Robert Everett Dryden

Aug 12, 1946 -

Aug 3, 2022

Robert "Bob" Everett Dryden, professional engineer of Alaska, husband, father, brother and friend, passed away peacefully on Aug. 3, 2022, at his home in Sitka, Alaska, alongside his wife and pups, following a six-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

Born in Miami, Fla., on Aug. 12, 1946, raised and educated in Fairbanks, Alaska, Robert became a professional electrical engineer and worked out of Anchorage, Cordova, and Sitka. A 1972 graduate of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Bob had an outsized impact on much of the electrical infrastructure of the state of Alaska. He engineered nearly all aspects of diesel and hydro-electric generation plants, transmission and distribution lines, and tank farms across Alaska for 50 years.

Robert had many interests. As a teen, he played violin in symphony orchestra, enjoyed building and flying radio-controlled airplanes, building and operating ham radio and flying in an Aeronca Chief with lifelong friend Alan Barber. He loved engineering, reading, music, recreational boating, hiking and bonfires.

Robert was known for having a tremendous love for dogs and he helped many people learn to love and understand them. He very much enjoyed meeting and talking to people also meeting and talking to dogs. He loved his extended family, his wife, his town, his boat and working on personal construction projects around his house and yard.

Robert would like to be "remembered as having lived a life of integrity," and hoped that a life after death, "if there is one," would include his beloved dogs.

Robert is survived by his wife, Lucia April Dryden of Sitka; son, Everett Robert Dryden (Ann Marie and grandson Nathaniel) of Elmore, Vt.; brother, James Dryden (Stephanie Koonz) of Anchorage; sister, Marjorie Boyatt; brother, Donald Dryden; former spouse and friend, Sylvie Savage of Morelia, Mexico; stepdaughters, Patsy D. Wilkening of Anchorage, Heather N. Wilkening of DesMoines, Iowa, and Willow Ann Tebo of Sitka; stepson, Jesse Allen (Chrystle and grandson Tucker) Tebo of Anchorage; nieces and nephews; cousins; and many, many good friends. He was preceded in death by his brother, David Dryden of Fairbanks. He will be missed.

An inurnment at the Sitka National Cemetery is scheduled for noon on Sept. 23, 2022, followed by a Celebration of Life - weenie roast - at Halibut Point Recreation Site, South end, contact Dean Orbison. Attendees may bring a side dish, etc., and fond memories of Robert.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to S.A.I.L. of Sitka (Southeast Alaska Independent Living) or to a fund established by his wife to install a bench in memory of Robert along the Sitka trail system. Contact April at 907-738-0573. Photos and stories can be posted via adn.com or lastingmemories.com where there will be a longer obituary. Final arrangements are being handled by Prewitt Funeral Home.