Christina Reguli's Obituary
We sadly announce the passing of Mrs. Christina Baker Reguli, 72, of Nashville, TN.
A loving mother, wife, sister, entrepreneur; she leaves behind her loving husband, Dennis Reguli; daughter, Jessica Reguli (Roderick); sister Claudia Clarkson (Joe).
Christina Baker was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on August 11th, 1952.
She grew up in the small suburb of New Whiteland where she lived with her father Harry, mother Margaret and older sister Claudia.
Christina was energetic and rambunctious as a child. The neighborhood was quiet so the kids would play kick ball in the street. Although smaller than most of the kids, Christina always wanted to play. When she was bullied by an older boy, her father bought her some boxing gloves and gave her some lessons. The next time she was bullied, she punched the boy in the face and knocked him down. She was never bullied after that, and everyone wanted her on their kick ball team.
(An early life lesson; “stand up for yourself and don’t let yourself be bullied”)
Family life was tumultuous. Both father and mother had anger issues and father had a drinking problem. At the age of eight, Christina had an ulcer. When the doctors asked her if everything was OK at home, she lied. She said everything was OK, knowing that the truth could cause her even more turmoil.
(Another life lesson; “be careful what you reveal to strangers”)
It was also about this age that Christina was acing all her tests at school. Rather than being praised, her teacher accused her of cheating. She was called to the principal’s office with her parents and reprimanded. From then on, she purposefully never aced another test.
(Lesson; “life can be unfair; excellence may be punished”)
She was in grade school when she started spending her summer vacation with her grand father and grand mother in Scottsburg. She would work in the tobacco fields replanting the dead seedlings. It was hot, sticky and physically hard for a young girl. However, at the end of the day her reward was getting to groom and ride the horse. This was the beginning of her life long affection for horses.
(Lesson; “hard work can pay off in the end”)
When Christina entered High School and wanted to learn a musical instrument, she chose the trombone. The music director strongly suggested the instruments that the other girls would play but she stuck to her choice. She worked hard and became first chair over all the other boy trombone players.
(Lesson; “it’s your life, it’s your choices”)
Long before it was required by law, Christina lobbied for a girls track team in high school. She arranged for the coaches and participants. However, she was turned down because the was no money to fund it.
Christina was in vocal ensemble in high school called the Entrees. They were good. They entered competitions and won in the regionals. They could not compete in the state competition because they didn’t have the money for expenses. By the way, when the ensemble needed a guitar added; who stepped up, Christina learned to play the guitar for their group.
(Another lesson; “it takes money”)
Always pushing to do better, be better; Christina wanted to go to college. She attended Indiana University however briefly. Her parents could not help with finances and this was long before student-loans were available. So, she worked three jobs to pay for school and board. This was succeeding until she contracted pneumonia and had to drop out.
(Lesson maybe; “sometimes the best plans are ruined by bad luck”)
It was about this time she was going to a café to meet some friends. When she walked through the door a man coming out of the door grabbed her butt. Christina swiftly spun around and kicked the man in the groin.
(Lesson for him; “don’t do that”) (Remember her lesson about not being bullied)
She worked several jobs after drop-out. Then a friend offered a teacher assistant job at a children’s deaf-blind school in Colorado Springs. Shortly after arriving in Colorado, she received a call from Dennis Reguli suggesting they meet. Dennis was attending the US Air Force Academy just outside Colorado Springs. Christina knew of Dennis from Franklin, Indiana just 10 miles from where she grew up in New Whiteland. They started dating and neither were aware they would spend the next 52 years together. They were married December 16th, 1972.
Being an Air Force wife means moving a lot. Dayton, OH; Biloxi, MS; then Kansas City, MO where Christina gave birth to their daughter Jessica on July 7th, 1977. Then to Bellville, IL where they bought their first house. It was a fixer-upper over 100 years old. Christina took courses in stain-glass and made several windows to bring the house up to its true elegance. She also made all the drapes. Being in the Air Force also means the pay is not great so Christina and Dennis became do-it-yourselfers.
After the Air Force, Christina and Dennis moved to Nashville, TN in 1978. There they helped Dennis’ mother open a restaurant. After the restaurant was established, Christina pursued and acting career. She performed in over 300 on-air TV commercials. With that experience, she gained a leading role in a daytime drama called the Catlins. She also was in episodes of “In the Heat of the Night” and “The Young and Restless”. Encouraged by Dennis to pursue her dreams, she moved to Hollywood, started acting classes, and obtained an agent. Jessica joined her and attended Hollywood High School for a while. She had some success but the competition was enormous so she came back to Nashville (with Jessica, of course).
Christina then turned to her life time fondness of horses. She took riding lessons for hunters and jumpers from David Wright in Murfreesboro. Always striving to be better, she advanced quickly from hunters to jumpers and was competing for cash purses. She used her acting money to buy two horses; “Remington” the hunter, and “Gospel Hour” the jumper.
Christina and Dennis bought a house and land in Murfreesboro and built a barn for the horses. This was Christina’s dream, to have her horses at home where she could care for and train whenever she wanted. Always striving for better, at the same time she became an on-air host on the Shop-At-Home network. And of course, quickly became the top performing host.
After a while, Gospel Hour became ill and the vet advised Christina to put him down.
(More bad luck)
It is not in Christina’s nature to give-up so she researched alternative treatments and found light or laser therapy. At the time, the devices available to provide light-therapy were very expensive so Christina and Dennis designed their own (because they are do-it-yourselfers). Their design worked, and although Gospel Hour was no longer competitive, he was a friendly pasture pet for many more years.
The veterinarian was surprised at the results and started recommending “Gospel’s” light pads to other clients. It wasn’t long until Christina decided that she could help a lot of horse owners by starting a business manufacturing and selling “Gospel’s” light pads. In 2005 Christina launched her business Equine Light Therapy. She now has over 15,000 clients in over a dozen countries worldwide.
People are using Christina’s light pads on themselves too. A woman in Canada said she was ready to kill herself because the shingles in her head was unbearable. A neighbor loan her one of Christina’s light pads and encouraged her to use it. After a week, the pain was gone. Christina saved that woman’s life.
In May of 2024, Christina was diagnosed with cancer.
(more bad luck)
In July of 2024, Christina had a hysterectomy. By September it was determined that something went wrong. The doctor left a hole in her large intestine which created a life-threatening infection. She spent three weeks in the hospital fighting for her life.
(worse bad luck)
She finished chemotherapy in Jan 2025. Lost all of her hair but striving to do better, be better with the wigs.
April 3, 2025 it was determined that Christina had a tumor in her brain and had brain surgery April 4th.
(the worst bad luck)
The swelling and pressure came back and she had another brain surgery April 23rd.
She was recovering when the swelling came back again and she had another brain surgery on May 1st.
Then a solid mass developed and they offered Chris a fourth brain surgery. Most people would have given up at this point, but not Christina. She said yes, “it is my best hope of survival”.
She had an unprecedented 4th brain surgery on May 23rd. The doctors said 95% of the tumor was removed and the rest would be killed by radiation, starting in two weeks.
Two weeks out from surgery they did an MRI for radiation to map the treatment areas. They found the tumor had already grown back to original size plus some small satellite tumors. There was nothing more they can do. They recommended Hospice care.
June 8, 2025 Christina died.
The world is a much lesser place without her. All of us that knew her are crushed.
Dennis
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