A longtime champion of homeschooling rights around the globe, Home School Legal Defense Association Senior Counsel and Director of State and International Relations Christopher J. Klicka was called home by his Lord on October 12, 2009, at age 48, following a 15-year battle with multiple sclerosis. An attorney, spokesman, lobbyist, and homeschooling husband and father, Chris is survived by his wife, Tracy, their seven children (ages 11–21), and his parents, Ardath and George Klicka.
“Chris was both a people person and a goal person. He cared deeply about people, but was also driven to always do more!” says HSLDA President J. Michael Smith. “He was the most determined person I ever met in my life. Even with all the things he accomplished every day at HSLDA, he continually wanted to tackle new challenges and serve homeschoolers in more and better ways. He was so focused on the homeschooling world, but he was also very much focused on his family and dedicated to raising his children.”
An integral part of Home School Legal Defense Association’s staff for 24 years, Chris was HSLDA’s first full-time employee, first executive director, and first full-time attorney. He believed passionately that homeschooling was the best educational method for children and demonstrated that passion in every area of his life.
Chris and Tracy homeschooled all seven of their children. He traveled across the United States (and around the world) defending families’ right to homeschool and advocating homeschooling. He participated in countless radio interviews on homeschooling issues. He wrote five books on homeschooling, penned numerous articles, and had two more books in progress when he passed away. He lobbied state legislators, U.S. senators, and foreign diplomats to support homeschooling. He sought greater freedom for homeschooling parents and students in every area—from local school districts to sports associations, college admissions departments, and military recruitment requirements. He sought to educate the educators, truant officers, policemen, judges, and even social workers about the benefits and legality of homeschooling.
Even deeper than his passion for homeschooling was his deep love for his Lord. We may never know how many people Chris inspired to homeschool or continue homeschooling, or how many people he inspired to draw near to his Lord.
“Chris’s accomplishments as a lawyer for homeschooling are clear and of value that cannot be overstated. He was one of the most important pioneers of our movement,” says HSLDA Chairman Mike Farris. “He believed that this truly is God’s way to teach children to love God. He believed it deeply. His conviction was infectious. He was a man of single-hearted devotion that I have never, ever seen equaled. The passion that Chris felt for the mission to which God called him never, ever, ever, ever dimmed, even slightly.”
HSLDA deeply appreciates and honors Chris’s life and his dedicated contribution to our organization and to homeschooling. Our staff will miss him more than we can express, and we are praying with and for his family. The homeschooling movement has lost one of its greatest advocates and friends, but Chris leaves an incredible legacy of freedom and awareness of homeschooling to the thousands of homeschooled students whose parents have made The Right Choice.
”I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.“ II Timothy 4:7-8
”Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.“ Revelation 2:10
PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD IS THE DEATH OF HIS SAINTS…
Dear praying friends,
There is a part of me that would have liked to keep this news to ourselves for a little while. Chris’ journey toward home has been very public, which has been a blessing to us through your intercession and words of love and encouragement. Yet, at this moment, while his loss is so fresh, I had hoped to savor his last moments with us and his passing all to ourselves, but such is not the case.
So with great sadness and with a joy that we can barely contain, we announce that our husband/father Chris has gone home to be with the Lord. He slept peacefully last night, though his breathing was shallow and very rapid. Then this morning when the hospice nurse came to check him over, she commented specifically how low his blood pressure had gotten and that with the mottling around his knees and ankles, grayer skin tone and coldness in his face, that he didn’t have much time left with us.
I had been sitting with Chris this morning telling him about Megan and her wedding dress and how kind God was to let all us girls be together when she found it. I told him I had so hoped he could see her in her dress before he went Home, and as I was talking two little tears trickled down his cheeks. I know he would have loved to see her! I know, too, he so wanted to be able to communicate with us at the end. It broke my heart to see his sadness. I imagine, though, too, that his tears were mingled with joy for Megan’s future with Brendan.
After Anna (the hospice nurse) took Chris’ vitals a second time, his blood pressure having dropped some more, she recommended that I get our kids down to see and talk to their dad.
I called them all from whereever they all were around the house, and when the last child came, Bethany announced, “Hey, Dad, we’re all here. We love you!” Chris took one more breath and was gone.
I know to try and describe our sadness–the longing and aching in our hearts right now–would be impossible, so I won’t try. I will share a picture the Lord gave within minutes after Chris’ departure.
I saw him with his old western boots and jeans on (like he used to wear at Grove City College when he would run over to see me at my dorm–he was a senior and I was a freshman when we met there), running at top speed in Heaven. I pictured a huge smile (the one I love best) on his face and fellow saints yelling out greetings of welcome to him, some even asking him to stop and visit with them, and heard his reply, “I’ve got to run for the Lord up here. I’m making up for lost time down on Earth. I’m praising God and have to use my legs to do it. Stop me in about 100 years, and we’ll sit down and have a nice long visit!”
Two days before God brought Chris home the Lord gave me this short verse to encourage me:
“No longer cloaked in frail humanity, His spirit soars to gain Celestial joys, Unimpeded by death’s dark night And free from the weight of sin’s alloys.
My beloved sings! The object of his song Is the One who bled and died for him, No sweeter name did e’er he speak Or treasure in his inner man.”
