Mildred Vanetta Moore

at 98 years old. Vanetta was born in Saguache, Colorado on January 5th, 1925 to Miles and

Mildred Stanley.

When she was young Vanetta worked for Hill Air Force Base assembling war planes and selling

war bonds. After the war, she married her highschool sweetheart, John “JD” Moore, on

November 17th, 1946. Together, they built a life around their family; while they frequently

moved around, they mostly lived in Utah and Colorado. Vanetta primarily worked in the home

raising her children and taking care of her family. In retirement, Vanetta and JD shared a hobby

of searching the desert for precious stones and other natural treasures. In 1981, they

discovered the first dinosaur bones in Rabbit Valley, now known as the Mygatt-Moore Quarry,

with their friends, Pete and Marilyn Mygatt. In that same quarry, they also founded a new

species of dinosaur, the Mymoorapelta, which is displayed at the dinosaur museum in Grand

Junction.

Vanetta loved going on picnics, puzzling, making mosaics and crafts, and especially playing

cards with her family. She lived on her own until her death and always attributed her long life to

walking everywhere, as she never did get a driver’s license.

Vanetta was a kind, gentle soul that had a special ability to make everyone feel welcome and

loved, and she will be sorely missed by all who knew her.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband of 56 years, and her siblings, Jerry

(Barbara) Stanley and Mina Bell (Urban) Shafer.

Vanetta is survived by: her three children, Valli (Jim) Smouse, Randy (Doris) Moore, and Lance

(Roberta) Moore, eight grandchildren, twenty-two great-grandchildren, and three

great-great-grandchildren.

Please join us for a Celebration of Life for Vanetta this Saturday, February 11th, at

Callahan-Edfast Mortuary (2515 Patterson Road) at 11:00 am.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.callahan-edfast.com for the Moore family.