Dawson Kilpatrick

Durango resident Dawson "Bud" Reed Kilpatrick died on Sunday, March 3, 2013, after a short stay at Four Corners Health Care Center in Durango. He was 94 years old. Bud was born to George and Bessie Kilpatrick on his family farm in Lincoln County, Tenn. He spent his childhood working with his family on farms in Abilene, Texas, and Chandler, Ariz. In his late teens he moved to Tucson, Ariz., to work with his older brother on golf courses as well as grounds maintenance for the heiress to the Grace Steamship Lines. In 1939 he met and married his wife of over 73 years, Deanne Lively. Prior to entering the Army during World War II, Bud worked for Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft finishing and modifying B-24 Bombers. After his discharge from the Army in 1946, he and his young family settled in Independence, Calif., where he worked and later owned a very successful Chevron gas station. It is in this eastern High Sierra community that Bud enjoyed his hobbies of trout fishing, bird hunting, and searching for arrowheads. Upon retiring in 1978, he and his wife traveled extensively throughout the United States before settling in Durango for the summers and Yuma, Ariz., for the winters. After several years in Durango, they decided to return to Arizona to enjoy the warmer climate. They lived in Dewey, south of Prescott, for 25 years. Due to injuries Bud suffered in a car accident, they moved back to Durango to live with their son and daughter-in-law. Mr. Kilpatrick is preceded in death by a son, Timothy Kilpatrick, in 2012. He is survived by his wife, Deanne Kilpatrick of Durango, and son, James "Mick" Kilpatrick, and daughter-in-law, Ruth Katzin, of Durango; three grandchildren, Kevin Kilpatrick of Los Alamitos, Calif., Kathleen Kilpatrick-Gardner of Durango, and Marlene Kilpatrick of Boulder, Colo.; two great-grandchildren; four step-grandchildren, nine step-great-grandchildren, and one great-great-step-grandchild. In lieu of flowers, please contact his wife, Deanne, with memories and kind thoughts.