Anyone who attended Union in the late 1990s and early 2000s probably remembers Christine Pfeiffer as someone always ready to lend a hand. She went as a student missionary to the Philippines, she worked in Campus Ministries supporting other missionaries and she gave of herself as a CNA during summers at home in Missouri. She was dedicated to serving others.
After graduating from Union’s Physician Assistant Program in 2002, she continued her life of service as a PA until she felt a new calling. In 2011, She became a foster parent, giving a home to many young children, including medically fragile infants, and eventually adopted three daughters. Then in 2019, she found out she had aggressive breast cancer, the same diagnosis that took her mother, Clare Kreutzer Pfeiffer (’70), in 2012. Christine battled cancer until she passed away on Sept. 5, 2025. Thanks to a major gift, her legacy of service lives on in Union’s PA Program.
Christine’s father, Bill Pfeiffer, has donated $1,010,720 to create the Christine Pfeiffer Endowed Professorship for Physician Assistant Studies. This endowment will support the PA Program in perpetuity, allowing more students to follow in Christine’s footsteps.
“The main reason for a university to exist is establishing relationships with students that enhance their character development and educate them to be viable students now and viable adults in the future for their communities, their families, and their churches,” Bill said. “Christine was very happy with that relationship at Union.”
His decision to honor his daughter in this way was shaped by the contrast between his and Clare’s college experiences and that of Christine. When he attended a different school, his dreams of becoming a dentist came to an abrupt end when a hostile biology professor kicked him out of the program, a move that resulted in Bill being drafted and shipped off to Vietnam. Clare came to Union for one year in 1969-1970 to study biology, but even here, she didn’t find the supportive environment she was looking for. When it came time for their daughter to choose a college, Bill made a point of talking to Dr. John Kerbs, Union’s president at the time, and he was gratified to find a very different institution than the ones he and his wife remembered.
“In the conversations I had with Dr. Kerbs, I was very impressed with his willingness to engage with the students and parents to try to find out what was going on with students,” Bill said.
At Union, Christine found a school where mentors and friends cared about her success, both in and out of the classroom, and where challenges were met with support rather than criticism and failure. This tribute to Christine’s life and accomplishments ensures this legacy will continue by supporting faculty whose primary mission is teaching and mentoring students.
“This endowment will help generations of future PAs follow in Christine’s footsteps.” said Megan Heidtbrink, the director of Union’s PA Program. “We are so grateful to the Pfeiffer family for this endowment, and we are even more thankful our program got to be a part of Christine’s story of compassion, service and care.”
If this story moved you and you’d like to learn how you can honor a loved one, we invite you to explore tribute opportunities at Union. Please contact Ken Farrow to learn how you can make a meaningful honor or memorial gift at any level (ken.farrow@uau.edu, 402.486.2503). Your support can create a lasting legacy.