Cloyce Allan Talbott

Cloyce Allan Talbott of Snyder, Texas was born on June 30th, 1935, to Henry Allie and Audry Cockrell Talbott.  He passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on September 8th, 2022. A celebration of life will be held on ­­­Saturday, September 10th at 2:00 pm, at First Baptist Church, Snyder, Texas, and officiated by Pastor Ben Reid under the direction of Bell-Cypert-Seale Funeral Home. Born and raised in Megargel, Texas, Cloyce got his start in the oil business when he was only four years old by tagging along with his dad as he checked his oil leases.                                                                            

Cloyce graduated from Texas Tech University in 1958 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering.  During his time at Tech, he was a member of Pi Epsilon Tau, a national honorary petroleum fraternity.  Soon after graduation, he went to work for Standard Oil Company of Texas in Monahans and transferred to Snyder in 1960. Two years later, he established Snyder Well Servicing, Inc. In 1975, Cloyce married Anita Patterson.                                                                      

Through his years, he became a pilot and avid golfer. He and Anita spent many nights enjoying sports. namely his Astros, and made the most special memories traveling with his friends and family.

A conversation with his brother-in-law, Glenn Patterson, at the family’s Thanksgiving meal in 1977 turned to drilling.  “Let’s get in the drilling business,” Cloyce said.  By Christmas, they decided to form Patterson Drilling. Originally a relatively small land–based drilling company with only approximately nine drilling rigs, the company survived a downturn in the oil business and in 1993 Patterson Drilling went public. Over the next six years, together with their employees, they built it into one of the largest land–based drilling companies in North America. In 2001, they merged with UTI Energy and became Patterson–UTI Energy with Cloyce as Chief Executive Officer.  He served as a director of Patterson-UTI since its incorporation in 1978, and in various capacities, including as its Chief Executive Officer from 1983 until his retirement from that position in 2007. He also served as Chairman of the Board from 1983 to 2001 and was employed by Patterson-UTI as a consultant from 2007 until 2012.                                    

Throughout his career, Cloyce achieved many awards for his accomplishments including Petroleum Academy of Texas Tech 1998 inductee and Distinguished Engineer in 2002, Permian Basin Oil Show Honoree in 2006 for his hard work, dedication and risk-taking in the oil and gas industry, 2007 Permian Basin Petroleum Association Top Hand Award for his leadership, commitment to excellence and service to the industry.                                                                                        

Cloyce strongly believed in the community of Snyder and Texas Tech University.  In addition to serving on the Parks and Recreation Committee, in 2000, Patterson-UTI received Business of the Year from the Snyder Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club Outstanding Business in 2001 for "Outstanding Service to Snyder.” In 2018, Cloyce and Anita were given the Hall of Honor Lifetime Achievement Award for their commitment to Snyder High School Athletic programs. He and Anita have been life-long Red Raiders and strong supporters of the College of Engineering, Rawls School of Business and Texas Tech Athletics.                                                                                   

Cloyce touched many lives; his peers and employees knew him as a man of honor, integrity, hard work, vision, humility, generosity, and fairness.  His family knew their husband, dad, granddad, great granddad and uncle for his devoted love, support, guidance, and advice.                    

Cloyce is survived by his wife of 47 years, Anita Patterson Talbott; daughters, Stacy Walker of Fort Worth, Lisa Beck (Brent), of Midland; daughter-in-law Jana Talbott of Fort Worth; grandchildren, Thomas Talbott (Christina) of Midland, John Talbott (Kendall) of Dallas, Aaron Talbott (Kelsey) of Snyder, Chase Talbott (Kaleigh) of Fort Worth, Michael Talbott (Kyleigh) of Arlington, Blair Beck (Brenna Moss) of Midland, Connor Beck (Savanna) of Midland, Stephanie Talbott of Austin, Ambria Walker of Lubbock; great-grandchildren, Garrett and Colby Talbott of Midland, Amelia and Cloyce Whittenburg Talbott of Dallas, Collin Allan and Carlisle Talbott of Fort Worth, Tatum Talbott of Snyder, Tate and Tripp Talbott of Arlington and numerous nieces and nephews.  He was preceded in death by his parents; two sons, Steve and Stan Talbott; and sister Juanelle Thomsen.                                               

The family wishes to thank his life-long friend, Dr. James Burleson, for his devoted care through the years, and his committed caregivers Rylan Sanchez, Sheila Garcia, Whitney Brown, Amelia Estrada, Heather James, Juliet Soltero and Comfort Keepers for their kindness and faithful attention.                                                                   

A public visitation will be held Friday, September 9th at Bell-Cypert-Seale Funeral Home from 6:00pm-7:00pm.  A private interment will be held at Hillside Memorial Gardens.                          

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Scurry County Youth Center at 1500 28th St., Snyder, TX 79549, D.M. Cogdell Hospital Foundation at P.O. Box 1181, Snyder, TX 79550, or a charity of your choice.