Family announces funeral services for former Gov. Norm Bangerter

SALT LAKE CITY — Funeral services for former Gov. Norm Bangerter will be held Saturday at the Salt Lake Community College campus in West Jordan, a family spokesman announced Wednesday.

The service is scheduled for 12 p.m. in the LDS Institute Building on the community college's Jordan campus, 3431 W. Wights Fort Road (9191 South) in West Jordan.

A viewing for the late governor, who died Tuesday after suffering a stroke, is set for Friday, from 5-8 p.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' South Jordan Parkway Stake, 9894 S. 2700 West, in South Jordan.

"This is very fitting to who Gov. Bangerter was and his wishes," said the family spokesman, Utah Commissioner of Higher Education Dave Buhler. Buhler worked for Bangerter and ran his 1988 re-election campaign.

Past governors have lain in state at the Utah State Capitol, and at the Governor's Mansion when the Capitol was being renovated, so the public could pay their respects, but Bangerter won't.

Gov. Gary Herbert ordered all flags on state-owned facilities to be flown at half-staff to honor Bangerter, who served two terms as governor from 1985-1993. The flags will be lowered from sunrise Thursday through sunset on Monday, April 20.

"We essentially want to do whatever is deemed appropriate based on the family's wishes and whatever has been done in the past to pay our respects for his service to the state," Herbert spokesman Marty Carpenter said.

Historian Ron Fox said three past governors have lain in state, Cal Rampton, Scott Matheson and George Henry Dern, who later served as U.S. secretary of war under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Fox said Roosevelt attended Dern's funeral in Utah.

"It's really the family's choice," Fox said, noting that 10 of the 13 Utah governors who have died did not have a state service. Bangerter likely didn't want such a service, he said.

"He just may have said, 'No, I don't want that honor,'" Fox said. "Knowing him, he probably would have rather had a simple service or a simple farewell."

Wednesday, former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and other leaders remembered Bangerter.

"If any politician deserves to ride a highway to heaven, it is Gov. Norm Bangerter," said Romney, who headed the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and now calls Utah home again.

He said he and his wife, Ann, enjoyed Bangerter's "counsel and friendship during the 2002 Olympic preparations and in my campaigns thereafter. Now, when we drive along the highway named in his honor, we will honor him in our hearts as well."

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, who, like Bangerter, served as a speaker of the Utah House, said it was a "great privilege" to have been in the Legislature while Bangerter was governor.

"Norm's service to the state of Utah is unparalleled. He made hard decisions when it mattered most and he set a strong example of wise action in the face of opposition," Bishop said.

Senate President Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, said the state senators who worked with Bangerter as governor treasure their memories.

"Those of us that came along later are grateful to live in a state that is better, to a significant degree, because of his vision and hard work," Niederhauser said. "Gov. Bangerter's influence will be felt for generations."

Salt Lake Chamber President and CEO Lane Beattie, who was elected to the Senate while Bangerter was in office and later became a Senate president, called Bangerter "a shining example of honor and public service" who was focused on making Utahns' lives better "rather than his political standing."

Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams, a Democrat, said he met with Bangerter before running for county mayor in 2012. The GOP leader spent several hours in his home offering advice, McAdams said.

"He gave me some great advice that I took to heart," McAdams recalled. "He said to be true to myself, seek to do good in the community and try to bring people together."

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