- Date Of Birth: July 29, 1926
- Date Of Death: July 27, 2019
- State: Colorado
Roger (“Pete”) Allen Matuszczak, age 93, passed away in his sleep on Saturday, July 27, 2019 at Northglenn Heights, in Northglenn, Colorado. He was born on January 14, 1926 in Shawano, Wisconsin. His mother, Iris Allen was married to Aloysius Matuszczak. Pete married Iris Fay Smith in 1950. She preceded him in death on August 15, 1993.
After graduating from high school Pete served his country in the U.S. Army infantry during World War II in the Pacific Theater. He was honorably discharged following the war having quickly achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant. Pete then continued his schooling and graduated from the University of Wisconsin with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology.
Pete began his career with Stanolind Oil and Gas Corporation (part of Amoco), settling first in Casper, Wyoming and then in Denver, Colorado in 1954. There he and Iris continued to grow their small family. One day in the late 1960’s Pete was staring at a map of geologic information and discoveries, and concluded that the information actually depicted one very large oil and gas prospect. Today that prospect is known as the Wattenberg Field. It covers approximately 2,000 square miles of land between Denver and Greeley, Colorado. As of March 2018, the field was producing 1.92 billion cubic feet of gas and 331 thousand barrels of oil and condensate per day from more than 23,000 active wells. In 2013, the U.S. Energy Information Administration listed Wattenberg as the 9th largest gas field in the U.S. in terms of remaining gas reserves, and 4th in remaining oil/condensate reserves.
In the late 1970’s Pete left Amoco and joined Tiger Oil Company, where he worked until the company folded in the late 1980’s. He went back to work for Tiger Oil in the mid 2000’s after the company was reorganized. Pete remained with Tiger Oil until his semi-retirement in 2010. Between his stints with Tiger Oil, Pete bought and operated the Cordial Lounge on West Colfax where many of his oil industry friends still gather each week. Even though semi-retired, Pete could never stop exploring and talked of the geology of the Mississippi Delta and its possible similarities and implications to other U.S. sites the day before he passed.
Pete is survived by his four children: Lee (Melissa) of Commerce City, Colorado; Lisa Matuszczak of Joppa, Maryland; Jon (Cathy) of Gunnison, Colorado; and Beth Matuszczak of Denver; six grandchildren: Kyle, Christopher, Patrick, Joel, Christy, and Meghan; three great-grandchildren; and his brother, Marv (Elsie) Matuszczak of Germantown, Wisconsin. He is also survived by several nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Pete was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Iris; four sisters, Jean Matuszczak, Lola Tappa, Peggy Matuszczak, and Nancy Schuster; and his brother, Lynn Matuszczak.
