We are sad to report the loss of a dear friend of the Museums of Western Colorado, Peter Mygatt. Pete died in his home in Boise, ID on Feb. 23. He was 90 years old.
A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, journalist, photographer, miner, forest firefighter, car enthusiast and amateur paleontologist, Pete loved exploration and the road less-travelled. In 1981, while hiking with his wife, Marilyn, and friends J.D. and Vanetta Moore, they discovered fossil bones in Rabbit Valley. This discovery is known today as the Mygatt-Moore Quarry, one of the most important fossil sites in the Grand Valley.
For years, Pete worked with the Museums of Western Colorado paleontology crew and volunteers to help excavate and protect dinosaur fossils from this and other sites. His contribution to our museum and paleontological collections has transformed the Museum in a profound way. We continue to work this site and make extraordinary discoveries, from the largest, most complete Apatosaurus femur ever found, to the first ankylosaur discovered in the Jurassic Period – Mymoorapelta, to the fourth documented intact skull of an Apatosaurus. Pete had been a member of our Museum family for more than thirty years. He was a wonderful companion and colleague. He will be very missed.
Pete is survived by his wife, Marilyn, his brother, Robin Bright, and his children Matt, Tony, Amy, Wendy and Scott. Instead of a funeral or memorial service, Pete has asked that his friends and family go out and have a drink and celebrate life, love and friendship, and that he will be there watching – the ever present “fly on the wall”. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family at summerfuneral.com.