Toni Hixon remembers her son, Chris Hixon’s, evening routine.
“He would come home from his job as athletic director, coach and campus monitor at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., as late as 10 p.m., kiss his wife, check in on his special needs son, Corey, and say, ‘Hi mom, how are you today?'”
“The poor guy hadn’t even had dinner,” Toni Hixon said. “Always, everybody came before him.”
She hates that she now uses the past tense to talk about her son, who was one of the 17 people killed in the Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland.
His brother, Rick Hixon, of Virginia Beach, Va., said he couldn’t disclose the details of what happened, but that Chris’ actions helped save numerous lives and delayed the shooter from killing students.
He said Chris Hixon was going into the building when people were fleeing it.
The Hixon family and friends gathered at Chris Hixon’s alma mater — Pleasant Valley High School in Monroe County — Thursday night for a celebration of his life.
Pleasant Valley Middle School Principal Rocco Seiler, who knew Chris Hixon from school, said he and the Class of ’86 hoped to create a scholarship for Pleasant Valley students in Hixon’s name, as well as do other things to honor him at Pleasant Valley.
“We wanted to show his family that we remember him too, and he meant as much to us as he did there,” Seiler said.
Chris Hixon was born in Easton and was a 1986 graduate of Pleasant Valley High. He is survived by a wife and two sons, ages 22 and 26. He was killed just a week and a half before he would have turned 50.
At Pleasant Valley, he was involved in football, wrestling, track and the National Honor Society. He was described as a good friend to his classmates and was awarded the Spirit Award when he was there.
Rick Hixon said his brother’s spirit showed throughout his life.
“He did anything for anyone,” he said.
That’s how East Stroudsburg resident Brett Middleton remembers his classmate.
“He was probably the most down-to-earth and got along with everybody,” Middleton said. “He was just a great, great guy who was friends with everybody.”
Chris Hixon joined the Navy soon after graduating, and served in the Persian Gulf War before moving to Florida, where he became athletic director at a couple of schools, winding up at Marjory Stoneman Douglas.
Toni Hixon said the number 14 is one she’ll always cherish. It’s the number that was always on her son’s football jersey. It was the day of the month he graduated high school, went into the Navy, and married his wife. His license plate said “Hixon 14” when he moved to Florida, his brother said, and it’s the exit a driver has to take off the Sawgrass Expressway to get to Marjory Stoneman Douglas.
It’s also the day Chris Hixon made his sacrifice, Rick Hixon said.
“He probably saved someone in that school that’s going to help all of us do something in this world to change it,” he said.
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