Robert Heiner Garff (September 15, 1942 – March 29, 2020) was an American businessman and politician who served as chair of the Ken Garff Automotive Group. He also served as the speaker of the Utah House of Representatives from 1985 to 1987. He was a member of the Republican party.

Early life and education

Garff was born on September 15, 1942, the son of Marjorie Heiner and

Kendall D. Garff Kendall Day Garff (July 18, 1906 – March 14, 1997) was a Utah businessman who owned several automobile dealerships along the Wasatch Front. Biography Garff was born in Draper, Utah, Draper, Utah. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ o ...

. He attended the

David Eccles School of Business The David Eccles School of Business is located on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City, Utah. The school was founded as the "School of Commerce & Finance" in 1917 and subsequently changed its name to "School of Business" in 1927, althou ...

at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

. He graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in 1966 and an MBA in 1967.

Career

Business

The Ken Garff Automotive Group is a large car dealership conglomerate, founded in 1932 by Garff's father. The company or one of its dealerships, according to a January 2004 survey conducted by Dan Jones & Associates, was the second-most mentioned car dealership by Utahns when asked to name a car dealer. On October 18, 2007, the David Eccles School of Business announced that the automotive group donated $3 million to renovate the Garff Building. In 2007, Garff launched a program to significantly expand the size of his dealer network with the backing of Jefferies Financial Group. At that time, the Garff Automotive Group had 40 dealerships in Utah, California, Nevada, Texas, Iowa and Indiana. In addition to his family's automobile dealerships, Garff served in other business and civic roles. He was chairman of

Intermountain Healthcare Intermountain Healthcare is a not-for-profit healthcare system and is the largest healthcare provider in the Intermountain West of the United States. Intermountain Healthcare provides ambulatory and acute health services, along with other medi ...

and chairman of the board of directors of the Deseret Book Company. He was also the owner of the

Utah Blaze The Utah Blaze was a professional arena football team based in Salt Lake City, Utah and competed in the West Division (AFL), West Division of the Arena Football League. Home games were played at the EnergySolutions Arena. In 2013, the team did ...

Politics

Garff served as speaker of the Utah House of Representatives from 1985 to 1987. He was chairman of the Salt Lake

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...

, and chairman of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

Awards

For his service and leadership in the community, Garff was given the Distinguished Utahn Award by the Salt Lake Chapter of the BYU Management Society in 2008. In 2021, he was posthumously awarded the Giant in our City award by the Salt Lake Chamber for his service and impact in the Salt Lake community, particularly in education. This award also recognized his wife, Katharine, who received the award.

Personal life

Garff was married to Katharine (Kathi) Bagley, with whom he had five children, including politician

Melissa Garff Ballard Melissa Garff Ballard is an American politician and music educator serving as a member of the Utah House of Representatives for the 20th district. Elected in November 2018, she assumed office on January 1, 2019. Early life and education Ballard ...

. He served in various callings in

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 Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

, including

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

and stake president. From 1987 to 1990, Garff served 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 ful ...

of the church's

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Coventry Mission. He later served as a member of the church's

Sunday School A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

General Board in 1991 and as a regional representative, beginning in 1992. In 2003, he became an area seventy, serving in the Fifth Quorum of the Seventy. From 2012 to 2015, he served as

of the

Bountiful Utah Temple The Bountiful Utah Temple is the 47th operating temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Bountiful Temple is the eighth temple constructed in the state of Utah. History The history of the temple site began back in 1897, w ...

. Garff died of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in Salt Lake City, Utah, on March 29, 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Utah The COVID-19 pandemic began in the U.S. state of Utah in early March 2020 with travel-related cases. Residents stockpiled goods, large conferences were made remote-only, postponed, or cancelled; a state of emergency was declared, and some public ...

References

External links

Ken Garff Automotive Group official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garff, Robert 1942 births 2020 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Utah American Mormon missionaries in England Area seventies (LDS Church) Mission presidents (LDS Church) Regional representatives of the Twelve American automobile salespeople Businesspeople from Salt Lake City Politicians from Salt Lake City David Eccles School of Business alumni Arena Football League executives Sunday School (LDS Church) people 20th-century Mormon missionaries American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Temple presidents and matrons (LDS Church) Recipients of the Paralympic Order Latter Day Saints from Utah Speakers of the Utah House of Representatives Republican Party members of the Utah House of Representatives