HRKC’s Cornell leaves legacy

On June 2, Chris Cornell had finished mowing grass at Carrie Blake Community Park in preparation for a Hurricane Ridge Kennel Club event and returned home to mow his own yard where he died of cardiac arrest.

The passing of Cornell, obedience and rally chairman for the HRKC, involved in showing, judging and training dogs since the 1970s, stunned family members and fellow dog advocates.

“His passing was devastating; it was definitely a shock and totally unexpected,” said Shahn Cornell, Chris’ only child. “That’s the one thing that resonated with everyone I’ve spoken with; no one can comprehend how he passed.”

Cornell was helping HRKC prepare for the June 3-5 Agility Obedience and Rally Trials at Carrie Blake Community Park, and was less than three weeks from judging the seventh-annual Masters Obedience Championship at Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York.

The event was originally slated for January but was postponed because of COVID concerns.

“[That was] really disappointing,” Chris said in an interview earlier this year, “as I was looking forward to going to NYC.”

HKRC president Lorraine Shore said, “It’s a huge honor and very few judges ever have the opportunity to judge at the largest, and most prestigious, dog show in the United States.”

Said Shahn Cornell, “I honestly think he would see it as one of his biggest achievements in that field.”

This commitment to service on his last day was consistent with how Cornell lived the entirety of his life, according to those who knew him.

“He always had all the equipment we needed there on time as well as mowing the grounds before the shows,” said member Carolyn Money. “Chris was a friend and caregiver to so many and had a special fondness for helping the elderly and those who needed help.”

Love of dogs and the kindness and encouragement he showed to his fellow humans are an essential part of his legacy.

Canine connections

Chris Cornell was born April 4, 1947, in Manhattan, New York. An only child, he told the Gazette in December 2021 that his family always had a dog, at least one and usually a couple.

“A lot of them were mutts, he said. “My parents rescued dogs from the humane society.”

Cornell met his future wife Claire at Arizona State University in Tucson, Ariz. They were married in 1971.

“They were together for their entire lives [and] they loved each other very much,” Shahn said. “Their journey with dogs was definitely mutual.”

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen / Officials at Westminster Kennel Club sent Chris Cornell’s son Shahn the judging jacket and commemorative judging token they had intended to award Cornell upon his judging the Obedience Trials for the club this June 20. They are seen here beside one of the Civil War pewter pieces Cornell collected. Shahn said that he has received many pieces of mail from people from across the USA, detailing the kindness he showed them.

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen / Officials at Westminster Kennel Club sent Chris Cornell’s son Shahn the judging jacket and commemorative judging token they had intended to award Cornell upon his judging the Obedience Trials for the club this June 20. They are seen here beside one of the Civil War pewter pieces Cornell collected. Shahn said that he has received many pieces of mail from people from across the USA, detailing the kindness he showed them.

Chris Cornell said, “(My wife’s) mother was a big cat person so she grew up with cats but loved dogs. It drew us together — we both liked animals.”

Like his father, Shahn grew up surrounded by dogs: “My entire life we always had a dog. First one I remember was a black lab mix named Hitch. For a good chunk of my childhood we had nine dogs.”

Shahn’s Llewellin English setter, Queen, given to him by his grandparents in 1976, is famous among some circles for being the first English setter to win the Obedience Trial Champion title in 1980, due to Chris’ dedicated obedience training of the “firecracker,” as Shahn described her.

At the English Setter Association of America’s website, Cornell’s account of the story of Queen can be read: esaa.com/Gazette/Oct2020.pdf and a picture of her can be found in “The New Complete English Setter” by Davis H. Tuck.

“Before that he was involved in dog shows,” Shahn said, “but it was that process that got him interested in judging.”

“I started exhibiting my first obedience dog at about the time Chris became an AKC obedience judge in 1985,” wrote Sandra Davis from Arizona. “He quickly gained a reputation for being an astute, caring adjudicator of our sport. He had an uncanny ability to make each exhibitor relax a bit in the ring. You felt that he was rooting for you to pass… he always had an encouraging word or two not to give up.”

Davis’ comments are echoed many times in the memories exhibitors share of him.

Shahn said that Cornell was also a “huge civil war buff… pretty much every civil war book that has been published he has a copy of and has read.”

Shahn said Cornell was a photographer, who taught him the basics and inspired him to become a photographer, beginning at age 10.

Chris and Claire Cornell moved to Sequim in 2000, after Cornell retired from his job as engineering supervisor for the City of Phoenix.

“He spent his entire career working for the city of Phoenix,” said Shahn. He added that his mother was not yet retired when the couple moved to Sequim. She was a software developer who worked “for banks and other institutions,” working on Y2K adaptions at the time.

He said that Cornell “opened up” in Sequim, became even more jovial, and appreciated the people and beauty of the region.

Claire Cornell passed last April, and the black flat-coated retriever Bree, show and therapy dog, passed this February.

“Everyone who’s known him and my mother,” Shahn said, “said he’d go up multiple times a week and tend her grave.” He said that Cornell made sure there were fresh flowers there, grew his own grass for it and kept it mowed.

Laid to rest

On June 17 at Sequim View Cemetery, “we laid our wonderful friend Chris Cornell to rest,” wrote Shore, with Shahn and many of Chris’ friends from the Hurricane Ridge Kennel Club, WAG, Guide Dogs for the Blind and Olympic Humane Society on hand.

Westminster Kennel Club sent Cornell’s judging vest and medal to Shahn and he interred the vest with Chris’ urn. Chris, and his beloved dog Bree, were buried together next to his wife Claire.

