Obituary
Christie Romero,
Roadshow appraiser
Christie Romero, an Antiques Roadshow jewelry appraiser and expert, died Sept. 5 [2009] of complications from pancreatic cancer. She was 63.
Romero joined the popular WGBH production in its fifth season, which aired in 2001. She appeared a total of six times through season 13. She was known for wearing favorite items from her own 1,000-piece jewelry collection.
Her husband of 30 years, Jimmie, told Current that Romero enjoyed her time on the Roadshow, especially a roll-in segment she did in San Diego on Mexican silver that originally aired in May 2002. Later, in Palm Springs, Calif., she got to appraise a 1915 Louis Comfort Tiffany Necklace at $70,000 to $90,000 on an episode that aired in January 2009.
“Despite her illness, Christie volunteered to come back to Roadshow this past summer, summoning her strength and good humor to share her expertise with hundreds of event attendees,” Executive Producer Marsha Bemko said in an e-mail to Current. “Christie not only gave generously of her time to Antiques Roadshow, but to a wide range of collectors, students and colleagues. She was an inspiration to us all and will be greatly missed.”
Romero, an antique jewelry historian, lecturer, instructor, consultant and collector, was founder and director of the Center for Jewelry Studies in Anaheim, Calif. She wrote three editions of Warman's Jewelry, a best-selling reference guide to 18th-, 19th- and 20th-century jewelry. She lectured throughout the country and taught a class in antique jewelry at Santiago Canyon College in Orange County, Calif.
She was born April 12, 1946, in New York City. There will be a memorial service on Oct. 3 in the amphitheater at Pearson Park in Anaheim, Calif.
Memorial donations may be made to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network; for more information go to pancan.org.
Photo courtesy of Antiques Roadshow.
Web page posted Sept. 26, 2009
Copyright 2009 by Current LLC
