Chris was raised and educated in Massachusetts before taking a teaching job at Illinois Wesleyan University after graduate school. In summer, 2002, having made some new friends but eager to swap cornfields for coastlines, Chris moved to Gloucester with his wife and infant son and began teaching mathematics at Salem State University that fall. He and his family have lived Gloucester ever since, currently in Magnolia near the ball field. Their son and daughter attended West Parish Elementary, O'Maley Middle School, and Gloucester High School, graduating from the latter in 2019 and 2022, respectively. Chris spent a few years coaching youth sports when his son was young, helped organize the Magnolia Road Race for about ten years, and have been the president of the Board of Directors of the Magnolia Library and Community Center for the past five.

Chris continues to teach math at Salem State, and joined the GEF Board of Directors in Fall 2023.