Morton Pepper
Morton “Mort” Pepper, a third-generation Coloradan, career geologist and active HEA member, passed away Jan. 22, 2020, in Overland Park, Kan., where he moved to be closer to family. He was 89. Rabbis Bruce Dollin and Salomon Gruenwald and Cantor Martin Goldstein officiated at the Jan. 24 service at the HEA.
Burial followed at Rose Hill Cemetery. Feldman Mortuary made the arrangements.
“Mort was a man of few words but would eagerly share stories of his early, rough-and-tumble life as a well sitter,” his loved ones said. “He loved his family, his community, his Denver Broncos, the Kansas City Chiefs and his cowboy boots.
“He was rarely seen without his exotic skinned boots, even on the golf course.”
Mr. Pepper was born Nov. 7, 1930, in Denver. His grandfather was a pioneer who settled in Colorado in the 1880s and passed his love of the mountains to his grandson.
A natural athlete, Mr. Pepper taught himself to downhill ski on four-inch wooden skis and cable bindings long before chairlifts existed.
In 1948 at East High School, he competed for the AA Colorado State Track and Field titles, winning third place in the broad jump and first in the high jump.
He served in the Korean War.
Mr. Pepper graduated from Tulane University with a degree in geology in 1952.
That same year in Denver, a favorite aunt introduced to him a kind-hearted Southern belle named Eloyce. They married on Oct. 12, 1955.
Mr. Pepper’s first job out of college was with Core Lab, where he worked until joining the family business as a petroleum geologist.
When he retired his cowboy boots, skis and golf clubs, he played poker with his close friends in Denver, bridge at Cook Park and later at the JCC in Overland Park.
Mrs. Pepper, his beloved wife of 62 years, passed away in 2017.
A member of the American Assn. of Petroleum Geologists for 65 years, Mr. Pepper was an El-Jebel Shriner for 50 years.
Mort Pepper is survived by his daughter Sharon Pepper (Scott) Jerwick; grandson Jason Jerwick, Andrea Jerwick (Zach) Fargo, Mallory Rubin (Aaron) Bustow, Arielle Rubin, Lila Rubin and Noah Rubin; son-in-law Rick (Julie) Rubin; great-grandchildren Jacob and Brooke Fargo; stepsisters and stepbrother Marcee Newman, Bobbe Cook and Dick Susman; and brother-in-law Barry (Arlene) Karchmer.
He was predeceased by his daughter Lynn Pepper Rubin in 2001.
The family thanks the staff at Village Shalom in Overland Park for preserving his dignity, healing his body and spirit, and making him feel valued.
Contributions may be made to Village Shalom, 5500 W. 123rd St., Overland Park, KS 66209, or Lynn Pepper Rubin Memorial Fund, c/o the HEA.
Copyright © 2020 by the Intermountain Jewish News
