Chris Boggs, a champion of native plants who served as greenhouse manager of Toledo Botanical Garden and later as a member of the Sylvania Tree Commission, died Oct. 19 at ProMedica Ebeid Hospice Residence, Sylvania. She was 60.

The cause was complications of traumatic brain injury suffered in 2021, her daughter, Sara Roemer, said. Mrs. Boggs fell from a ladder while volunteering on the grounds of her longtime church, Flanders Road Church of Christ.

“Mom was always a fiercely independent person,” Mrs. Roemer said. “She told us her three goals were to talk, drive, and hug her grandbabies.”

“We took her to Chicago to the top neuro-rehab institute in the country. She was willing to give everything a shot,” her daughter said.

Not long before her injury, Mrs. Boggs completed the Ohio State Extension master gardener volunteer program. She could have taught the course, said Amy Stone, extension educator with the Ohio State Extension in Lucas County. But her goal was to complete the training.

“Working with volunteers and sharing her passion and knowledge is one thing I remember about Chris,” said Mrs. Stone, whose office is at Toledo Botanical Garden, where Mrs. Boggs was greenhouse manager for about a decade until the late 2000s.

“She wanted to make sure everybody saw her love for plants, and she wanted to make sure everybody had that same love,” Mrs. Stone said. “She was very knowledgeable and had extensive experience with nature and plants.”

At the botanical garden, Mrs. Boggs oversaw the scheduling of which plants were to be grown when in the greenhouse throughout the season. She supplied native plants to Metroparks Toledo and the Toledo Zoo – but also Cleveland and Columbus zoos, Mrs. Roemer said.

She also oversaw the botanical garden’s periodic sale to the public of plants. 

This wasn’t an office job.

“She came home dirty every day. She was out there digging and watering,” Mrs. Roemer said.

She was a member of Wild Ones Oak Openings Region Chapter, a native plant advocacy group.

“She was the force behind the native plants at the Toledo Botanical Garden,” said Candy Sarikonda, a monarch butterfly conservation specialist and chairman of the Sylvania Tree Commission.

“She radiated light,” Mrs. Sarikonda said. “She made everyone feel at ease.”

She left botanical garden employment after her first grandchild arrived. She was married to the late Eddie Boggs, a longtime Sylvania educator, who as a musician was one of northwest Ohio’s best-known entertainers.

“Her grandkids were everything to her and Eddie,” Mrs. Roemer said. “They were hands-on grandparents, and we’re lucky that our whole family is here.”

She volunteered to work in the gardens of the Metroparks and for nature-themed activities in her grandchildren’s schools. As she and her grandchildren visited Metroparks, she taught them about their surroundings.

“We all have a ridiculous amount of plant and tree knowledge from being around her,” Mrs. Roemer said.

At church, she taught Sunday school and helped plant flowers and with landscaping.

“She was super energetic, very talkative,” Mrs. Roemer said. “She was kind and never judged anybody.”

Mrs. Sarikonda said: “She was a born educator and a good soul, a lot like Eddie was. The two of them were good people.”

Chris Ann McCance was born April 9, 1963, in Morenci, Mich., to Carol and Ron McCance, the oldest of what would be four children. She grew up in West Toledo and was a 1981 graduate of Whitmer High School.

She was a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier in West Toledo for a decade.

“She loved being outside, and she liked being active, so it suited her,” Mrs. Roemer said. She already enjoyed gardening when she pursued studies in landscape architecture from Owens Community College. She had an associate degree.

She and her husband married Sept. 20, 1991. He died Jan. 9, 2014.

Surviving are her daughters, Sara Roemer, Grace Barton, and Allison Boggs; parents Carol and Ron McCance; sister, Beth Pinkus; brothers Bryan McCance and Greg McCance, and nine grandchildren.

A community service event in her memory will be held later. Arrangements are by Walker Funeral Home.

The family suggests tributes to Metroparks Toledo Foundation.

First Published October 30, 2023, 4:00 a.m.