William Cleveland DeVere

William Cleveland DeVere died Wednesday, July 28, 2021, at his home in Snowflake, Arizona following a lengthy illness. He was 70 years old. William was born on a Wednesday, July 11, 1951, in Phoenix, Arizona to his parents, the late Edward Eller and Annie Mae (Lawrence) DeVere. 

As a teenager, William began working, alongside his brothers, at Nelson's Swimming Pool in Phoenix. They worked, not only as lifeguards but, as 'divers' as well. He and his brothers entertained the crowds at the pool with their antics and diving skills. He possessed a great sense of humor and was well liked by everyone at the pool.

At the age of 20, William met his future bride, Kathleen Ann "Kat" Beltramo, when she was 15. One day as she lay floating on her inner tube at the pool, William, who was swimming under water, shot up right through the bottom of her tube. Little did William know that his life would forever be changed and blessed by 'bumping' into her that day. On May 18, 1974, William and Kat were married in Las Vegas, Nevada. Their union was later solemnized in one of the Lord's temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They most recently celebrated their 47th wedding anniversary together. He loved his wife with every fiber of his being and he just wanted to take care of her throughout life. He was a great husband.

William's life took on another exciting change when he became a father to two beautiful girls. With the birth of each one, his joy was simply expanded. He loved his girls and they were the apples of his eye. As a long-haul truck driver, William had to be away from home often. They made the time he had to spend with his family all the more precious. He knew how to have fun and, in his younger years, he often went drag racing. The thrill made for a great night! When his daughters were little, he decided he needed to be a little more careful and took a backseat to drag racing and often took his wife and daughters to watch the drag races. They always had a great time. Then, he began RC Gas Car racing for about 1/2 dozen years or so. Later, he took on archery and even taught archery skills to his daughters at Encanto Park in Phoenix. William's skill level was well enough to be the Queen's Archer; a position he held until he physically couldn't pull the strings back on the bow anymore. He was a great dad.

He had a knack for fixing, rebuilding and even teaching computers. He enjoyed teaching his own son-in-law, how to fix them and always made for a bonding moment. Throughout his life, William loved working on cars! Countless were his family and friends' cars that he repaired or rebuilt. He truly was amazing with his mechanical skills. He was a great friend.

Living the full life that he lived, what really made him proud was hearing of and being a part of his daughters' accomplishments. He truly was the proudest dad ever as his daughters graduated from high school. Additionally, walking his daughters down the aisle when they wed were days that will go down in his history book. He knew the importance of being able to do that sacred honor so, once, as a patient in a hospital, he checked himself out of the hospital so he could walk his daughter down the aisle, only to check himself back in after the nuptials. He truly was a man who knew what it meant to be grateful.

Moving to Snowflake in March of 2020, William and Kat were looking forward to building their forever home, a little piece at a time. Unfortunately, with William's unexpected death, the forever home will be put on hold as Kat sees how things will settle for her.

William is survived by his wife, Kathleen "Kat" DeVere Snowflake; 2 daughters: Mandi (Gary) Craft of Glendale, AZ, Melissa "Lisa" (Daniel) Wood of Buckeye, AZ; 5 grandkids: Logan Craft, Emily Craft, Sadie Craft, Matthew Wood and Lilly Wood; 3 siblings: Edward Eller (Patricia) DeVere, Jr., of Marvin, SD Roy Martin (Becky) DeVere of Phoenix, AZ,  Michael Lynn (Kathie) DeVere of Phoenix, AZ.

Along with his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister, Patsy DeVere, and brother, James DeVere.