Patricia Downard

Patricia M. Whitbeck Downard

January 5, 1930 ~ November 18, 2017

Patricia Margaret (Koupal) Whitbeck Downard passed peacefully in her home at Apple Village of Layton, Utah. She was born on January 5, 1930 to Stephen W. and Marvel Evelyn (Foster) Koupal during a blizzard in Ronan, Montana. She had an older brother, Gerald, who died at age four and a younger sister, Sally, who preceded her in death in 2002.

Known as Patsy in her early years, she grew up on a farm with no running water or indoor plumbing. She often told the story of her favorite field cat, “Pinky,” falling into the outhouse and coming out with the new name, “Stinky!” She recalls very cold winters and riding a school bus with a coal burning stove. Farm life became too difficult to make a living with so her family moved close to Portland, Oregon where her dad worked at a Sawmill until it closed at the start of WWII. The family then moved to live with grandparents in Southern California where mom developed a love of the ocean and warm sunny beaches. This love would lead her to many travel destinations as she enjoyed the beauty of this world.

Mom’s beach life ended with a move back to Oregon where her family settled in Parkdale, a small town in the beautiful Hood River Valley. She loved her view of Mt. Hood and had many happy memories of her high school years and working with the fruit factories during the summer. During her senior year of high school she was chosen as the “Legion Climb Princess” and was given a beautiful new ski suit to wear as her group climbed Mt. Hood early one summer. She laughingly recalled that as an avalanche began, she had to slide down the mountain so quickly that the seat of her pants wore down to nothing!

Mom made lifelong friends in high school and went on to Willamette University to study for 2.5 years until she ran out of money. A local bank offered her a job as the first female teller since the war had ended (WW II) and thus began her career in the banking industry. At that time, mom’s roommate worked up at Mt. Hood’s Timberline lodge and mom would spend weekends up there skiing and going to dances at the lodge. She recalled that on one weekend, a cute guy asked her to dance the Bunny Hop and they hit it off. During that same time period, one of mom’s bank associates invited her to attend a cottage meeting with missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and she was baptized on August 1, 1953 along with her mother Marvel.

Mom married our dad, David Wilson Whitbeck, on January 27, 1954 and they were later sealed in the St. George LDS Temple on June 19, 1967. They settled down in the Portland area and together had six children, five of whom are presently living. Life was busy raising young kids but mom found time to volunteer in various church callings. She also loved to work on the annual Rose Parade floats and discovered she had an artistic talent. She took up painting, first with oils and then with water color design, and this became a lifelong hobby along with sewing, crocheting, reading, and traveling. During the childrearing years, the family moved from Portland to Pacifica, California and then on to Cypress, California where she finally returned to those sunny beaches.

Our dad passed at an early age and when the youngest child went off to college, mom decided to use her insurance money to help others and travel the world. She had moved from Southern California up to Woods Cross, Utah to be closer to family and there became a travel agent. She said booking trips for others was too tempting so she quit after a year and began traveling more. Some of the places she was able to visit were Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, France, Holland, Belgium, England, Israel, Ireland, Russia, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Mexico.

Mom soon discovered that it was too cold in Northern Utah for her sunny disposition and she retired to St. George, Utah amidst the red rocks and blue sky.  It was there she met and married Arnel “AK” Downard and they had a wonderful 15 years together doing retirement activities such as heading to Alaska each summer for salmon and halibut fishing, traveling to Pat’s condo in Puerta Vallarta to sunbathe and dance, and fishing often at Scofield Reservoir where AK’s son had a cabin and boat. When AK passed in 2013, mom moved to Apple Village Assisted Living in Layton and discovered a new family of friends to hang out with. She compared it to a sorority home where she enjoyed the many daily activities, especially working at the puzzle table and playing bingo. She was always sad when one of her friend’s pictures was taken down from the residents’ board. She was loved by many and loved all in return.

With her picture now gone from the board, she is survived by five of her children, Nancy (Randy) Moss, Stephen Whitbeck, Barry (Teresa) Whitbeck, Ted (Patti) Whitbeck, and Lyn (Chad) Cooper. She has 21 grandchildren and 10 greats along with nieces and nephews and their children.

Pat was preceded in death by a young son, Bradley Scott Whitbeck, and two husbands, David Wilson Whitbeck and Arnel Kenneth Downard.

Our mother was a beautiful soul, full of laughter, compassion, and unconditional acceptance and regard. She will be dearly missed by all who love and know her. In her memory, we will all be a little kinder to those around us. She was looking forward to reuniting with her infant son and eternal companion along with all the dogs and horses she adored along the way.

The family would like to thank those at McKay Dee Hospital for their loving care, Brighton Hospice for easing the pain of the journey, and Apple Village for allowing her to come home in order to go home.

Memorial services will be held on Saturday, November 25, 2017 at 4 p.m. at Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary, 3408 Washington Blvd. Friends may visit with family on Saturday from 3:30 to 4 p.m. at the mortuary.