Mark Alan Crossman passed away on January 22nd, 2024, after succumbing to brain cancer, at only 64 years old.
Mark was born October 21st, 1959, to Shirley and Steve Crossman in La Mesa, California. Mark’s youth was kept full with four older brothers, a little sister, a family-owned egg farm, and a movie theater they also owned that Mark helped at. He is remembered as having a bubbly and happy personality, and for being a smiley and fun kid. He attended Holtville High School where he excelled at football and graduated in 1977. Throughout his teen years, he earned the nickname “Monster,” lovingly pronounced “Mon-stah” due to his larger-than-life personality.
He continued his education in beautiful San Luis Obispo at California Polytechnic State University where he studied Food Technology and graduated with honors in 1982. On July 26th, 1989, Mark and his wife at the time, Cristina, welcomed their first child, Adriana in Turlock, California, and 18 months later also welcome another girl, Hayley, in Omaha Nebraska. Mark moved up in his career working through ConAgra, Viskase, and Curwood either in sales roles or product development. Mark’s jobs relocated his family from California, Idaho, and Nebraska, but they settled in Longmont in 1991 when Longmont Foods recruited him. After Mark and Cristina’s divorce he did briefly live in Kansas but returned to his favorite town, Longmont, or as he called it, “Longtown!” to live the rest of his life.
Throughout his life Mark enjoyed playing almost every single sport imaginable, including football, tennis, and basketball. He was the top sports fan, especially for the Dodgers, Lakers, all Denver teams, and the Kansas City Chiefs. As a young man he religiously checked the daily newspaper to review his favorite players’ statistics from their last game. He saved ticket stubs for almost every sporting event he went to and the last two decades of his life he was rarely seen not in Broncos or Chiefs apparel and always made sure to celebrate any “win!” He also loved the Colorado mountains, enjoyed hiking and skiing and could name a vast majority of the individual mountains in the front range of Colorado.
One of his favorite places on the planet was Cabo San Lucas, where he could enjoy his Modelos and to go deep sea fishing. Mark’s cancer was discovered in November of 2022. A brain surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy slowed the cancer down, however he went to be with God 14 months after being diagnosed. Up until his decline, he kept his faith, his enthusiastic laugh, his love for cooking and grilling, his excitement when an 80s rock song came on, and his love for his sport teams.
