Kris A. Potts
October 20, 1960 - March 25, 2022
Obituary
DEERFIELD/MCFARLAND - Kris Arthur Potts, age 61, passed away on Friday, March 25, 2022, at his home of natural causes. He entered this world on Oct. 20, 1960, on his terms-arriving two months early, and kept his mom, dad, and everyone he came to know, on their toes from that day on. Kris was a Boy Scout and earned the God, Home and Country, the Pro de Patre Awards and the highest honor of Eagle Scout. He graduated from McFarland High School with the class of 1978, then continued his studies at UW-Madison.
Kris has a passion for music and was a member of the UW Marching Band, Academy-D in high school, and choir and band. He shared his love of music with his daughters and extended family through his performances at City Church. Kris enjoyed sports and was a referee for football and basketball games in the Madison area. He worked for many years as a Christian Journalist and, in recent years, as a seasonal National Park Ranger, which both fulfilled his love of traveling and sharing his faith and passion for History with others.
Kris was a man of faith and has read the Bible multiple times. He grew up in the church and in 1980, while working with family in Indiana, he renewed his relationship with Christ with the love and support of Garry and Pamela Potts Sr. It was this faith that saw Kris through many paths in his journeys.
Kris loved his daughters with all he had. He didn’t always know how to express his love and thankfulness to his girls, yet he knew how blessed he was to have them, and he would have done anything he could for them.
His grandchildren were everything he wanted in this life. Although he was unable to spend as much time as he would have like to with each of them, his talent for art, writing, and music has been passed on to them and can be seen in Athena’s artwork, Miya’s writing, Lilith’s love for video games and the way the girls love to sing and dance.
Kris is survived by his two daughters, Jessica Copeland and Megan (Wes) Hardin; and grandchildren, Athena, Miya and Lilith Copeland and Fulton, Joseph, Virginia and Peter Hardin; his sister, Lisa (Michael) Deegan; two brothers, Scott A. Potts and Rick Potts (Rebecca Chapman); three nieces, Kathryn (Mitchell) Schaller, Kayla (Corey) Eliasson and Hailey Potts; two nephews, Skylar Potts and Noah Potts; his Dodgeville and Indiana cousins whom he loved deeply with his whole heart and many relatives and friends. Kris was preceded in death by his parents, Kenneth and Marguerite “Muggs” Potts.
A funeral service will be held at GUNDERSON EAST FUNERAL AND CREMATION CARE, 5203 Monona Drive, Madison, at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 3, 2022. Visitation will be held at the funeral home from 12 noon until the start of the service on Sunday. Inurnment will be held at Upper McFarland Cemetery near his parents. Memorials may be made to the family. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.
“Emotional pain is not something that should be hidden away and never spoken about. There is truth in your pain, there is growth in your pain, but only if it’s first brought out into the open.” - Steven Aitchison
Gunderson East
Funeral & Cremation Care
5203 Monona Drive
(608) 221-5420