About The Foundation

Hayley Pace is the third of Dee and Nedra’s 6 daughters and serves as Secretary on the Board of Directors for DPMF. In her youth, Hayley performed in countless theatrical productions both in school and the community. Starting out in college as a musical theater major, Hayley ultimately shifted her focus, graduating with a BA in Business Administration. She credits her artistic upbringing for giving her the skills, confidence and perseverance to pursue a career in business. Hayley is a Sr. Human Resources Director, leading the North American Region for Kohler Company. She resides with her husband and son in Taylor, UT. She is also a proud step parent, with her daughter recently graduating from Roanoke College with a degree in Performance Arts Education.

Katie Pace-Hess is the second daughter of Dee and Nedra Pace. She shares her dad’s love of performing arts, interior design, gardening, baking, and community. She serves as Treasurer on the Board of Directors for DPMF and frequently performs and directs at the Heritage Community Theater, where Dee and Nedra both served as the Artistic Director. Katie graduated from Weber State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Technical Writing but always felt the need to teach. She is currently the lead training consultant for 11Compliance Consulting and pursuing a Master’s degree in Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning at Boise State. She lives in Clinton, Utah with her husband and one-year-old son, Callum Dee, who she named for her father.

Curtis & Wendi Coombs were both students of Dee at Bear River High School, and both had the incredible opportunity to participate in multiple musical productions under Dee’s direction from 1981-1988 (Curtis - The Music Man, Guys & Dolls, Flower Drum Song and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; Wendi - Cinderella, Annie, Once Upon a Mattress and The Pajama Game).  It was during the summer community production of The Pajama Game in 1987 that Curtis & Wendi were introduced.  They gratefully credit Dee & Nedra for bringing them together.  The Coombs reside in Smithfield, UT and are the proud parents of Alex (Allisa), Mitchell (Jessenia), Ethan and Emily.

Dee and Nedra are very dear to Curtis and Wendi and they are honored to be able to share their talents off-stage in helping to promote and continue the legacy of such a wonderful and gifted human being.

Boyd Rogers is Chair and co-founder of the Dee Pace Memorial Foundation. As a student at Bear River High School from 1984-1988, Boyd started his career in theater (and as a Dee-sciple) as a chorus member in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella in the fall of 1984, and didn’t miss a Pace production until his capstone performance on the BRHS stage as Pharoah and Issachar in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in the summer of 1988. Boyd graduated from the University of Utah with degrees in Speech Communications and Political Science, and also holds an M.S. in Management and Leadership from Western Governors University and a Juris Doctorate from Brooklyn Law School. Professionally, Boyd has been an employment attorney and litigator in private practice with national law firms, and as in-house counsel with both publicly-traded and privately-held multinational and national corporations. His volunteer and non-profit work has included the United Way of Salt Lake, the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, Communication Department Advisory Board at Oregon Institute of Technology, the Utah Bar Foundation, Boy Scouts of America, and the Legal Aid Society of North Carolina. 

Although he hasn’t been on stage in “quite a while,” he still has the thirst for performing which he satisfies vicariously by attending productions at Theatre Charlotte, the Actor’s Theater of Charlotte, Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, and on Broadway whenever he gets to New York City. Boyd is married to Carissa Rogers and they are the proud parents of Sorel (Groesbeck), Adelaide, and Theo. Boyd resides in Fort Mill, SC, a suburb of Charlotte, NC.