Chris Kath pays tribute to son after ill-fated US plane crash tragedy

The father of a Queensland pilot, who together with his wife and eldest daughter was killed in a US plane crash, has remembered his son as the family faces an agonising Christmas.

The father of former Gympie resident Christian Kath has opened up about the remarkable life of his son, who was tragically killed along with his wife Misty (pictured) and eldest daughter in a plane crash off the US coast on December 3.

An energetic man who “touched a lot of people” is how Christian Kath has been lovingly remembered by his father in the wake of the tragic plane crash which took the lives of the Queensland ex-pat, his wife Misty and their eldest daughter Lily.

The youngest daughter in the family was at a sleepover when the tragedy occurred and is now back in Australia in the care of her maternal grandparents.

Ahead of the Christmas weekend, Dagun resident Chris Kath opened up about his son’s life, which crossed multiple countries, and included a lifelong romance which started from a film promotion and a successful business career.

He left a remarkable personal legacy along the way.

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“He touched a lot of people,” Mr Kath said.

“That stands out.”

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Misty and Christian Kath, and their daughter Lily, were tragically killed in a plane crash of the Florida coast on December 3.

Christian was born on May 4, 1980, to Mr Kath and his wife Pepe.

The family initially lived on a farm at Gunalda, 30km north of Gympie, before moving to Mundubbera in 1981.

Christian was soon joined by sister Corine in 1982.

In October 1985 the Kaths moved to Germany where his second sister, Lisa, was born in march 1986.

He started school in a village in the country’s north before returning to Australia in 1988 where younger brother Karl was born in 1989.

His parents separated soon after, and in 1991 Mr Kath met his second wife Sheila and the family moved to Dagun in 1992, into the family home which they still live in today.

Christian spent a year in Germany and Scotland after leaving school in 1998, where he lived with and worked for his uncle, building security fences.

His time in Europe included riding a pushbike he had been given from Germany, through Holland, across the channel and up to Scotland.

Christian and Misty Kath met when she approached the business he was working at to discuss a marketing display about a new movie about bees. They became friends, and married in March 2010.

In 1999 Christian started a business course at Griffith University’s Brisbane campus.

He secured a position as an officer trainee in the army reserve as a way of making money to cover his university expenses.

After training at the Duntroon Military College he passed, was given an officer’s commission, and the position of commanding officer of the Gympie Army reserve platoon and base.

He was eventually given command of the Maryborough and Bundaberg platoons and bases.

Mr Kath said he had spoken with people who were in the service who said they “would not have passed without Christian being there by my side”.

In 2002 he took his first paid job at the Kenilworth Cheese Factory, bought his own house at Dagun, and then took a job at The Super-Bee at Tanawah.

Christian Kath and his family moved from Australia to the US in 2018, first living in Chicago and then moving to St Petersburg in Florida.

“At about this time, a young woman called Misty Gardner, who was at that time the Queensland marketing manager for the cinema group Birch Carroll and Coyle, made contact with Christian at The Super-Bee regarding making a foyer display on bees to promote the new ‘Bee Movie’ which was about to be released.

“He and Misty became friends and Misty decided that she was never going to let him go,” Mr Kath said.

In March 2010 the couple married at the Twin Waters at the Sunshine Coast, in a venue named “Lily’s” – it would become the name of his first daughter when she was born prematurely in October that year.

In 2012 he became manager of the Queensland Sterihealth depot at Yatala.

He stayed there until late 2018, becoming Australian operations manager, before moving to Sydney “by which time he had become Australian operations manager, had lived a number of years in Sydney and established himself as a very competent leader”.

In December of that year Christian, Misty together with then eight-year-old Lily and six-year-old Harper, moved to Chicago where Christian started a new job with Daniels Health.

They moved to St Petersburg, Florida, in 2021, where they stayed until the tragic crash on Saturday December 3, 2022, off the coast of Venice (south of St Petersburg) in which Christian, Misty, and Lily were killed instantly.

Mr Kath said he would miss Christian’s wisdom, on matters including family

“Even I would seek his advice,” Mr Kath said.