Jerry Crisman

Jerry Nell (Suits) Crisman of Wheat Ridge, Colo., a longtime librarian at Jefferson High School in Edgewater, Colo., and former president of the Wheat Ridge Women’s Club, died Oct. 3 of a ruptured aortic aneurysm in Lafayette, Colo. She was 85. Born June 11, 1928, in Lubbock, Texas, to James Launcelott Suits, a small-town newspaper publisher, editor and columnist, and Ella May (Baze) Suits, Crisman led an adventurous life of travel, education and service to others that took her far from her rural roots. After graduating from high school in tiny Petersburg, Texas, Crisman earned a bachelor of arts degree in 1949 from Texas Tech University in Lubbock. She taught high school English in Dimmit, Texas, for two years and worked in the summers at Yellowstone National Park, where she met her future husband, John Leston Crisman. After several moves, and the birth of their two sons, the couple settled in 1970 in Wheat Ridge. A lifelong learner, Crisman earned a master’s degree in educational media from the University of Colorado in her 40s. She worked as a librarian from 1970 to 1973 at St. Joseph Catholic High School in Denver and from 1973 to 1993 at Jefferson High School. She retired soon afterward. Besides heading the charitable women’s club in 2007-08, Crisman volunteered as a docent at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (formerly the Denver Museum of Natural History) from 2003 to 2008. After her husband’s death in 1985, and several years devoted to caring for her elderly mother at the end of her life, Crisman became determined to fulfill her dream of seeing the world. In 1990, at age 62, she embarked on a series of tours and cruises with friends and family. Her destinations included: China, Japan, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Bali, Fiji, India, Egypt, Jordan, Costa Rica, the Panama Canal, Britain, Nova Scotia and Alaska. Her last cruise was a transatlantic crossing aboard the fabled Queen Elizabeth 2 in 2008. But Crisman’s favorite place to visit was closer to home: Yellowstone National Park. She traveled there year after year, becoming an expert on the park’s history, wildlife and geysers. Her last trip to the park was in June, when she stayed with family members at the historic Old Faithful Inn to celebrate her birthday. Crisman is survived by her two sons, Christopher Lee , 56, of Mountain View, Colo., and Bruce Alan, 54, of Wheat Ridge, and by a granddaughter, Leslee Ann , 18, of Edgewater. A celebration of her life will be held 5 to 11 p.m. Oct. 27 at: The Venue, 3890 Kipling St., Unit G, Wheat Ridge, Colo. The service will be at 5:30 p.m., followed by a reception. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the: Yellowstone Association, World Wildlife Fund, or American Red Cross.