Eric Overby

9/20/1957 – 9/22/2012

Eric Alan Overby was born September 20, 1957 in Champaign, Illinois, to Robert Eason and Alice Audra (Clower) Overby. He was the second of three sons. His youth was spent in Fremont, California; Downer’s Grove, Illinois; and Harrisonville, Missouri. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma College Of Law in 1982. Eric was the first in his immediate family to graduate from college.

Eric’s law career included positions as associate in two Oklahoma City Firms; equity partner in the Dallas branch of Arter & Hadden, a national law firm; managing attorney for litigation at Trans World Airlines; and, for the past 15 years, an Assistant US Attorney for the District of Utah. During his tenure at the Department of Justice he won national recognition for his work as a federal civil prosecutor.

Eric was a private pilot with ratings for multi-engine instructor and seaplane. He was also a gun collector and an excellent marksman. He loved riding his motorcycle on back roads and enjoying the scenery; he was also a certified EMT. Eric was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Salt Lake City, and was active in its choir. Christianity was a central and guiding theme in Eric’s life, leading him to work with Christian youth in founding the Wasatch Area Youth organization.

Eric married Dianne Harnden on August 12, 1978. To this union were born two children: Jason Eric Overby (24) and Jennifer Dianne Overby (23). They were born on the same day and minute, exactly a year apart, so he called them his “year-apart twins.” They were the lights of his life. Eric and Dianne divorced in 2010.

Eric met Janny Youngae Park in January of 2010. They shared a love of opera and of travel. They were to be married in December.

Eric is survived by his father (Arizona); two children; fiancée and son, Timothy Cho; two brothers, Robert Mark Overby (Illinois) and Mark Alan Overby (Washington), cousins and extended family.

A memorial service will be held at the First Presbyterian Church, 12 “C” Street, Salt Lake City at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 27, 2012. A separate memorial service will be held in Sun City, Arizona, at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Eric’s memory to Lighthouse Ministries. Online condolences may be shared with the family at www.evans-earlymortuary.com.