Gafford currently resides in Arizona, tending to his invalid second wife and battling arthritis and diabetes.
His family said he had been battling Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and congestive heart failure.
He had battled diabetes for several years and had also suffered the trauma of a leg amputation.
A breast cancer survivor, she had been battling diabetes when she died of complications from diabetes, aged 71.
Christopher himself had battled juvenile diabetes since he was six years old and was a strong supporter of our Chapter and its events.
"Some days are better than others," he said, explaining that he was battling diabetes.
Today, those diseases are mostly eradicated, but health workers battle different epidemics: obesity and diabetes.
He died in 2007, after battling severe diabetes for years, in the course of which both legs were amputated.
She also battled diabetes, and eventually lost both of her legs and an arm to the disease.
Aileen Thompson, 70, has battled diabetes for a quarter of a century and now must inject herself with insulin.