Peter J. Mehringer Jr. passed away peacefully Jan. 3 in Bardufoss, Norway, with his devoted wife, Lisa Gay Bostwick, at his side. Right to the last, his courage, strength of will, and core values were a gift and a comfort to those around as he gracefully let go.

Peter was born in the midst of the Great Depression on Dec. 9, 1933, in Lawrence, Kan., to Frances Vivian Greves and Peter J. Mehringer Sr.

Pete’s family moved from Kansas to Los Angeles in the 1930s when his father accepted an offer to play professional football with the Los Angeles Bulldogs. From the beginning, Pete lived a life of action, enthusiastically juggling necessary obligations while engaging in his love of outdoor pursuits. To get at the essence of his spirit, one could use the same convention used to describe a good bottle of wine. His vintage balances hard work with love of nature and intellectual curiosity. There is a large dose of sharing the joy of nature and scientific discovery with others; notes of creative vision; trout and wild duck; with hints of reverence for the divine. He loved all of creation, nature, and critters — be they insects, reptiles, or mammals. He was fortunate to be able to create a professional life combining his loves of the outdoors, nature, learning, and discovery.

Like many children of his era, responsibilities began early and lessons learned contributed to his success later in life. Pete began working at the age of 9 as a newspaper boy, helping manage the family side business; raising and selling rabbits during World War II. As a boy and young man, before his teaching and academic career began, his many responsibilities and economic occupations included being an altar boy at the 6 a.m. Mass after he finished his newspaper route, working in a large bread bakery, digging trenches as part of a highway construction crew during the California freeway expansion projects, pipe fitting, painting houses, delivering liquor, and becoming a cement contractor. With all of these necessary activities and the loving support of his parents, he still found time to achieve his Eagle Scout rank in the Boy Scouts, attend the 1950 Scout jamboree in Valley Forge, participate in school sports, raise carrier pigeons, dive for abalone and spear fish in the kelp forests of the Pacific Ocean, hunt and fish with his father and brothers, organize long backpacking trips in the High Sierra, and buy and maintain a Ford Model A.

He graduated from Hollywood High School in 1952, joined the U. S. Marine Corps during the Korean War, married Mary Ann Dennis in 1954, and started a family. With encouragement and help  from Mary Ann and his parents, he enrolled at Los Angeles City College and began his path in a successful lifelong journey as a professor and scholar in the fields of archaeology, geology, and paleoecology, where his contributions toward uncovering “Secrets of the Past” —reconstructing past environments — were considerable. After receiving a B.A. in zoology and M.A. in biology at California State College, the family moved to Tucson, Ariz., where Pete earned a Ph.D. in geoscience at the University of Arizona.  Through sustained dedication and ceaseless hard work, Pete earned many accolades over the years.  During his career, he held academic positions at the University of Arizona, the University of Utah, Washington State University, Northwest University in Xian, China, and finally the University of Bergen in Norway. Pete’s research took him outdoors to find evidence of past environments in the deserts and mountains of the Western U.S., the Ozarks in Missouri, the Middle East, North Africa, and Central America. When relaxing, his favorite past times included fishing and hunting with both his human and canine friends.

Open and ready for new horizons, Pete married Lisa Gay Bostwick and a few years later, retired from Washington State University. Together with Lisa and her youngest son, Helge, they began a new adventure building a ranch near Frenchglen. Pete was, and remained closely associated with this area through research and university field schools  beginning in 1971. Here they lived surrounded by nature in the Big Empty of Eastern Oregon, raising heritage animals while enjoying the majesty of unfettered views of the Catlow Valley,  Steens Mountain, and Beatys Butte. The time arrived to reluctantly leave the ranch and move to Arctic Norway where Pete continued his research.

Pete is survived by his wife, Lisa Gay Bostwick; daughters, Janice Mehringer, Jeanne Paseman, and Jennifer Galbraith; grandchildren, Anthony and Joey Galbraith, and Anna Paseman; stepsons, Helge, Trygve, and Kyrre Bostwick Bjerck; and stepgrandchildren, Enir and Aila Lovise Bersvendsen Bjerck.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Mary Ann; and three cherished younger brothers,  Robert, John, and Michael.

His presence is greatly missed,  but he lives on  in the memories of family, friends, and former students.