Christopher Langley Fuges of Moorestown, New Jersey, and formerly of Hopewell Valley, New Jersey, died peacefully and surrounded by his family on April 6, 2025, following a short illness. He was 84 years old. He was a loving husband of 57 years to Claudia Louise Fuges. Chris is also survived by his daughter, Christin Ohrel and her husband, Christopher Ohrel, of Waxhaw, North Carolina, and his daughter Jennifer Fuges and her husband, James Anderson, of Haddon Heights, New Jersey. In addition, Chris is survived by five grandchildren – Rachel Ohrel, Rebecca Ohrel, Miles Anderson, Marin Anderson, and Callan Anderson, as well as siblings Frederick Fuges of Burbank, California and Betsy Kreisberg of Miami, Florida. Chris is also survived by many nieces and nephews.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 22, 1940 to Frederick Langley Fuges and Mary Hitchcock Fuges, Chris was the eldest of three children. He grew up on a farm in Newtown, Pennsylvania and attended Newtown Friends School. Chris graduated from high school at the George School before enrolling in Ursinus College where he studied political science and participated in the wrestling team and in the fraternity, Sigma Rho Lambda.
After three years at Ursinus, Chris took a leave of absence to join the Peace Corps, the newly established organization created by former President John F. Kennedy. Chris was a proud member of one of the first classes of the Peace Corps. He trained in Hilo, Hawaii and was assigned to Thailand, where he was a part of the very first group to be assigned there. Chris spent two years in Thailand’s rural areas and provided much needed assistance in the areas of education, farming, and community development. In the winter of 1965 and after two years residing in Thailand, Chris returned to Ursinus College to complete his undergraduate degree. It was during this time that he met his future wife and fellow Ursinus student, Claudia Dalrymple. They married in August 1967 while Chris was enrolled in graduate school at Temple University, where he went on to earn his Master of Arts degree in political science in 1968. His daughter, Christin, was born in 1971 and the family moved to Hopewell Borough, New Jersey. His second daughter, Jennifer, was born in 1974. In 1987, the family moved to Titusville, New Jersey.
Chris spent his professional career with the State of New Jersey with the Departments of Community Affairs, Banking, and Health, primarily working in planning, computer programming, and budgeting. He retired from the State of New Jersey in 2008. Chris was also the part-time Tax Assessor of Hopewell Borough for many years. Throughout his life, he was also an avid volunteer, serving on various projects and activities, such as President of the Hopewell Borough Republicans, the coordinator with the Borough’s first federal government Flood Zone, school district budget projects, and the board of a local nursery school.
Chris enjoyed learning about history, long distance running, creating graphic design pieces, canoeing, and riding his motorcycles. However, Chris’s pride and joy was his family. He loved being a father and was very involved in his children’s upbringing, coaching their sports teams and attending every game, play, and concert for his children. He was well-known for his silly antics during his children’s social gatherings, where he kept kids entertained with his jokes, made up songs, and dressing up as “the green slime man” for surprise visits during birthday parties. The family took many road trips to visit family in Arkansas, camping trips to Maine, and vacations to Florida, Barbados, Hawaii, and the Bahamas. Later, Chris delighted in being a grandfather to four granddaughters and one grandson. Chris kept his grandkids laughing with stories of his fantastical dreams, hiding pirate treasures in sandboxes, taking them fishing and to the beach, and dressing up like Elvis and singing his songs, among other activities. Chris loved being an active listener to children and in turn, he gave great life advice. He was best known for his loving nature, his playfulness, his incredible sense of humor, his wisdom, and his devotion to his family. Chris will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
A celebration of Chris’s life is being planned for late 2025. In lieu of flowers, donations in Chris’s memory may be made to the American Heart Association
