Chris Roderick
January 11, 1947 – July 24, 2021.

With a heavy heart, Gibbon Conservation Center announced that Chris Roderick, long-time GCC Board Member, passed away on July 24, 2021.

Chris was a dear friend of the Gibbon Center. This loss has left us in shock and heartbroken. Many of you may have met her during a visit to the Center. She enjoyed leading tours and getting people to laugh with silly gibbon stories. She loved people and animals equally. As an organization, we wouldn’t be where we are today without her leadership and support.

Chris joined our team in 2007. Not many of you know, but she took our caregiver training, before she developed our formal volunteer program, and became our volunteer coordinator. She always tried to help where help was needed the most, and after it was functional she handed it over so she could dive into her next project. She served on our Board for over 10 years, and as Board President since 2015 until she stepped back earlier this year. Chris was an integral part of the GCC.

Chris maneuvered us through challenging times with love, wiseness, and humor. She proofread countless letters and other documents and fixed our “non-traditional spelling and grammar”. She was the shoulder to lean on in times of trouble and turmoil. She worried about us like a mother worries about her children. She wanted to know first hand if any of our gibbons or us were not well. She was grieving with us over the loss of Ivan and came to say goodbye to him and hold his hand. She was like a family member to us.

She would be the first one we would call in times like this.

We send our heartfelt condolences to her family and friends.

If you have a sweet memory with Chris, we would love to hear it. You may contact the Gibbon Center [here].

Rest in Peace Chris

Thank you for being with us until now.

We can’t express with words how much we are going to miss you.