Norman Howard Bangerter (January 4, 1933 – April 14, 2015) was an American politician and businessman who served as the 13th governor of

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

from 1985 to 1993. He was the first Republican elected to the position since 1960, and the first to hold the office since 1965.

Early life

Bangerter was born in Granger, Utah (now West Valley City) to William Henry Bangerter and Isabelle Bawden. His paternal grandparents were Swiss immigrants and his mother was entirely of English ancestry. His older brother,

William Grant Bangerter William Grant Bangerter (June 8, 1918 – April 18, 2010) was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1975 until his death. Bangerter was born in Granger, Utah. From 1939 to 1941, he served as ...

, served as a General Authority of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...

(LDS Church).

Career

Prior to his election, Bangerter founded a successful

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...

firm which specialized in building homes. He served in the Utah House of Representatives from 1975 to 1985 and as

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

of that body from 1981 until 1985. During his tenure as governor, Bangerter dealt with the flooding of the Great Salt Lake and its tributaries by approving the construction of large, US$60 million pumps to channel excess water from the Great Salt Lake onto the

Bonneville Salt Flats The Bonneville Salt Flats are a densely packed salt pan in Tooele County in northwestern Utah. A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, it is the largest of many salt flats west of the Great Salt Lake. It is public land managed by the ...

. This was initially successful, yet caused some controversy when the lake's water level fell in later years, and some regarded the idle pumps as wasteful. Bangerter's "foremost interest was improving the state's educational system". After his retirement as governor, Bangerter returned to his construction firm and served for three years as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

of the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

Mission of the LDS Church from 1996 to 1999. The Bangerter Highway ( SR-154), which opened in 1998, was named after the former governor, who had long supported such a road. In 2008, Bangerter was appointed to the Governing Board for the national children's charity Operation Kids.

Personal life

Bangerter married his wife, the former Colleen Monson, in 1953. The two had six children and one foster son. On April 14, 2015, Bangerter suffered a stroke and later died at the age of 82.

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bangerter, Norman H. 1933 births 2015 deaths 20th-century Mormon missionaries American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints American Mormon missionaries in South Africa Brigham Young University alumni Republican Party governors of Utah Mission presidents (LDS Church) Speakers of the Utah House of Representatives Republican Party members of the Utah House of Representatives Latter Day Saints from Utah