Christopher Matthew Timm

Christopher Matthew Timm, 80, of Albuquerque, NM, died on March 20, 2022 after extended illnesses.  He was born on April 26, 1941 in Michigan City, IN to Matthew Joseph Timm and Christine Otilla Phillips, the second of their four children. Mr. Timm attended Saint Mary's and Queen of All Saints Elementary Schools, in Michigan City and continued his education while his father was working in Peru at the Staff School in Talara, Peru.  Returning to the US, He finished High School at Elston Senior High School in Michigan City, IN and followed his father's footsteps to Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) where he received a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering.

While at Purdue, Mr. Timm completed four years of ROTC and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army upon graduation from Purdue.  He entered the Army as a Nuclear Weapons Specialist during the Vietnam Era and proudly served his country, honorably discharged after being stationed at Ft. Lewis, WA, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, and Sandia Base, Albuquerque, NM.

After the military, Mr. Timm worked for the Bureau of Reclamation in Water Resources in Albuquerque, NM.  He then completed his Master's Degree at the University of New Mexico in Sanitary Engineering as there were no degrees in Nuclear Engineering at that time.

Mr. Timm then began his career in the Federal Government with a position with the Federal Water Quality Administration the predecessor agency to the Environmental Protection Agency in Denver, CO. Mr. Timm excelled within EPA holding many senior posts.  He was most proud of his work with the International Joint Commission with Canadians on the cleanup of Lakes Superior, Huron, and Erie as well as Lake Michigan bringing him and his growing family back to his old stomping grounds in Chicago.
While with EPA Mr. Timm was offered the opportunity for a year's assignment to the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.   With World Health, he led training courses in water and sanitary engineering in Bulgaria, Mexico, Egypt, India, and Trinidad & Tobago.  He retired from EPA in 1980 returning to Albuquerque, NM.

Mr. Timm then went into the environmental consulting industry first landing with the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project with Jacobs Engineering.  Mr. Timm excelled at managing difficult environmental engineering projects and held senior positions with many environmental engineering firms such as SAIC, Kaiser-Hill, and Teledyne-Brown.  Mr. Timm also worked as a private, independent environmental and nuclear consultant supporting numerous businesses in the Federal and State communities.

While working with one of these environmental consulting companies, Mr. Timm was fortunate to meet his current spouse, Sherry.  He was dazzled by her intelligence and drive but also her compassion for others and her work ethic.  In 1999, they both went their separate ways only to reconnect a few years later and joined forces in Sherry's company PECOS Management Services, Inc.

Mr. Timm joined PECOS in 2002 and shared in his wife's unique business capabilities.  Working together, they successfully achieved a large contract as the independent oversight contractor for the Department of Energy at the WIPP site in southeastern New Mexico.  Over the years, PECOS supported a number of companies doing environmental cleanup activities across the country.

In 2010, Mr. Timm had a massive heart attack at work and was fortunate to be among others who recognized the signs and led him to his life-saving treatment.  He would have not survived without the care of Sherry who nursed him back to health and was by his side constantly.  He returned to work 3 months later, slower, but with the drive to keep going.  He finished out the WIPP contract successfully and began working as a volunteer on the Program Advisory Committee for the Waste Management Symposium to continue his passion for environmental management/environmental cleanup activities.  He solicited research papers and was on informative panels furthering the environmental management activities across the world.  He was privileged to meet and friend numerous associates around the world - friendships that continued after his retirement.
Mr. Timm also volunteered in the community at the nuclear museum helping to get the facility moved from its temporary location in Old Town to the current location.  He also volunteered during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta for several years getting up before the chickens to get to the field to greet visitors and drive the shuttles to the balloon field.  Mr. Timm continued his volunteer activities at the Veteran's Memorial where he started guest lecture series featuring veterans in our community and started the monthly Saturday swing dances utilizing a local veteran band.

Although not a motorcyclist, but passionate for veteran's activities, Mr. Timm assisted in organizing a new route for the national Run for the Wall as part of the Vietnam Veteran's motorcycle brigade that goes from California to Washington DC for Memorial Day each year.  On his last year of organizing the route, he and Sherry had the privilege of flying to Washington DC for the final route picture taken on the steps of the Lincoln memorial.
In 2018, Mr. Timm retired from engineering work and retired his professional certifications in New Mexico, Colorado, Illinois and Indiana.  He will always be an engineer at heart and still proudly displays his father's engineering tools next to his own PE stamps in his home.

