Jack W. Garhart

Jack Garhart was born Feb. 23, 1930 in Ft. Mead near Sturgis, South Dakota and died on Mar. 30, 2017 in Loveland, Colorado. His father Richard Garhart was a welder who worked on the Al-Can Highway, and his mother Ruth was a piano teacher. He also had a sister Myra (Lidel). When Jack was a young boy he moved frequently, leaving South Dakota for Milwaukee, Wisconsin and rural Wyoming before returning to Rapid City, South Dakota for high school. Jack was an avid athlete playing all sports. After graduating from Rapid City High School in 1947 he spent one year in the US Navy. He then attended South Dakota School of Mines, where he majored in geology and graduated in 1953. In the meantime, he met the love of his life Myrtle in 1950, and they were married in 1951. When Jack graduated from the School of Mines he found a job with Mobil Oil, where he worked for the next 27 years. He started working on seismic crews in Wyoming, Montana, South and North Dakota. Then an opportunity arose to travel to Libya to prospect oil in the Sahara Desert, and the young couple jumped on the opportunity to see the world. By that time the family included young daughters Pam and Kim, who lived through a six-year adventure in North Africa. As the dictator Ghaddafi emerged on the Libyan landscape, Jack welcomed the opportunity to work in the North Sea and move his family to Holland. After two years in Wassenaar the Old World adventure ended and Jack brought his family to Dallas, Texas. Soon afterwards Rick, his only son, was born. There was one more move to Oklahoma City before relocating to Evergreen, Colorado, when he spent the next 40 years.

Living in Colorado provided Jack with the perfect environment to pursue his twin passions of oil exploration and exploring the outdoors. After leaving Mobil Oil he became a partner in Evergreen Resources and helped found the petroleum consulting firm PGI and take it public on the New York Stock Exchange. By nature not a corporate animal, Jack moved to the final and most successful phase of his career as an independent consultant engaged in domestic oil exploration. He also travelled internationally to teach sessions in oil geophysics to young professionals.

Jack’s highly successful geophysical career only tells part of the story, however. Despite his small stature he was a fabulous year round athlete, lettering at both the high school and collegiate level. He was a scratch golfer, winning many amateur tournaments around the world. He was an avid fisherman and hunter, bagging an elk almost every hunting season in the Colorado highlands. He enjoyed bowling and tennis, and at 75 he competed enthusiastically in a senior softball league. He was a self-made man who never gave up.

Jack will be sorely missed by the family he loved and gave so much to. He is survived by his wife of 66 years Myrtle Grace (Westre) Garhart and three children: Pamella Rae Stoeckel and husband Dave of Denver, CO; Myra Kim Faust and husband Lawrence of Seattle, WA, and Richard William Garhart and wife Krista of Fort Collins, CO. He has five grandchildren: Mathew Jay Stoeckel, Joshua Carl Stoeckel, Jessica Lynn Garhart, Travis James (TJ) Garhart, and Katelyn Anne Faust. He will be missed and loved for his humor, liveliness, spirit of fun, and dedication to high standards in personal and professional life.

Please view the online obituary, send condolences and sign the family guest book at www.allnutt.com