Arthur Ray Chidester

Art Chidester

Highland, Utah

Our loving husband, dad, grandpa, great-grandpa, brother, uncle, and friend, Arthur Ray Chidester, 90, passed away in Highland, Utah on March 10, 2021. He was born January 1, 1931 to Loris Elton and Hilda Orton Chidester in Panguitch, Utah. Arthur married his sweetheart, Dorothy Ann Cooper on September 8, 1955 in the St. George, Utah Temple.

Art and Dorothy have 3 children: Arthur Brad (Lei) Chidester, Larkspur, CO; Lorraine (Jay) Bennett, American Fork; Merilee (Clayton) Wilson, Cedar City. They have 8 grandchildren,  11 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild.

Art grew up in Panguitch and graduated Panguitch High School in 1949. He was the student body vice-president and attended Boys State his junior year. He was involved in sports and he particularly enjoyed basketball. He has always loved being from Panguitch.

Art attended Dixie College where he was student body secretary and part of the X Club (honor society). He joined the Navy and served on a destroyer as an electrical technician for 4 years during the Korean War. After returning home, he attended the University of Utah and a television repair school, and also started his own TV repair business.

Art worked for UDOT for a total of 32 years; the majority of that time was in construction management as a project engineer. He contributed to the building of I-70 near Green River. One of the most challenging and rewarding projects was rebuilding US-6 after the Thistle slide in 1983.

Wherever Art lived, he was active in his community. He served the Panguitch community as City Councilman for 2 years, president of the Jr. Chamber of Commerce for 2 years, and as a volunteer firefighter. While living in Moab he served as a Grand County school board member and the State of Utah School Board President. In Highland City he was president of the City Planning Commission for 4 years.

Art was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in many callings, but the most rewarding was as a councilor working in the bishopric of the American Fork Developmental Center Ward.

Art loved to travel, fish, and hunt. He was devoted to his family and very involved in family activities. He built a cabin at Panguitch Lake in 2002 where many great memories were made with family and friends. Panguitch Lake was his favorite place to be. He was extremely honored that the Panguitch Lake Fire Station was named after him in 2010 after he served as the chair for the Panguitch Lake Fire District Building Committee/Board.

Funeral services for family and invited friends will be held Tuesday, March 16 at 11:00 a.m. in the Highland 8th Ward Chapel, 10390 North Alpine Highway, Highland Utah. A viewing will be held at the Anderson and Son Mortuary, 6141 West 11000 North Highland, Tuesday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Graveside services will be held Wednesday, March 17th at 11:00 a.m. at Panguitch, Utah Cemetery with military honors by the Panguitch American Legion Post #25 and the navy Honor Guard.  Live streaming of the services and online guestbook can be found at www.maglebymortuary.com under Art’s obituary.  Due to COVID-19, all attendees must wear masks and adhere to social distancing guidelines.  Funeral Directors: Magleby Mortuary, Richfield, Salina and Manti.

Additional Link to view services---copy and paste this link : http://mywebcast.churchofjesuschrist.org/highlandutahcentralstake and select “Arthur Chidester Funeral”