Myron Gene Best

Myron Gene Best was born on April 9, 1935, in Salt Lake City, Utah, and passed away on March 13, 2026, at the age of 90. A descendant of Mormon pioneers, he grew up in Salt Lake City, graduated from Granite High School and the University of Utah, and earned a PhD in Geology from the University of California, Berkeley. In 1956 he married Vivian Croft in the Salt Lake City Temple, and together they raised eight children.

Deeply devoted to his faith, Myron served in many capacities in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including as branch president in Ottawa, Canada, ward financial clerk, bishop of a student ward at BYU, and branch president at the Missionary Training Center. He and Vivian served as social service missionaries among First Nation members in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in 2003–2004. Upon returning, he became a longtime worker in the Provo Temple. In his later years he completed and published an extensive scriptural study of the names and roles of Christ, along with family histories of the Best and Croft lines, a biography of Vivian, and his own autobiography, all reflecting his profound testimony of the gospel and the guiding hand of God in his life.

Professionally, Myron was a respected research geologist and educator. He began his teaching career at the University of Ottawa in 1961 before joining the faculty at Brigham Young University in 1965, where he taught until his retirement in 1998. He authored the widely used textbook Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology and spent decades conducting fieldwork in the Nevada-Utah desert with graduate students, producing numerous maps for the U.S. Geological Survey and publishing many scholarly papers. Among his notable contributions was the discovery of the Indian Peak caldera, a thirty-mile-wide supervolcano. In recognition of his teaching and research, the BYU Geology Department established the Myron G. Best Teaching Award in his honor in 1997.

Beyond his professional and church service, Myron found joy in building and creating. He supervised construction projects, built a family van for cross-country travel, expanded the family home, and spent nearly twenty years constructing a beloved cabin east of Heber. In retirement he and Vivian traveled extensively, enjoying cruises and trips to Alaska, the Mediterranean, Europe, Mexico, and the Panama Canal. After Vivian’s passing in 2020, he resided at Jamestown Senior Living Center in Provo.

Myron was preceded in death by his daughter Karen in 1971, his wife Vivian in 2020, and two grandchildren who died at birth. He is survived by his children Jenny Jensen of Saratoga Springs, Karl Best of Bath, Maine, Teresa Fugate of Sandy, Katrina Hughes of Alpine, Richard Best of Mapleton, Laura Miller of Salt Lake City, and Tyler Best of Annandale, Virginia, as well as 27 grandchildren, 54 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.