Crystal Coffman

Crystal Ann Coffman, of Morton, Illinois, passed away on the evening of Wednesday, September 18th. She leaves behind her husband, CJ Coffman, her "perfect" dog Lucy, her "best" cat Potchie, and several other family, friends, and coworkers who were similarly blessed to have had her in their lives.
She was born Crystal Ann Harris on January 17, 1981 in Clinton, Iowa, daughter to Judith Ann Sims (surviving) of Kansas City, Missouri, and Donald Wayne Harris (deceased) of Fort Scott, Kansas. She was the third of three children; she is survived by her sister Sheila Bedwell and was preceded in death by her brother Daniel Duane Harris.
Her family moved to Decatur, Illinois when she was still a young child, and she would eventually attend Mt. Zion High School, after which she would pursue an Associates in Science, first at Richland Community College in Decatur, Illinois and finishing in December of 2000 at Heartland Community College in Normal, Illinois.
She would continue her education towards a Bachelor of Science degree at Illinois State University (ISU) in Normal while concurrently working at State Farm in their Bank and Customer Response Centers, as well as a semester at Caterpillar as an intern for Global IT Solutions (GIS). She graduated from ISU in May of 2003 with a 3.63/4 GPA, with a Major in Telecommunications Management.
Crystal's true career trajectory would begin the very next month as she began work in-earnest for Caterpillar on the Firewall/Proxy Team. For the next 21 years, she would come into her own as she took-on various roles and responsibilities relating to information security, culminating in her taking-part in the initial establishment of Caterpillar's Computer Security Incident Response Team, an experience and opportunity of which she was humbly proud. Crystal remained a prominent member, serving as lead for the Hunt Team within CSIRT up until the time of her passing.
Concurrent with her full-time career, Crystal continued to advance her education and attained a Master of Science, Major in Information Systems (Information Assurance and Security Sequence) with a 3.80/4 GPA. This, alongside her pursuit of several security-related certifications over the years, was simply the natural result of her curiosity, dedication, and desire for knowledge in her chosen field.
Amid the flurry of her professional and academic accomplishments, she would meet her future husband CJ Coffman in 2008. However, their true romance would not begin until later in 2009, during which time she repeatedly sought to share her time and sense of adventurous joy by convincing CJ to partake in activities of which they would normally not take part in: biking, hiking, camping, building a climbing-wall in Crystal's garage, and more. While the two thought they were just hanging-out "as friends," it took other friends to point out that all of these occurrences in which Crystal and CJ were taking-part exclusively with each other were actually known as "dates." They would more-formally acknowledge and accept their interest in each other on October 31st of 2009, and after years of anxiety and preparation, they would marry on October 10th, 2015, in the Woodland Garden within Luthy Botanical Gardens in Peoria, Illinois.
Crystal was a wife, daughter, sister, friend, and more. Her enthusiasm was contagious, her compassion earnest, and her love deep and true. With a life that was full of light, warmth, and optimism, it's understandable that the world may seem more dim in her absence; but with the indelible positive influence she has had on so many, we should strive to carry on and magnify that light and joy ourselves, to share it with others.
Crystal loved nature and animals. Her favorite tree was the larch. She cared-for many plants, several of them orchids, though she was also fond of the California Poppy. She was extremely fond of her niece Morgan, and her best friend Christa she held in very high-esteem. Her friend Brian got her interested in cars to the point where she bought a 91 Miata "just for funsies." She liked to give to Doctors Without Borders, Heifer International, and various animal shelters and charities. She thought manatees were adorable, and that owls were so beautiful in flight that it would sometimes make her cry. She would often tell her husband "I love you tons." And many of us loved her tons, too.