Legacy Gift Honors Lifetime Commitment to Community, Education, and a Shared Love of the West
Deedee and Peter Decker
Peter and Deedee Decker fell in love with the West as teenagers. Although it would be years before they met, they both spent time working in Montana—Deedee on a dude ranch and Peter on a sheep ranch. After meeting and marrying in New York, the Deckers knew they wanted to return to the West.
Shortly after marrying, the Deckers bought a cattle ranch in Ridgway, Colorado. The small community was different than the city life they were used to—but in the best possible way.
“To be in a small community like Ridgway, you can make a difference immediately, and that’s what we started doing,” Deedee says.
Both Peter and Deedee became involved with service and nonprofit organizations, including Fort Lewis College, which represented their commitment to education and passion for the liberal arts. Peter was appointed by Colorado Gov. Bill Owens to serve as the first chair of the Fort Lewis College Board of Trustees in 2002. He served until 2014.
To honor Peter’s legacy and devotion to Fort Lewis College, he left a bequest to the Fort Lewis College Foundation. Deedee is designating that bequest to establish an endowment that will benefit the College’s Center of Southwest Studies, an academic museum, archives, and library dedicated to community engagement, education, and the diverse cultures, histories, and environments of the Southwest.
“Peter and Deedee shared a love for western Colorado with its history and culture, and they knew the value of a good education. Both came together for them with Fort Lewis College,” said Richard Ballantine, member of the FLC Foundation Board of Directors and Soaring Hawk Society.
“It’s wonderful to help the college in this way,” Deedee says. “Peter had a great interest in the center, and I love it, too. For me, it’s the college’s focal point.”
Like Peter and Deedee, you can make a positive impact on FLC students and the community. To learn more about planned giving options, or to make a gift to support the Peter and Deedee Decker Endowment for the Center of Southwest Studies, contact Dave Kerns ’03 at 970-247-7427 or kerns_d@fortlewis.edu.