Thursday, March 8, 2007 Older Editions

Christopher H. Webber

Christopher Howland Webber, 25, program director for Bike & Build, a national non-profit organization, died early Saturday morning, March 3, of injuries sustained in a pedestrian accident in New York City where he lived.

Mr. Webber combined his love of sport, his interest in people, and his passion for community service by organizing bicycle tours for college students across the United States to raise funds for affordable housing projects and to introduce the riders to the housing needs in American communities.

Over the past four seasons Bike & Build has contributed over $750,000 to housing projects around the country. Before joining the organization staff in 2005, Mr. Webber had himself ridden on two East Coast to West Coast fund-raising trips.

Mr. Webber was an adventurer who had traveled widely. In 1999, at the age of 17, he rode a 1,200 km bike trip from Cairns to Cape York, Australia. He was the only American on the tour, and the youngest. During a college semester abroad at University College, London, he traveled extensively on the European continent. He spent time in western Canada. He later traveled across Australia a second time by train from Sydney to Perth.

Webber grew up in Andover, where he attended the Pike School. When his family spent a year in Buffalo, N.Y., he attended eighth grade at the Nichols School in Buffalo. He graduated from Middlesex School in Concord in 2000.

He deferred his college admission to Vassar College to work for a year in a condominium resort in Snowmass, Colo., and to become an expert skier.

He graduated from Vassar in May 2005, with a bachelor of arts in economics and psychology. After graduation, he worked briefly for the Navy Department in Washington, D.C., before moving to New York and joining Bike & Build.

Family members include his parents, Joan G. Howland and William J. Webber, of Andover; brother, Nicholas G. Webber, also of Andover; his paternal grandmother, Theresa M. Webber of Quincy; and aunts, uncles, and cousins. He was pre-deceased by his paternal grandfather, James A. Webber Sr. of Dorchester, and his maternal grandparents, Mary G. and Dr. Murray S. Howland of Buffalo.

Calling hours are tomorrow, Friday, March 9, from 5 to 8 p.m., at the Dewhirst & Conte Funeral Home in Andover. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 31, at the Vassar College Chapel, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., with a reception following.

Memorial contributions may be made to Bike & Build/Chris Webber Fund, 190 N. 10th Street, Suite 308, Brooklyn, NY 11211.