Dad: Son 'enjoyed the people around him'

PORTALES — A gentle, passionate teacher left this world on June 15, but his influence is still felt, according to his father.

Michael Kyte, 61, of Tres Piedras, grew up in Portales and graduated from Eastern New Mexico University with a master of arts degree in anthropology.

He was one of five people killed in a rampage this month in northern New Mexico.

Damian Herrera, 21, is accused of killing his stepfather, brother and mother in La Madera. Police said he then drove to Tres Piedras, where Herrera is accused of killing Kyte and stealing his pickup, which he used to drive to Abiquiu, where a fifth man was killed.

Herrera was arrested that same evening and faces five counts of murder, among other charges.

Kyte was killed at his home. He had recently retired from his position as the west district archaeologist for Carson National Forest.

His father, James Kyte of Portales, struggled to find any motive for his son’s death.

“It just caught us off guard. As far as we knew, he never knew the person that did it. His wife just came in and found him in the driveway,” he said.

Michael Kyte made archaeology — a sometimes complicated subject — simple for others, James Kyte said.

“He enjoyed talking with people and working with people on archaeology and things like that. He could take you out and show you the artifacts and things in a way that you could understand it,” he said.

Michael Kyte’s obituary details his most impactful contribution to archaeology: His efforts to protect the Weathermon Draw Rock Art Complex and Archaeological District in southern Montana from developers — actions James Kyte said his son viewed simply as his responsibility.

“The thing that I think influenced me the most — he would get on to a big project, like the ones up in Montana, saving the petroglyphs and the different kinds of paintings that the Indians did, and he would just finish it and never say a word, just go on to his next project. If you asked him, he’d tell you, but he didn’t really volunteer that much,” he said.

James Kyte said his son also followed a pattern common throughout his life: Making friends.

“He had friends up there (in Montana) among the Indian tribes. He was friends with the descendants of the scouts for the Indian tribes up there that worked with Custer,” he said.

While volunteering at the American Legion in Portales, James Kyte said he has been approached numerous times by Eastern New Mexico University professors who had fond memories of his son as a graduate student in the archaeology program.

Even as a child, Michael Kyte was practicing acceptance of all people, making friends on each military base his father was assigned to across the country and the world.

“We never moved to a place that he didn’t blend with the community. He was easy to get along with. He was one that enjoyed life. He enjoyed the people around him. He was a people person,” James Kyte said.