He was born on January 19, 1970, the second child of Charles and Frances Prinn of Yarmouth. He attended Yarmouth schools, excelled in all sports, but particularly hockey, baseball and golf. He also displayed a natural talent for drawing and painting from a very young age. In high school, he lettered in golf, hockey and baseball all four years, earning All Conference recognition in golf and hockey as well as being captain on all three teams. He scored the game-winning goal in the first of two back-to-back Hockey State Championships. His love for hockey and for his Yarmouth community would be a common thread throughout his life.
He majored in marketing at Babson, graduating in 1992. He also studied abroad in London, his favorite city, which he would visit many times in his life. He first worked at the Vreeland Ad Agency, then at L.L.Bean as an Art Director in the brand-new E-Commerce department. In 1999, he joined his brother-in-law and two other partners to found Portland Webworks. He was the Creative Director for just over 21 years, creating award winning websites and interfaces for local and national clients.
He married Jennifer Davis, a Yarmouth classmate, in 1998. The couple have two sons, Oliver, 16, and Atticus, 15. Both are current students at Yarmouth High School, carrying on the Clipper pride.
Christopher loved coaching youth sports, including baseball, but especially hockey. He served on the Board of Casco Bay Hockey, where he created the recognizable salty mariner logo/mascot. He coached his sons on numerous Casco Bay teams and coached their Yarmouth Harrison Middle School teams for four years, a role that he loved dearly. Leading the team to win the Southern Maine Middle School Boys State Championship in the highest tiered Soule Division in 2018. He has also been active on the Board of the Yarmouth Hockey Boosters for many years, where he created the Yarmouth Hockey Clipper ship logo that has subsequently been adopted by much of Yarmouth High School. He shared a love of hockey with Oliver and he built a backyard rink every year, which he named “The Prinnk”. They would spend hours together skating, watching hockey, having chalk talk and pressing rewind to watch a “sick” goal. Christopher still played in two men’s hockey leagues every week - his love of the game never waned. Both he and Jenny have been very involved in youth activities - always supporting their boys’ interests, with Oliver participating in soccer, hockey, and lacrosse, and Atticus playing leading roles in plays and musicals.
Christopher was a problem solver, a fixer of things, and a provider. He was humble and giving and was always the funniest person in the room, with his wickedly clever, quick wit. His smile was infectious and huge - and always accompanied by a sparkle in his eyes. He hated to read, but loved to write and he wrote profusely. He loved the power of words mixed with rhythm. He wrote mostly children’s stories in stunning rhyming verse, which he expertly and beautifully illustrated. His drawing style was simple, bold, and always recognizable. He recently completed and illustrated a children’s book that had been years in the making. He proudly had it bound into a beautiful hardcover book.
He was the king of original ditties and jingles. Christopher wrote funny little songs for everything - his repertoire was vast, and those who knew him knew all the songs. He even created short theme songs for each of his sons. Christopher loved a good catchy jingle, but he also had a great love and appreciation of music. He listened to everything including songs from Musicals, to U2, Motley Crue, the Pixies, British music, Weezer, Van Halen, the Beastie Boys and the Cult. He took guitar lessons in high school, but primarily taught himself how to play over the years. You could find Christopher on the couch, next to his Irish Terrier Harvey, every evening with his guitar in his hand. He always joked that he couldn’t sing and play at the same time (and yes, he had a ditty about this too), but he had a beautiful voice and perfect pitch. A gift that he passed on to both his sons.
He could do the newspaper Jumble in under 5 minutes, all in his head, without ever looking at it - you only needed to read it out loud to him. Christopher liked to design and build things out of wood, including many beautiful built-ins in his home, a skill inherited from his Emerson grandfather. As he always said, “If one nail is good, 20 are better”. Christopher loved to watch movies, especially with his brother or Atticus. He loved to have long talks with Atticus about the universe, parallel dimensions, time travel and other deep philosophical subjects. They shared a deep love of plays, musicals, drawing and writing. Christopher loved The Karate Kid and was pleased when his boys were old enough to appreciate it with him. Christopher was a gifted storyteller, and could weave a tale like no other, while leaving your side aching from laughter. He was kind and generous and always looked to lighten the load of others, and to help ease the tension in the room. He would break out his crazy dance moves on school mornings when the boys were running late to lighten the mood. He made a mean breakfast every Sunday morning for his family, one that would rival any restaurant. And his “Paula Dean” French Toast Casserole was famous far and wide.
Christopher was a man of honor, a man that had a smile for everyone and a man who loved his family fiercely. He was infinitely proud of his two sons and of the smart, kind, hard working, funny young men they have become. He particularly loved that they had the same sense of humor- which caused his raucous “tea kettle” laugh on a daily basis.
He will be forever missed.
In addition to his wife Jenny, and his sons, Oliver and Atticus, Christopher is survived by his sister Elizabeth Manganello of Falmouth, along with her husband Edward, and son Sam. He also leaves a younger brother, Chuck, of Westbrook.
He is survived by his parents, Prinn aunts and uncles, Julia Pew of Yarmouth, and Charles Emerson of Brunswick, as well as some 47 cousins, and his brother and sister-in-law, Justin and Gia Davis and his niece and nephew, Caroline and William.
Family and friends are invited to attend a time of visitation on Thursday, February 4, 2021 from 4-7 PM at Lindquist Funeral Home, 1 Mayberry Lane, Yarmouth. A private Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, February 6, 2021. Due to covid restrictions the Mass is private but those wishing to view a livestream of the Mass may do so on the Facebook page of Lindquist Funeral Home, https://m.facebook.com/Lindquist-Funeral-Home starting just before noon.
FAMILY
Charles PrinnFather
Frances PrinnMother
Jennifer (Davis) PrinnWife
Oliver PrinnSon
Atticus PrinnSon
Elizabeth Manganello (Edward Manganello)Sister
Sam ManganelloNephew
Chuck PrinnBrother
Justin Davis (Gia Davis)Brother-in-law
Caroline DavisNiece
William DavisNephew
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