Respected Journalist, Former Patch Editor Christy Arboscello Dies

Christy Arboscello, a respected crime and courts reporter at various Metro Detroit media outlets, including Patch.com, died Monday after a nine-year battle with cancer. She was 34.

Arboscello, who grew up in Clinton Township, interned at both The Macomb Daily and the Detroit Free Press, worked for the Free Press for six years, and then at Patch.com for three years as a local editor for the New Baltimore-Chesterfield Patch. Her last job was as web editor for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

Her death came as a shock to many of her colleagues, not only because she died at such a young age, but because she bore her illness with such “dignity, strength and grace” that most people didn’t realize how ill she was, said Clare Pfeiffer, a former regional editor at Patch.

“It was somehow inspiring to see how someone could endure so much, in a way I’m not sure I could have,” Pfeiffer said. “She never let on to people how sick she was, or if she was in pain or having trouble. She was very private, and also dedicated to her work. Most people would be shocked to find out how sick she was.”

Arboscello was diagnosed with kidney cancer nine years ago, according to her obituary on the Lee-Ellana Funeral Home website. The cancer was in remission after a kidney removal, but it returned four years ago, showing up in her liver. She had been in hospice care for the last few months of her life.

Though Arboscello leaves a strong legacy as a journalist, it was her second career choice. She began studying ballet as a young girl and landed the lead role in the Macomb Ballet Company’s production in “Sleeping Beauty.” A knee injury forced her to consider a different career.

She chose journalism, publishing two books along the way.

Arboscello loved being a journalist, was dogged in her pursuit of stories and developed a deep network of sources around Metro Detroit and especially Macomb County, her colleagues said.

“Reporting was a passion, and she did it well,” said Teresa Mask, Arboscello’s editor at both the Free Press and Patch.

The cops and courts beat was Arboscello’s specialty.

“She was tough as nails,” Pfeiffer said. “She was an ace crime and courts reporter who knew her way around the courthouse and cop shop probably better than anybody.”

In stark contrast, behind the byline topping grisly crime stories was “a sweet soul” who was eager to help her coworkers and kind to everyone she met, Pfeiffer said.

“She was so kind,” Mask added. “It sounds so cliche, but I don’t remember her saying a bad word about anyone.”

Mask said Arboscello worked diligently and efficiently, always leaving time for her most important job – parenting her two young children.

“She was good everything – being a mom, being a journalist and up and down the line, really wonderful person,” Pfeiffer agreed. “I can’t believe that could happen to someone so young.

“We’re all heartbroken,” Pfeiffer said of the journalism community in Metro Detroit. “We feel such compassion for her family, her little kids and her husband.”

Arboscello is survived by two young children, son Dorian, 9, and daughter Alina, 5, as well as her husband, Angelo, and parents, Larry and Kathy Oyama.

Visitation is from 2-9 p.m. Thursday at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home, 46530 Romeo Plank, Macomb Township.

The funeral will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the funeral home, with burial following at Resurrection Cemetery in Clinton Township.

A fund to help with the family’s expenses has been established on GoFundMe.