John Adam Christman

He was born Nov. 9, 1957, in Manitowoc, WI to Robert and Virginia Christman.

On Sept. 8, 1981, John joined the U.S. Army. Shortly after joining he married his childhood sweetheart, Kay Theisen on March 5, 1982. They were married for 40 wonderful years and raised 3 great sons. John served in the Army for 16 years, 12 of which were in Germany. This time abroad “sparked” his passion for European travel, and before long, the family was known as “The Griswolds.”

The family was known to set out every weekend for a different city or country. Always welcoming others to join them, John being the tour guide (of course), he never got tired of talking about his travels.

Besides his love for travel, he also enjoyed sports, especially football & baseball. He knew all the stats and history for numerous teams. Sports trivia wasn’t his only talent. His vast knowledge and incredible ability to remember everything, bought him the title “The Human Encyclopedia.” Map reading was among those talents. He always prided himself with never using GPS, as a matter of fact, it irritated him because “he knew better.”

After retiring from the Army in 1998, the family picked up roots once more and moved back to their hometown in Wisconsin. John took a supervisory position at Federal Mogul. After that, he worked at Spancrete until he and his wife moved to Fort Collins, CO in 2005. Their love of the outdoors, and adventurous spirit drove them to the mountains. He loved being an integral part of the concrete and construction industry, working for various companies, the last being Martin Marietta. He was involved with many large projects, to include Denver International Airport and CSU stadium.

Survivors include spouse, Kay Christman; sons: Brian Sullivan of Manitowoc WI., Jerrod Sullivan of Fayetteville, NC. and Erik Christman of Fort Collins, CO; daughter-in-laws, Sarah Sullivan and Jackie Christman; 5 grandchildren, Stella and Marlee Sullivan, Troi Sullivan, and Isabelle and Elle Christman; siblings, Katie (Gary) Grable of Oshkosh, WI, Bill (Pat) Christman of Oldtown, ID, Janet Smith of San Diego, CA and Mary Deen of Lakeside, CA; sisters and brothers-in-law, Susan and Paul Mueller of Green Bay, WI, Tari and Pete Rank of Cortez, CO, Diane and Jim Waniger of Salida, CO, Vicki Christman of Oshkosh, WI; half-brother and sister, Matthew Christman and Sarah (Josh) Kainz; and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews and aunts.

John is preceded in death by his parents, Robert and Virginia Christman; infant sister, Margaret; brother, Robert Christman; and sister, Ginny Christman.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting memorial contributions to the American Cancer Society (donate3.cancer.org) and the Healing Warriors program (www.healingwarriorsprogram.org/donate/).

Immediately following the mass, please join us for a celebration of John’s life at Zwei Brewing, 4612 South Mason St. #120 Fort Collins, CO.