John Hayden Christie, Jr. was born on October 8, 1895 in Pensacola, Florida, the son of John Hayden Sr. (1862–1934) and Mary Edwin Quina Christie. As John Jr. came of age, he went to work as a clerk for the L&N Railroad around 1913 while still living with his parents at 323 East Romana Street. But, as the war clouds were thundering over Europe, it was inevitable that the United States would be pulled into the conflict sooner or later! Therefore, America entered in April 6, 1917 and tilted the scales in favor of the Allies. Three months later, John Jr. left his job at the Gulf Coast Transit Company and enlisted in the US Navy on July 3, 1917 as an Apprentice Seaman. He remained at his home until he was finally assigned to the Naval Air Station in Pensacola on September 30, 1917. In this position, he would soon be promoted to a 2nd Class Seaman. On June 30, 1917, he was assigned to a receiving ship at NAS Pensacola and promoted to 3rd Class Yeoman. A "receiving ship" was an unseaworthy ship that was docked at NAS and used to train new recruits or for men in transit between stations.
Being stationed in his hometown certainly had its advantages. His mother's family was known far and wide as one of the founding families of the city. His father had started the John H. Christie Stevedoring Company with an office in the American Bank Building. His partner was B. Frank Rivers, but by 1918 John Sr. had become a manager of a shipyard in Orange City, Texas. In the meantime, the bloody war that was killing thousands of young men was far away. But another enemy, just as deadly, had moved into the Naval Air Station and was beginning to take its toll. On Tuesday, October 1, 1918, John Jr. came down with what most people thought was the flu. However, he rapidly became bedridden with fever, nausea, aches and diarrhea. And just as fast, he quickly developed a severe case of pneumonia as dark spots appeared on his cheeks. Within 24 hours he began to turn blue as he started to suffocate from lack of oxygen, as his lungs filled with a frothy, bloody substance. Hours later, the young Pensacolian succumbed on October 3, 1918 at the home of his uncle Emmanuel I. Quina next door at 325 East Romana Street. His funeral procession carried his remains from there to St. Michael's Cemetery one block away and was buried with military honors. His brother Gerard Edward Christie (1908–1970) would go on to graduate from Pensacola High School in the Class of 1926.
Pensacola News Journal 10-4-1918 PNJ
Gravesite of John Hayden Christie Jr., St. Michael's Cemetery
The old "Christie House" at 323 East Romana Street