Christine L. Moulen

Waltham – Mrs. Christine L. (Montgomery) Moulen, of Waltham, died on Saturday, November 11, 2017 in Mount Auburn Hospital after a courageous battle with cancer. She was 44.

Christine was born in Monterey Park, California on November 15, 1972, a daughter of David A. and Jeanne L. (Witschger) Montgomery, now of Sidney, Nebraska. She was raised in El Cajon, California where she was a Girl Scout for twelve years and was the 1990 Valedictorian of Granite Hills High School.

Four years later she graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, earning a degree in astronautical engineering, where she was also a member of the Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity. Yes, she really was a rocket scientist. The same year she married her college sweetheart, fellow M.I.T grad Anthony J. Moulen, and the pair made their home in Waltham.

She loved hiking, tap dancing, kayaking, crafting, visiting national parks and country music. Garth Brooks was a favorite. As a kid at heart, Christine loved visiting Universal Studios and Disney Parks. Two of her many passions were astronomy and space exploration. She was a member of the Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston and was an expert Lego rocket maker.

Christine worked at the M.I.T. Libraries for more than twenty-three years, beginning as an undergraduate student worker and serving as Library Systems Manager since 1997. A three-time winner of the libraries' award for employee excellence, she was known among her colleagues as unfailingly patient, gracious under fire, and generous with her time and considerable knowledge. She loved her job and the people that she worked with even more.

A year ago, Christine received global recognition by her peers in the field with the Azriel Morag Award for Innovation, "presented annually to a librarian who has shown innovation and initiative in a library-related area." Christine was recognized at the IGeLU Conference in Trondheim (Norway) for her contributions to Aleph library system development and user community support. The award committee praised her "day-after-day, week-after-week, year-after-year gift of brilliant and innovative answers and solutions."

In addition to her husband, Anthony, and her parents, David and Jeanne, she is survived by her siblings, Eric Montgomery of Comfort, Texas, Amy Neumann of Sidney, Nebraska and Michael Montgomery of Pine Valley, California and 15 nieces and nephews.

Family and friends will honor and remember Christine's life by gathering for calling hours in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham on Thursday, November 30th from 4 to 8 p.m. and again on Friday morning, December 1st, when her funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Burial will be in Mount Feake Cemetery, Waltham.