he served as a volunteer at the aquarium, the staff agreed to help host the event at 3720 Stephen M. White Drive in San Pedro. The family has requested that donations be made to the aquarium in his name and hope to fashion a small memorial there for him.

“Christian is someone EVERYONE should of known,” wrote his best friend in high school, Shadow Ansaldi. “If more people would be like Christian, the world would be a better place.”
His father, Pete, has encouraged those who are comfortable to dress in a 1960s fashion. For those wanting to wear tie-dyed, a local man living at 784 Fifth Street sells them outside him home on weekends and is donating many to students attending the celebration.

The San Pedro High student, who went back to school in the marine magnet program despite his illness, left behind two books, according to his mother, Wendy, at her Redondo Beach home.
His father, Pete, also found scores of poetry and cartoons written in notebooks in his San Pedro home. Family members hope to have his work published, which stressed the tone of what it was like to live on the edge, stuck somewhere between life and death.

Calling Christian a hippie and lover of the 60s, his friend, Shadow wrote,
he was a “strong fighter of life, never wanted sympathy and special treatment, brave, fearless, positive, polite and a non-complainer. Christian wanted peace and love for everyone. He was a hippie and proud of it and was quick to throw up the peace sign. The 60s flip-flop wearer, bell bottom lover was smart, an inspiration, a teacher, a thinker and a poet….I will miss you Christian.”