Alisa Faye McChriston

Obituary For Alisa Faye McChriston

Alisa Faye McChriston, 71- passed on Thursday, March 5, 2026.

Official Obituary

Alisa Faye Gunn McChriston

It was a bright and particularly hot day in July of 1954 at approximately 2:30pm when Alisa McChriston, then Alisa Gunn, took her first breath in Flint, Michigan. Born to Arevene and Alfred Gunn 4 months prematurely, she was truly a fighter from the beginning. It has been said that many little ones at that time did not make it from premature status as easily, but not her. She would say that she took her first breath on July 17th and by the following day was up in the trees doing what she knew how to do best.

“Faye” took this spirit of tenacity and drove forward as the family settled back in Memphis after their Michigan stint. The family returned from Michigan and settled in a new and growing segment of the South Memphis community and decided to take residence on S. Parkway E. The eldest of 3, she had a built in network of best friends with her two twin brothers Raphael and Ronald and a host of family in Memphis, but that did not stop her from expanding her network of loved ones in that community. It was here, on Parkway, that she received her first friends, playing all around the community and strengthening bonds that would last a lifetime. That love could be felt in ways that was clearly observable from any and every moment that you saw her interact with them. One friend in particular, one who lived approximately five doors from hers to the east, would figure to become quite influential in her life though she would not know it until much later. William McChriston, her “brother” her whole life, would one day marry the ever so adventurous Faye and become the truest love in her life. A love that would endure for over twenty years, in fact, and when they wed in 1992, that love took them throughout the years and lasted long after William’s untimely passing in 2005.

Her mother, being a dedicated educator, knew the importance of a well-rounded education for a young lady even though, as a self-proclaimed tomboy, all there was for her at that time was doing what the boys were doing outside. Even so, she first took on her first educational pursuits at LaRose Elementary equidistant between both places where her mother taught at Booker T. Washington High School and Lemoyne Owen College. The school choice itself being a suggestion made by her mother’s mentor Blair T. Hunt as her mother wanted to keep an ever watchful eye and continue her career. As she matriculated, she attended Hamilton Middle and High School and often cited it as a time that she was finally able to grow into her own. It was there that she developed life long friends and developed the truest “Wildcat” pride that one could have.

The school and local community were not her only safe havens. She was truly a woman of faith from the very beginning. She was a faithful congregant of the church that lay just next door to her home. She received her baptism and first communion at Parkway Gardens Presbyterian Church at a young age and developed an unmovable faith and relationship with God that took her into her very last days. As she grew, she took membership with mother at Castalia Baptist Church for which she would belong for many years. As her faith grew, she also developed spiritual relationships with many often being seen as a spiritual mother. When she would tell stories of her youth, she would often note that nothing would get her out the trees or outside like that of her passions around the arts. Many of her childhood friends had parents who played instruments that would “wake the entire neighborhood” which is where she developed her great love for the arts. The crowing jewel of that love came from her study of dance, ballet particularly. In a sense, her first spiritual home became her first artistic one as well having studied ballet while under the tutelage of her instructor Roberta Radcliffe at Parkway Gardens. She would study this well into her adult years, refining her technique and deepening her love of the discipline. This love of the arts would transform as she aged and when eventually had a child, William, she would see that he too studied the arts. As education was an important factor in her upbringing, so, too, was that importance passed down to her child. There were several promises made between Faye and “Big” William and the most prominent among them being “if you choose to put him in a sport, he will study music.” As with most things that she set her mind to, that reality came into fruition full force.

Alisa Faye Gunn McChriston lived her life with the same courage she used to take her very first breath. She has now returned to the trees, resting in the high places of her Father’s garden. Even as we have to say our goodbyes to her in this earthly state, it is important that we, her community of family and friends, remember her for who she was and her vigorous faith. She mothered so many, was a sister to so many, and will have a lasting indelible place in people’s hearts for as long as we have memory of her. She was preceded in her passing by her husband William McChriston, her parents Arevene and Alfred Gunn, and her brothers Raphael and Ronald Gunn. As she transitions, she leaves behind an only son, William III (of New York), a best friend Charlotte Guy (of South Carolina), innumerable godchildren, a host of cousins, and legion of friends who will remember her for who she was, an angel on earth.

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Services

Funeral Service

Mar

19

Parkway Gardens Presbyterian Church

1005 E Shelby Dr.
Memphis, TN 38116

11:00 AM

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