CHRIS CHAMURIS

1957 - 2021

Chris was taken from us too soon. At the age of 63, on Tuesday February 2, 2021 he passed from an unexpected heart attack.

He grew up in Wappingers Falls to pre-deceased parents William and Patricia, with his two brothers, George and Andreas.

In his early years, Chris was a competitive high school track and cross country runner, setting many individual and team records. While attending Buffalo State, Chris won every road race he entered.

Also, while attending Buffalo State he met, a young woman whom he would soon call “his favorite wife,” Amy. He would tell a story of playing foosball and seeing a “sexy mama” with long flowing hair dancing at the other end of the local bar. They celebrated 39 years of marriage in October of 2020.

Chris would go on to be a devoted and proud father, “three of his favorite children,” Katherine, William and Brianna. He was also a soon to be father-in-law to William’s fiancé, Brianna Rose Bartheld.

Chris devoted much of his life and career to teaching. Some would say, teaching was his love language. He was a pioneer in the field of technology and its incorporation into classrooms across New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Chris taught technology education and was the track and field coach at Lawrenceville Middle School from (1979-1997). During his tenure there, he made the transition from teaching shop class to technology and engineering class. He will forever be known for being at the forefront of how we prepare and inspire our children to innovate with technology.

Chris was a writer and the editor of A Framework for the Study of Technology in New Jersey, the first set of technology and engineering education standards published in the state of New Jersey in 1996. The text is still used today at collegiate level. He was an active member for many years and a past president of the Technology Education Association of NJ, now NJTEEA, from 1989-1990. Chris went on to be the technology director of the Pennridge School District in Pennsylvania (1997-2013). While there he was responsible for helping teachers integrate new technologies into their curriculums and use it to connect learning across different subjects. He was a model schools staff development specialist at Dutchess BOCES NY (2013-2017), where he trained teachers to effectively integrate instructional technology into the teaching and learning process. Most recently he returned to where he felt most at home, in the classroom. Chris co-taught biotechnology courses at Northern Valley Regional High School in Old Tapan, NJ (2017- 2021).

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Throughout his years as a teacher and administrator Chris remained a mentor and close friend with the high school runners he coached. He would go on to coach one of his running alumni’s children.

In his spare time, which was few and far between, you could find Chris tending to his tomato plants, garden, and growing collection of houseplants and orchids. He was a skilled foosball player, playing in various amatuer tournaments around the Tri-state area. He shared these and many of his other hobbies with his family, for whom he was a dedicated father and husband above all else. He never missed a chance to chaperone a field trip, and always dove headfirst into his children’s diverse passions. His sporadic singing and delicious cooking will be missed and celebrated, as he inadvertently passed these and other interests on to his kids. If he were here today, he would proudly tell you he “ran every morning... from the bedroom to the bathroom” (*insert Dad laugh here*). No matter if it was his work in technology, his personal hobbies, or his dedication to his family, Chris performed everything in his life with passion, purpose, love, and humor.

Chris is survived by his wife, children, brothers, and many nieces and nephews. When it is safe to gather, there will be a celebration for family and friends to play foosball, watch “Seinfeld”, and dance to 70’s classic rock in his honor.

He was a loving father and father figure to many. Chris will be desperately missed.

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Kate Chamuris

Feb 22, 2021

Edited: Feb 23, 2021

"Chris Chamuris, who imparted wisdom, friendship as local runner, coach, leaves void" Poughkeepsie Journal article by Pete Colaizzo

in Memories

Chris Chamuris was many things to many people.

When someone dies suddenly and unexpectedly, as Chamuris did earlier this month, the rush to describe the man comes tumbling out in poignant snapshots: Devoted husband, father and son; loyal friend; dedicated coach and teacher; father figure to his athletes and students.

While all sentiments are true, they cannot fully capture the true essence of a man who touched so many in a deep and profound way. The title of a book, written by one of his former athletes, pays tribute to one of his inspirational phrases as a coach.

Before he grew to touch so many lives as an adult, Chris Chamuris was one of the best high school distance runners to come out of Dutchess County. A 1975 graduate of Roy C. Ketcham High School, he led his team to county and sectional titles, qualifying them for the state meet, often finishing ahead of legendary runners from rival Arlington High School.

Chamuris continued running at Buffalo State, where his teammate Joaquin Aymerich would become a dear and lifelong friend. Aymerich is a former Millbrook resident and devoted member of the Junk Yard Dogs running group of Eastern Dutchess County. Aymerich and Chamuris were “best buds,’’ forming a bond so close as to defy the modern definition of “friend” in the social media world.

