Christine Marie Shortt

Chris Shortt, 57, passed away peacefully at home April 30, 2010, in Denver, Colorado after a long and heroic battle with primary peritoneal cancer. She was born October 17, 1952 in Washington, D.C., grew up in Silver Springs, Maryland, attended Springbrook High School and studied dance at the Roberta Fera School of Dance. Chris also attended Indiana University where she was Phi Beta Kappa and graduated cum laude. She received a Master's Degree from The University of Colorado and was a CPA. Chris moved to Denver in 1975 and worked for several Big 8 accounting firms, ATC/TimeWarner and US West before finding her true calling in health care. She most recently was the CFO for The Denver Hospice. As beautiful as she was intelligent, Chris was homecoming queen and runner-up Miss Silver Springs, Maryland in 1969. She loved scuba, skiing, golfing, traveling, music, art and animals. Chris enjoyed diving with the manta rays in Bora Bora, pounding the powder on Vail Mountain, showing up her husband by having two holes-in-one, and visiting the great art museums of Europe. Running with the bulls in Pamplona, visiting the Louvre in Paris, rafting the Grand Canyon, boating the canals of Amsterdam and seeing Jimi Hendrix in concert were a few of the many highlights of her life. A lifelong animal lover, a German Shepherd and a Siamese cat were never far from her side. Chris never lost her sense of humor while fighting this terrible disease and joked right up until the end. She was a ""teal warrior"" and never let it get the best of her. Chris is survived by her loving husband Kevin Sean Ryan of Denver; her mother Jane Shortt of Greeley; sister Caren Voeller of Roxborough Park; her nephew Lt. Alexander Voeller, USN, Camp Victory, Baghdad, Iraq; her niece Gabrielle Voeller of Ithaca, New York; and her German Shepherd Esko and Siamese cat Petey. Her father, Charles A. Shortt, preceded her in death. A Life Celebration for Chris will be held Sunday, May 30, 2010, 4:00 p.m., with a reception following, both at Horan and McConaty Family Chapel, 5303 East County Line Road (one block to the west of Holly Street), in Centennial, Colorado. Aloha wear is preferred. In lieu of flowers please make donations to The Denver Hospice, 501 South Cherry Street, Suite 700, Denver, Colorado 80246...and live life to the fullest. Please share your memories of Chris and condolences with her family by selecting the ""sign guestbook"" button below.