Christine Papajohn

Christine (Chris) Papajohn of Littleton, Colorado, passed away on January 7, 2021 at the age of 65 after a yearlong battle with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Born in 1955 to George and Bula Earnest, Chris spent her childhood in Denver with her siblings Mark, Ron, and Jean. In 1975, Chris was working with her best friends, Carol and Barb, and soon met Barb’s brother, Mike Papajohn. It was fate and the two were married in 1976. Mike and Chris had two children, Cassy and Michael.

Chris is survived by her husband, Mike Papajohn, her children Cassy Papajohn and Michael (Roxanne) Papajohn, her brother Mark and sister Jean, and her grandchildren Mariah, Loken, Gabriel, and Gryffin. Chris is preceded in death by her parents George and Bula, and her brother Ron.

Attending the University of Colorado – Denver, Chris spent most of her career in the finance industry, advancing in the banking world to leadership and management roles. Outside of work, Chris was a lover of life. A talented musician and singer, Chris was often called upon to sing at various events. At the height of her musical career, Chris was a member of the Denver Symphony’s choir. After her children were born, she could be found on Friday and Saturday nights at the University of Denver’s men’s hockey games. She supportive with her children’s activities; cheering on or running figure skating competitions with Cassy or hockey games with Michael. As her kids grew, she found another sport and more “kids" as she enjoyed attending motorcycle races in the summer. In recent years, she could be found outdoors with playing with grandkids on the playground, showing them turtles and snails and listening to trains! A lover of animals, Chris raised Labrador Retrievers, making lifelong friends at dog shows. Chris was the creative type and filled her house with sewing projects for ice skaters, stamps for card making, and scrapbook supplies for croppin’.

If you knew Chris, you know that she was an incredible person. She would help anyone in need, feeding the masses at the racetrack or skating rink, becoming known to many as Mama Chris. Even from a young age, she was always positive, quick to start games, crack jokes or laugh at herself. This fun-loving attitude led to many antics throughout her life, such as holding crawdad races across Washington Street in Denver, making the critters dodge traffic.  Halloween was her favorite holiday and to celebrate it she would “fly” a witch between her house and the neighbor’s. Throughout her battle with cancer, Chris remained positive, finding the humor in the situation, looking forward to the days ahead. Even from her hospital bed, Chris cared how others were doing more than herself, and did what she could to make others laugh.

A quote from Maya Angelou was found on her phone, saying “I have learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”.

Chris Papajohn: a daughter, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, an aunt, but for so many, a true friend.

A memorial service is scheduled for on Friday, January 29 at Mission Hills Church, Littleton, 11am visitation and service starting at noon. Streaming service will be available, please see the link below.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society at donate.lls.org .