Thank you, for both grieving AND rejoicing with us, and for your continued prayers for us these next weeks and months!
Looking forward to that day, when we too, shall see our beloved Jesus face to face,
Tracy, for Chris (one last time) and the whole Klickaclan
Please see below contacts for the Swedish and the Indian Embassies in New Zealand and Australia.
Calls Needed to Reunite Homeschool Family
e-mail October 7, 2009 from HSLDA.org
Dear HSLDA Members and Friends:
We recently told you about the plight of the Johanssons, a Swedish family whose only child, 7-year-old Dominic Johansson, was seized by Swedish police from a plane just as the family was about to leave the country for a new life in India.
After investigating the facts surrounding the case, HSLDA President J. Michael Smith wrote to Swedish officials to protest this action.
Citing confidentiality concerns for not commenting on the Johansson case, Mr. Stigland noted that a county administrative board in Sweden is reviewing how it was handled by local officials.
In a telephone conversation with HSLDA, Mr. Johansson confirmed that he has been in contact with the county administrative board.
“They told me that they are looking into the case to determine if anything was done improperly,” he said.
And at a meeting with the social workers on Tuesday, October 6, Mr. Johansson was told that he and his wife would only be allowed to visit their son at the social workers office once every two weeks for a maximum of two hours.
What does Sweden hope to gain from such an aggressive action? The situation is tragic. It is deeply troubling that a Western democracy would go to such lengths to prevent a homeschool family from simply trying to leave the country.
Dominic has been traumatized, and his mother has been hospitalized several times because of the depression this incident has caused. Yet the social workers persist in keeping custody of Dominic. When Mr. Johansson asks why, they reply “Because it’s better for him.” According to Mr. Johansson, both he and Dominic have been subjected to psychological and other testing with results showing no valid reason for continued separation of the family.
In light of this aggressive behavior and because the Swedish parliament is poised to impose draconian regulations on homeschoolers, HSLDA is asking its members to contact the Swedish Ambassador to the United States.
Swedish Ambassador Jonas Hafström can be reached:
By email: ambassaden.washington@foreign.ministry.se
First, we ask you to request that the Swedish government return Dominic to his family. The social welfare agency has taken custody of Dominic, and they have the power to return him to his parents. Request that they do so immediately.
Second, inform the ambassador that homeschooling allows children to thrive academically and socially. Valid research has demonstrated that homeschooling is a mainstream educational approach that works. Tell him that the world doesn’t need any more countries like Germany that repress freedom in education, and that a person should be permitted to opt out of public education because of philosophical or religious convictions.
In his letter to Mr. Smith, Mr. Stigland noted that since Sweden is a state party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, that the starting point for children is Sweden is the “…best interests of the child and the child’s right to be heard….” Mr. Stigland noted that social services have an obligation to “intervene and remove a child from the family if the child’s health and development are endangered.” Mr. Stigland noted that a child should be returned home as soon as possible if it was “in the best interests of the child.”
Of grave concern to HSLDA is Mr. Stigland’s citation of the legislative history of the Education Act which says: “The legislative history of the current Education Act states that home schooling in isolated cases, mainly in the lower grades, might be an acceptable substitute for education if a particular external circumstance exists. Examples of such are: if the child lives in a sparsely populated area or needs special care. Legal practice shows that the situation also arises when parents for other reasons, such as philosophical or religious, want to educate their children at home. In connection with the new Education Act, these rules are now being reviewed.”
The act is indeed being reviewed and the proposal is even more draconian. The proposed language would remove philosophical or religious convictions as valid reasons to home school. The new law would allow homeschooling only in “extraordinary circumstances” (read: never). If the proposed Swedish law passes it would become as bad as in Germany where homeschooling is effectively banned.
Mike Farris recently said in his address to the World Congress of Families, “Any nation that severely restricts the ability of parents to choose alternative forms of education, including home education, in the name of creating national unity, cannot call itself a free nation. Freedom necessarily requires the individual to have the liberty to think differently and believe differently than programs instituted by the current rulers of any nation. Educational freedom is the cornerstone for all freedom of thought and conscience.”
HSLDA encourages its members to communicate their concerns to the Swedish Ambassador. We hope that his influence may help correct an injustice and also pave the way for better laws for homeschoolers in Sweden
HSLDA thanks its members and friends for their ongoing support. It’s when all homeschoolers join together that we are most effective advocating for homeschool freedom in America and abroad.
This family was on their way to India. In a comment on this post https://hef.org.nz/2009/home-schooled-boy-snatched-from-plane-in-sweden/ Cathi said “With the mother being a citizen of India, wouldn’t Dominic have dual citizenship? Maybe we need to also be contacting the Indian Ambassadors in our respective countries to get them to ask why a citizen of India is being held in their country.
So please also write to:High Commission for India in Wellington
Amanda Kurowski has been denied the right to receive homeschooling from her mother in the state of New Hampshire. Why? According to the District Court in New Hampshire, Amanda has received too much religious education from her mother. The District Judge has taken Amanda away from her mother and mandated that she must attend a public school to “shake up” her Christian faith. Should Judges have this much authority? On today’s program, Dr. Mohler notes the dangers and far reaching implications of this court’s decision to have the State raise and educate Amanda Kurowski.
