The following is a statement from Fletcher McCusker, Chairman of the Board, Rio Nuevo District
“The recent news that our Treasurer, friend and fellow board member, Chris Sheafe, passed away along with his wife Jacque, due to a private plane crash, has hit us hard. Chris was appointed to the Rio Nuevo board in June of 2012 and served as our treasurer ever since. Chris’s property development experience and financial acumen have been major factors in our success in leveraging state tax dollars to attract 10 times what we spend from the private sector. He ran Estes Homes for years, served on the Pima County Bond Commission and was a former Chairman of the Tucson Airport Authority.
While Rio Nuevo has been blessed by his experience, we will mostly miss his kindness, sense of humor, calmness and proactive problem-solving skills. As treasurer, he has been working on next year’s budget at a time when our revenue is down, yet our project opportunities are increasing weekly. Most recently, Chris worked with the Eller College to analyze the city’s sales tax trends, a pressing issue for Rio Nuevo and for the city of Tucson overall. Chris taught us to examine the data, conduct our research and collectively problem-solve. Every decision we have made over the last few years has been unanimous—a rarity in today’s partisan climate.
He loved life, he loved Jacque (a pure joy to be around), he cherished his time with Rio Nuevo and he loved to fly. As fellow pilots, we often talked about our love of flying and the fact that the sky is unforgiving.
To say Chris is irreplaceable is an understatement, and we all need some time to grieve. Our condolences and love go out to his family and friends. We ask the entire community to take a brief moment of silence on Tuesday, April 14, at our regular meeting time of 1 PM. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, stop and look to our unforgiving sky to honor his legacy and love of Tucson.
Ars longa, vita brevis, dear friend.”
–Fletcher McCusker, Chairman of the Board, Rio Nuevo District