Christopher Edwin Mitchell

Christopher Edwin “Chris” Mitchell was born August 11, 1975, in Tulsa, OK, to Max Edwin Mitchell and Wilma June (Morris) Smaligo. He passed away June 14, 2026, in Collinsville, OK.

Chris was an artist, but not the kind that locked himself away in a studio waiting for inspiration. He saw art everywhere; just give him a vase, a rock, a garden decoration, or just about anything that would sit still long enough, and he’d find a way to make it more beautiful. He wasn’t always easy to keep up with. In fact, if there was a normal way to do something and a complicated way to do it, Chris would somehow find a third option that nobody had ever considered. But on a good day, there was nobody more charming or more fun to be around than Chris. He could make people laugh and turn an ordinary afternoon into a story people would still be telling years later.

One of his biggest projects was creating a huge koi pond for his mom. Most people would have bought a small water feature and called it a day. Not Chris. He approached projects the way some people would approach world domination – with enormous ambition and absolutely no interest in doing things halfway. The truth is, Chris will be deeply missed. But when people think about him, they won’t think about losing him, they’ll think about the stories, the laughter, and the moments that made him uniquely himself. When people look at the things he created, they’re reminded that artists leave pieces of themselves behind. Chris did exactly that. He left color where there was once something plain. He left beauty where there was once something ordinary. And he left memories that will stay with those who loved him for the rest of their lives. It’s comforting to imagine that Chris has been reunited with his dad. Since his dad was an artist too, one can almost picture the two of them looking around, deciding everything needs a little more color, a little more creativity, and a much bigger koi pond.

Today, Chris should be remembered the way he would have wanted – not with silence, but with stories. Not just with tears, but with laughter. And perhaps by imagining him and his dad together again, creating something beautiful, making each other laugh, and turning a little corner of Heaven into a work of art.

Chris was loved. He will be missed, and his stories will continue to be told for years to come.

We love you, Chris!

He is survived by his mother, Wilma “Willie” Smaligo; daughter, Meredith Smith, and Madisonn Welch; son, Noah Christopher Mitchell; granddaughters, Opal Welch and Gentry Smith; grandson, Noah Smith; brother, Robert “Bob” Geller; sister, Veronica “Susie” Norton; aunts, Linda Dixon, and Margaret Gaylord and husband, Grady; nieces, Nicole Wheeler and Paige Robertson; nephews, Ryan Norton, and Blake Geller; and many other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his father, Max Mitchell.

Memorial services for Chris were held Thursday, June 25, 2026, at Johnson Funeral Chapel in Sperry, OK, with Phil Johnson officiating.

Arrangements and services were entrusted to Johnson Funeral Home, Sperry. Online condolences to the family can be made at johnsonsperry.com.