Aymerich and Chamuris first connected over running — and foosball. Both passions remained for them throughout their lives, as they stayed close through the decades and the relentless march of time. They were in each other’s weddings. Their families are a close as blood relatives. “He knows stuff about me that nobody else does,’’ Aymerich recalled in an email tribute to his friend.

After graduating from Buffalo State, Chamuris became a teacher and coach at Lawrence High School in New Jersey. There, he guided his teams to even greater heights than he had achieved during his high school years at Ketcham; Lawrence won several state titles under his watch. Chamuris was inducted into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame in 2009.

Chamuris’ impact on his athletes far exceeded the first-place trophies his teams would return to the school.

“He was more than a coach to me; he was my DAD,’’ recalled Jonathan Hersch, a 1984 Lawrence graduate. Hersch was a state-champion runner under Chamuris and went on to run at Duke University.

Hersch would later go on to publish a 2013 memoir book entitled, “Relax and Go: On Running and Surviving Parental Trauma.” “Relax and go” were Chamuris’ words of encouragement from the sidelines during track meets.

“Chris would yell that at meets, and I’m thinking to myself, ‘What the hell does that mean?’" Aymerich recalled.

For Hersch and his teammates, the words would resonate long after their races were completed.

“Relax and go was something Chris would yell while we were running,’’ Hersch said. Hersch noted that it is a bit of an oxymoron — it’s difficult to “relax” when you are trying to “go” hard at the end of a race. “I took that as a mantra for life and I used his words for my (book) title,” Hersch said.

When Hersch was in high school, if he needed a ride to a doctor’s appointment, Chamuris would be there.

Chamuris was in Hersch’s wedding. He would show up at Hersch’s road races as an adult, and support Hersch’s efforts to raise money for diabetes, which has touched his own children. “That’s just who he was; it was all just normal to him,’’ Hersch said.

When Hersch joined the cross country team at Lawrence, their record had been abominable — 0-23. Within a few years, under Chamuris’ guidance, they were Group 2 state champions in New Jersey.

Hersch went on to win individual state titles at 1,600 and 3,200 meters, paving the way for him to attend Duke. “He was way more important to me as a friend and a father than as coach,’’ he said.

Chamuris’ leadership qualities can be traced to his Dutchess County roots. Matt Williams, his teammate at Ketcham, recalls the day the team won the DCSL cross country title at Ogden Mills Estate in Staatsburg. The competition would be fierce and pre-race tensions were high.

“Chris realized this … and led us down to the river, where we did our pre-race stretching,’’ Williams recalled. “Chris was definitely the leader of our team. No one questioned that. He was a good leader.”

As lifelong friends, Aymerich and Chamuris were able to stay connected despite living far away from each other for decades. “We would see each other a couple times a year and we were always on the phone,’’ Aymerich said.

As their life journeys continued, their paths were able to intersect once again recently. Aymerich retired from a long career in the state police and became director of safety and security at Hotchkiss School, moving to Millbrook. Chamuris returned to Dutchess County to care for his aging parents. The old buddies were reunited, and whenever they got together, it usually involved a foosball table, a few beers and a trip to a diner.

“That was a blessing in disguise,’’ Aymerich said of reuniting with Chamuris during the past five years. “We were two best buds hanging out every week again.”

Hersch said Chamuris’ sudden passing sent shock waves among the athletes he coached at Lawrence, including Bonnie Huang, who was part of the first girls’ cross country team at Lawrence, which Chamuris started in 1983.

Fast forward three decades, when Chamuris saw a Facebook post about Huang’s 10-year-old son Max racing cross country.

“My son was running unattached without a coach, so we turned to Chris for advice,’’ Huang said via email. “Over the past four years, he went from cheerleader to adviser to coach to extended family member. He said it gave him great joy to pass along his passion for running to a third generation.’’

Although Chamuris did not live close to young Max, he designed workouts and worked on race strategies remotely. “With his support and shared wisdom,’’ she said, “Max achieved multiple national championship titles (USATF and AAU age-group wins). But perhaps the most valuable lesson he learned from Chris is what it feels like to be loved and supported unconditionally.’’

Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club member Pete Colaizzo, the track coach at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, writes on running every week in Players. He can be reached at runhed246@hotmail.com. For more club information, go to www.mhrrc.org

For original article in the Poughkeepsie Journal, click here

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