By Joy Marschall –
Gary West Colliver died August 30, 2026, in Denver, Colorado, at the age of 83. Gary was a dedicated husband and father and friend, a steadfast advocate for the environment, an active member of the worldwide Bahá’í community, and an accomplished climber and mountaineer with a long and storied career in Yosemite with the National Park Service.
Gary was born in Modesto, CA on December 5, 1942, the son of Grant and Mary (Stone) Colliver, and grew up in San Jose. During high school, Gary spent a year as an exchange student living and studying in Germany. He then enrolled at the University of the Pacific and graduated with his bachelor’s degree.
While in college, Gary discovered his passion for climbing and before long was living at Camp 4 during the so-called Golden Age of Yosemite climbing. In 1965, Gary and Reva met in Tuolumne Meadows and after a short courtship were married in the Yosemite Valley Chapel on June 18, 1965. Gary’s climbing and mountaineering achievements are too numerous to list, but highlights include: with Glen Denny, in 1964, the first ascent of Jirishanca Norte, Peru; with Richard McCracken and John Evans, the fourth ascent of the Nose on El Capitan; and his participation in the 1971 International Himalayan Expedition to Mount Everest.
Throughout his decades of devoted service to Yosemite, Gary wore many hats. During the first part of his NPS career, he was a wilderness and climbing ranger, park medic, and volunteer firefighter who skillfully participated in scores of search and rescue incidents. In 1983, Gary, along with two fellow rangers, received a Department of the Interior Valor Award for the swiftwater rescue of a park visitor who was fully submerged and pinned against an entrapment in the Merced River.
In 1993, Gary completed his M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Ecology at Cal State, Stanislaus, and rounded out his Yosemite NPS career working in planning and compliance. He cared deeply about and worked tirelessly on behalf of the park, its natural and cultural history and resources, and the visitor experience. Gary’s strong moral compass, patience, intelligence, and even temperament enabled him to find common ground among people whose interests often were at cross-purposes. During the development of the park’s climbing management plan, for example, he helped the plan’s working group, representing a dozen or so different interest groups, reach a consensus and produce a document that everyone was willing to sign.
Gary cared deeply for the earth, its ecosystems and biodiversity, and was dogged in shedding light on both ecological crises and paths toward lasting solutions. He was committed to the Bahá’í Faith and its principles of oneness, unity through diversity, consultation, collective action, and environmental stewardship. Gary’s life embodied the principle expressed in this passage from the Bahá’í Writings: “We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment and is itself also deeply affected by it.”
Reva and Gary, after his retirement from the National Park Service, opened Windows on the World – Books and Art in downtown Mariposa. They poured their energy and modest financial resources into the venture, offering a local community resource and gathering place for the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and creativity, all while serving tea from their vintage samovar. Gary continued to hike and walk daily and particularly savored the Sierra foothills wildflower season. Earlier this year, Gary and Reva relocated to Cheyenne, WY to be close to their son, Matt, and his family. Gary persevered through health challenges; after going to physical therapy, he regained his ability to walk with a steady stride using trekking poles.
Gary is survived by his wife, Reva; his brothers Raymond and Dennis; and his son, Matt, daughter-in-law, Deana, and two grandchildren, Samantha (Blain)and Shelby. A graveside service was held on Saturday, September 12 in Cheyenne, WY.
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