James Lee Chrispen

December 18, 1932 ~ July 21, 2011

James Lee Chrispen of Greeley died Thursday, July 21, 2011 at his home. He was born December 18, 1932 in Lucerne, Colorado to Victor and Lydia (Whitman) Chrispen.

James graduated from Eaton High School in 1950 and earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Colorado A&M, now CSU, where he played football.

He married Dorothy “Dottie” Bauming on January 6, 1956 at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Greeley by Rev. Schoenhaar.

He served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Randolph aircraft carrier. He taught at Milliken schools before moving to Wichita, Kansas where he worked for Martin Marietta, Lear Jet, and Boeing. Upon returning to Colorado, he was employed by Gambles, Itel and retired after 20 years with Kodak. He then worked for Weld County Garage and Garnsey & Wheeler before he had health issues that forced him to quit working.

He was a past member of the Moose, Elks, Independent Order of Foresters and the Windsor American Legion. He enjoyed playing softball and he helped start the Greeley Bootlegger Soccer back in the 70’s with Gibson-Williams construction as sponsors.

He is survived by his wife, Dottie of Greeley; daughter, Monika (Larry) Honstein of Ft. Collins; son, Darin of Greeley; 3 grandchildren, Casi and Travis Honstein of Ft. Collins and Megan Myrant of Greeley; 2 great-grandsons, Darien Espino of Ft. Collins and Urijah James Myrant of Greeley; a sister, Betty (Virgil) Lieuallen of Greeley and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister Dorothy Mitchell and an infant brother Johnny Chrispen.

A Celebration Of Life 11:00 a.m. Tuesday at the Greeley/Evans Moose Lodge, 3456 11th Avenue, Evans.