Most recently, Mr. Timm grew tired of retirement and re-entered the workforce as a crossing guard for the City of Albuquerque helping children arrive and depart safely from 2 local elementary schools.  He so enjoyed being "Mr. Hulk" not only because of his stature but more importantly due to the Hulk hands he wore during his duty (graciously provided by his grandson Kolter one Christmas).  People could see him hold his stop sign in 1 Hulk hand and wave with his other Hulk hand to the passersby almost always bringing a smile to everyone's faces.  His Hulk hands and Hulk mask are proudly displayed in the window of his home along with his Purdue flag.

Continuing his drive for education, Mr. Timm volunteered as a tutor for a local elementary school where he helped as a math and reading coach.  He was blessed to have children wait to read to Mr. Chris as he was known at school.  He tutored math for older student's never really mastering new math!  Old math, as he would say, served him well for almost 80 years!

Mr. Timm was active in the local senior centers often seen playing pinochle or cribbage several times weekly.  He and his spouse, Sherry, often attended the weekly dances at the senior centers as well enjoying the live local bands playing.

Mr. Timm attended several Elston High School reunions where he always enjoyed visiting his home town and seeing his nephew, Gus.  He proudly wore his "new" high school shirt and sweatshirt especially since the original high school is now retooled as the current middle school in Michigan City.  He was privileged to also attend his 35th, 40th, 45th and 50th Purdue college reunions receiving a medal for his 50th reunion which he has proudly displayed with his father's Purdue clock in his home along with other special Purdue memorabilia he had acquired throughout the years.

Mr. Timm and his spouse were privileged to help endow a small portion of the Neil Armstrong Engineering Building at Purdue and were in attendance at that dedication meeting Neil Armstrong himself along with other famous Purdue engineers and Astronauts.  Mr. Timm and his spouse were guest lecturers many times at Purdue relating to their environmental experiences at the WIPP site and their experiences in project management for various governmental agencies.  Often he and Sherry went out after these lectures with the students discussing the topics well into the evening.

Mr. Timm established the New Mexico chapter of the Purdue Booster Club and helped organize events when the national booster club came to NM.  He and Sherry often traveled to Purdue for homecoming and football games and enjoyed the camaraderie of the students young and old and were privileged to sit in the President's Box at Ross-Aide Stadium during games with other Purdue Booster Club members honoring his dedication to his booster club activities.  He also took many of his bonus children to Purdue to see the campus and activities.  He especially enjoyed his playful rivalry with Jesse when Purdue played Notre Dame attending many games together in person in both West Lafayette and South Bend, IN.  He continued their constant chatter about whose team shirts/sweatshirts were better at family gatherings each always offering to purchase the other the "correct" apparel.  Hail Purdue!

In 2020, he had a serious bout of COVID and was lucky that he had excellent care to recover although he never fully got his strength or stamina back.  He stopped driving and gleefully allowed Sherry to drive him around saying that when Kolter was old enough, he would let him drive him around in the Jag.

Mr. Timm liked to help out his friends and neighbors.  He helped his mechanic friends in their office answering the phone and greeting customers and so enjoyed all the people he met there.  He continued through his retirement to help Sherry with PECOS as it had continued to grow by leaps and bounds during the years.

Mr. Timm is survived by his spouse, Sherry Keeney-Timm, four children from his first marriage (Christopher Jr., Rosalie, Francisco, and Michael), and four bonus children from his current marriage (Richard, Jesse, Eric, and Daniel Kilgore).  Proudly, Mr. Timm leaves fourteen grandchildren (Michael Jr., Katherine, Benjamin, Matthew, and Sean Timm; Kiley, Kolter, Wyatt, Emma, Spencer, Vivian, Hazel, Eleanor and Declan Kilgore.  He was predeceased by his parents, Matthew and Christine Timm, his three siblings, his first wife, Celina, and her parents and her siblings.

Mr. Timm will have a private Rosary.  The family will be receiving friends at his Memorial Service on Saturday, April 9, 2022, 3:00PM at the New Mexico Veteran's Memorial Park.  The family requests that in lieu of flowers, a donation be made to Purdue University Civil Engineering in Memory of Christopher Matthew Timm and his father Matthew Joseph Timm.  Hail Purdue!

Moving to his final Resting place, Mr. Timm will have ashes scattered in Lake Michigan with Services at the local church in Michigan City before his final inurnment at the New Mexico Veteran's Cemetery in Santa Fe, NM at a later date.