Chris Crosby, 89, of Greenwood Village, Colorado, died peacefully on March 21, 2026 after a long period of declining health. He was surrounded in person and in spirit by his children, his grandchildren, their spouses, his great grandchildren, and his sister Harriett.
Chris was born and raised in Minnetonka, Minnesota, one of four children of George Christian Crosby, Sr, and Beatrice Wells Crosby Wilkes. He grew up playing tennis, hockey on the lakes of Minnesota, golfing, and waterskiing.
After graduating from boarding school at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, in 1955, Chris attended Amherst College, also in Massachusetts and then the Darden Graduate School of Business receiving an MBA from the University of Virginia in 1961.
In 1958, he married Frances Holcombe Pitcher, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The couple lived briefly in Charlottesville, Virginia; Seattle, Washington and Minneapolis, Minnesota but in 1965 moved to Colorado and raised four daughters in Cherry Hills Village.
It was in Colorado that Chris’ love of the great outdoors flourished. He became an avid bird hunter, fly fisherman, downhill skier, rollerblader and bicyclist. His lifelong interest in wildlife conservation and the outdoors led him to active involvement with building conservation organizations such as Ducks Unlimited, Trout Unlimited, working on Quality of Life and Health Issues with ROMCOE (the Rocky Mountain Center on the Environment), and serving on the Lamm-Wirth Rocky Flats Monitoring Committee.
Chris brokered real estate deals resulting in the creation of several duck hunting and fishing clubs. He specialized in acquisition, habitat improvement, management and sale of duck and trout properties east and northeast of Denver often with one of his daughters in tow.
Chris is survived by his four daughters, Mancy Jolliffe (Will), Marnie Barclay, Libby Harvey (Ned), Blair Mellon (Dennis); his 10 grandchildren, Kate Jolliffe Haaf (Landon), Morgan Jolliffe Clinkscales (CJ), Jack Jolliffe (Olivia), Alex Barclay (Liz), Brendan Barclay (Bailey), Jessica Jerrell (Dillon), Jackson Harvey, Spencer Harvey, Christian Mellon and Seth Mellon (Audrey) all of Greenwood Village, great grandchildren, Crosby Haaf, Collins Haaf, Annie Jerrell, and Theo Barclay. He is also survived by his brother Richard Wells Crosby in Minneapolis and sister Harriett McKnight Crosby in Washington D.C. He is predeceased by his sister Beatrice Crosby Booth, and his parents George Crosby and Bea Wilkes.