Patricia Dever Obituary

Patricia Ellen (Savage) Dever died Tuesday, March 1, 2012, of an aneurism while scuba diving in Grand Cayman. She was 71.

Mrs. Dever was born April 26, 1941, in Price, Utah, to William and Jean Savage.

At the age of 18, a year after her father's death, she moved by herself to Farmington to take a job in the energy industry. While in her late 20s, she attended Fort Lewis College and graduated with honors, earning a degree in biology.

In the early 1970s, she married John Dever, a biology professor at FLC, in Durango. While in Durango, the couple had two children, Bill and Sara Dever. The marriage later ended in divorce.

Mrs. Dever left Durango in the early 1980s and raised her children in Denver, Houston and Crosby, Texas, while continuing on a career path in the energy and oil industries. She spent more than two decades working at Hilcorp Energy Co. in Houston before retiring from her position as vice president of accounting around 2007.

Mrs. Dever then moved to Park City, Utah, to enjoy the mountain lifestyle and be near her family.

She had "a spirit of excellence and a willingness to face problems head-on and make the tough decisions, earning her both respect and love," her family said. "She lived life fully, delighting in great conversation with family and friends, a good belly laugh, a cleverly turned phrase, an insightful movie or song lyric, an innovative art piece and always the planning of the next trip."

Mrs. Dever is survived by her children Sara Dever of Salt Lake City and Bill Dever of Katy, Texas; brothers Tim Savage of Salt Lake City, Tom Savage of Kamas, Utah, Mick Savage of Park City, Utah, and Dan Savage of Cleveland; as well as several nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 17, at the Kimball Art Center, 638 Park Ave., Park City, UT, 84060.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Kimball Art Center at kimballartcenter.org. Memories can be shared at memorialwebsites.legacy.com/patriciadever/homepage/aspx.