Chris Hobbs

There aren’t enough words in the dictionary to properly describe Christina (Chris) Hobbs and what she meant to those that loved her. Educator, advocate, amazing cook, hug giver extraordinaire, friend, daughter, sister, wife, soulmate, and mother, don’t even begin to articulate how incredible she was.

A lifelong educator, she taught in Mesa County School District 51 for 42 years. Throughout her career, Chris championed for all students to succeed, no matter their dreams. She began her career at Riverside School, teaching special education students. She also coached Special Olympics, spending countless weekends and evenings coaching basketball and swimming at local, regional, and national tournaments. Chris eventually transferred to Thunder Mountain Elementary where she would finish the final 25 years of her career, teaching 3rd through 5th grade.

Chris believed teachers needed to have a voice. As a proud leader within Mesa Valley Education Association (MVEA) and Colorado Education Association (CEA), she tirelessly advocated for her fellow teachers, serving on the Executive Council, CEA Board, the Elections Committee, MVEA Negotiations Committee, and as MVEA Vice President. In 2015, she received the CEA Award for outstanding service to public education, the highest award CEA gives to a member.

Above all, her family was her pride and joy. Spend 15 minutes with Chris and you’d know her husband, Don, and kids, Jonathan and Jennifer, were her world. And she was theirs.

She and Don met while in junior high, both graduating from Grand Junction High School in 1968, but it wasn’t until their sophomore year at Mesa Junior College that they started dating. They would marry December 22, 1971, and spend the next 51 years and 8 months together.

The only two people Chris loved as much as Don were her kids, Jonathan and Jennifer. They were her everything. She loved spending time with them, whether it was attending a baseball game, standing in the freezing cold to get an autograph after an Avalanche game, going to Disneyland, playing board games, traveling to a new city, sitting down for dinner together, or baking Christmas cookies … she loved any opportunity to make memories.

Her laughter could fill up a room. She gave the best hugs, when she hugged you, you never wanted her to let you go. Most of all she had a heart of pure gold. Chris was the first to volunteer, especially if it was to support her kids’ school activities or clubs or if it gave her the opportunity to cook. An amazing chef, she would spend hours in the kitchen and never need a recipe. Her kindness and generosity knew no bounds. She believed in doing something just because she could. If you told her she didn’t have to, her immediate reply would be, “I know but I wanted to.”

Chris passed away peacefully at home on August 28, 2023. She is survived by her soulmate Don, kids Jonathan and Jennifer, daughter-in-law Wendy, and sisters Carol Gross, Ann Roberts, and Mary Ashby. She is preceded in death by her parents Bryan and Gladys, and sister Susan.

A private celebration of Chris’s life will be held with close family and friends.

If you would like to honor her memory and legacy, and in lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in her name to Kids Aid The Backpack Program or make a monetary donation directly to the Thunder Mountain Elementary School library.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.callahan-edfast.com for the Hobbs family.