Christie's Story
Christie McCarthy Stier
1949 – 2017
Teacher, coach, caterer, swim instructor to hundreds of neighborhood kids, mother of six. Christie was the center of a very large, very loud family, and she is the reason all of us wear a fanny pack every September.
Her life
A teacher and a coach, at school and everywhere else
Christie was born January 27, 1949, in Hackensack, New Jersey, the sixth of nine children in a big Catholic family. She earned her degree in early childhood education from the University of South Carolina in 1971 and never really stopped teaching.
She taught physical education at St. Peter's Elementary and coached women's basketball at Cardinal Newman. She ran a catering business. And in her own backyard pool she taught hundreds of children to swim, one splashing lesson at a time.
With her husband Jonathan she raised six children, and by 2017 she was a grandmother of thirteen. Family was the whole point.
Christie was diagnosed with ALS and died at home in Irmo, South Carolina, on October 16, 2017. She was 68.
Why a fanny pack?
“Christie was full of energy, fun, and always wore a fanny pack.”
That is how her children describe her, and it is why the foundation carries the name it does. The fanny pack was practical, a little unfashionable, and always ready with whatever somebody needed. We try to be the same thing for families facing ALS.
From a golf tournament to a foundation
How her family carried her forward
Four years after Christie passed, her children organized a golf tournament in her name. It grew into something none of them expected.
2017
Christie passes from ALS at home in October, surrounded by family.
2021
Her family hosts the first Christie Memorial Golf Tournament at Daniel Island Club, raising $178,000 for the ALS Association South Carolina chapter.
2024
The Fanny Pack Foundation is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity, so the tournament can fund grants directly.
2025
The foundation makes its first grants to 25 people living with ALS across South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.
2026
The 6th annual Christie brings golfers, sponsors and friends back to Daniel Island Club.
Give in her memory
Give in Christie's memory
Grants for caregiving, medical equipment, ADA home renovations and memory-making trips in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.