Shahn Cornell said that his father had said previously that he didn’t want a memorial or an official service, quoting, “‘People can come and say a few words if they want.’”

He explained, “That’s how we did it for mom, too. That was how they were … he just didn’t want to be a bother.”

Sharon DelaBarre, AKC superintendent and friend, said, “His devotion to his wife, who shared his love of dogs, was a beautiful thing. His humor, willingness to help and dedication to helping people be better for their dogs, stands as a goal for the rest of us.”

Ginger, a golden retriever Claire had adopted from WAG, was immediately taken in by old friends of the family, the Westers, who are also the ones who introduced the Cornells to Sequim.

“Ginger is a special girl, with an extra sweet soul,” wrote Jeffrey Wester. “She has lost her entire family this year, yet, she keeps her smile on and her attitude positive.”

For those in the community who wish to commemorate his passing, Shahn said, “he expressly wanted people to donate to either WAG or the Olympic Peninsula Humane Society to help out dogs.” To donate in his name, visit: ophumanesociety.org or wagsequimwa.com.

Shore said HRKC members are dedicating the club’s July shows — All-Breed shows in conjunction with Rally and Obedience Trials July 29-31 — to Cornell, and that there will be a dedication in the show catalog and a cake at the events.

Community members who would like to express their feelings or read those left by others can visit HKRC’s Facebook page at facebook.com/Hurricane-Ridge-Kennel-Club-1615953215286313.

(To read more about Cornell’s distinguished record in the dog show world, visit the Sequim Gazette online.)

In his honor

Below is a write-up from his 2018 AKC Lifetime Achievement in Companion Events Nomination, shared by Lorraine Shore:

Chris Cornell

Chris Cornell, of Sequim, Washington, started in the world of dog obedience in 1976. No dog then, but his young son was visiting grandparents and a litter of English setter puppies. Queen joined the family. A wild and energetic puppy, she was enrolled in beginner obedience classes. She had a superb work ethic and Chris became very interested in obedience. She was a joy and, in 1980, became the first English setter to earn the OTCH title.

Chris has stayed with sporting dogs, training and showing English and Irish setters and Flat-coated and Labrador retrievers. Currently, he is showing Flat-coat Bree, who has earned a CDX, RE, MACH and breed championship. She is also a therapy dog. Chris has been an evaluator for Therapy Dogs International since 2003 and has taken seven dogs on many therapy visits. He is leader of a therapy dog group which currently visits 18 facilities. He supports Guide Dogs for the Blind and has taken two Lab puppies through their first year of training.

Chris started judging AKC obedience in 1984 and rally in 2005. It has developed into a fantastic hobby, meeting terrific people and going to wonderful places. He has had the honor to judge at a Gaines regional and three AKC invitationals. He never tires of officiating at trials and enjoying the thrill of handlers and their dogs reaching their goals.

He is currently Vice President and Obedience/Rally chairman for the Hurricane Ridge Kennel Club and is a member of the English Setter Association of America, English Setter Club of Phoenix, Flat-Coated Retriever Society of America, Northwest Flat-Coated Retriever Club, Kachina Kennel Club and Phoenix Field and Obedience Club.

January’s press release from Westminster:

Sequim resident Christopher Cornell will judge for the seventh-annual Masters Obedience Championship at Westminster on Monday, Jan. 24, held in conjunction with the 146th-annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, event organizers announced in November.

The iconic dog show is set to return to New York City after the 2021 event was held outdoors at the Lyndhurst Estate in Tarrytown, New York, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cornell will officiate more than 25 obedience dogs, among the best in the country, during two rounds of competition at Pier 36 on Manhattan’s lower east side. This is his first Westminster judging assignment.

Cornell started in the world of dog obedience in 1976 with an English Setter named Queen. Described as a “wild and energetic puppy,” she was enrolled in a beginner obedience class, where Cornell became interested in obedience.

In 1980, Queen became the first English setter to earn the Obedience Trial Champion (OTCH) title.

Over the years, Cornell has trained and exhibited English and Irish setters, flat-coated and Labrador retrievers. He has been an evaluator for therapy dogs International since 2003 and supports Guide Dogs for the Blind by raising Labrador puppies through their first year of training.

Cornell said he never tires of officiating at trials and enjoying the thrill of handlers and their dogs reaching their goals. He began judging AKC obedience in 1984 and rally in 2005.

The sport of dog obedience demonstrates a handler and a dog’s ability to work as a team. A judge evaluates the team’s performance as they navigate through a set of exercises. Commands can include a combination of sit, stay, jump, retrieve and scent discrimination.

The Masters Obedience Championship at Westminster is a unique event in the sport of obedience in that it consists of two rounds of AKC-approved exercises. One round will contain Open B exercises and the other round will have Utility B exercises. First through fourth placements will be awarded in each round, with the highest scoring team from either round awarded High in Trial.

The Masters Obedience Champion is determined by the combined individual qualifying scores from both rounds. Purebred and mixed breeds are eligible to compete in obedience competitions. The Westminster Kennel Club donates $5,000 to honor the winner of the Masters Obedience Championship to an AKC training club of their choice or to the AKC Humane Fund.

For 2022, Westminster Week returns to Manhattan starting with the Masters Agility Championship on Saturday, Jan. 22, the Masters Obedience Championship on Monday, Jan. 24 and the breed competitions on Monday (Hound and Herding), Tuesday (Toy, Non-Sporting and Terrier) and Wednesday (Sporting and Working), Jan. 24-26 all on Pier 36. The evening Group judging will be held at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 25-26.

Live streaming of daytime events and dog show results can be found at westminsterkennelclub.org.