Salt Lake's skyline was barely a blip 48 years ago.
It was back then, in September, that Larry Dansie started his first day of work as a carpenter for a newly formed company called Layton Construction. He was one of the first three employees hired by company founder Alan W. Layton.
"Larry was actually our first employee with some knowhow. I was impressed that he was intelligent and a hard-working guy," Layton said.
The year was 1953. Ike was president. The Cold War was escalating. And scientists James Watson and Francis Crick had just published their findings on the structure of a relatively unknown molecule known as DNA.
Here in Utah, Dansie was busy framing buildings.
"At about that time 39th South was the edge of the city. Seventh East was up in the boonies," Dansie said.
Most of Dansie's work that first year centered around small, miscellaneous jobs and home construction. But that would soon change as the Wasatch Front entered a new period of growth.
"Probably the first really big commercial job we did was the Utah State Prison cannery," he said. "That's where they executed Gary Gilmore, you know."
Soon Dansie's work included schools and commercial buildings.
A stair tower at Whittier School.
The courthouse in Farmington.
An airport fire station.
A dock at ZCMI.
A Buddhist church in downtown Salt Lake.
"I love the smell of sawdust," Dansie said, explaining why he chose to be a carpenter as he looked back after his recent retirement. "My mother says that I started out real early, because behind the bedroom door, one doorjamb was all beat up with a hammer."
By the time he was in middle school, summers were spent working for his uncles, who were carpenters by profession.
"My father was an electrician, and his philosophy was that I would build them and he would do the electrical," he said.
After serving as a foreman, Dansie was leading Layton's operations as superintendent by the mid-1960s, overseeing subcontractors and making sure the finished product was on time and on budget.
"Everybody liked to work with him," Layton said, adding that Dansie was often the first man on the job site and the last one to leave at the end of the day.
"He loved to come to the project first thing. You can tell a lot about your people by the way they respond. Some people can't get out of bed in the morning. Larry was always well ahead of the project. He was organized. He knew what he was going to do that day," Layton said.
During the next 35 years as superintendent, Dansie would oversee work on dozens of building projects, including BYU's Cougar Stadium (now LaVell Edwards Stadium), Eagle Gate apartments in downtown Salt Lake City, Olympus High School and Primary Children's Medical Center.
He also oversaw quality control on the South Towne Exposition Center, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Conference Center and Salt Lake County Adult Correction Facility.
But perhaps the most meaningful building to Dansie was the LDS Jordan River Temple, completed in 1981.
"It was a challenging job," Dansie said. "It was kind of a tough time for supplies right then. Building materials had gone skyward. Concrete had about doubled in price. Blacktop was hard to get, and it had doubled in price. They had decided to pave the parking areas about a year in advance to beat the costs."
Not all jobs went so smoothly.
While working on the Harold B. Lee library at BYU, a student parked his car in front of a construction gate, blocking the entrance. One of the construction workers tried moving the small Volkswagen out of the way when a campus security guard appeared on the scene.
"The security man got on his phone, and they were going to handcuff him," Layton said. "Well, Larry was up on the top floor of the library and looked down and saw these security guys wrestling our employee."
Coming to the employee's defense, Dansie found himself in handcuffs.
"I got a call at the office, 'You really got a problem down here,' they said. Of course, it was all resolved," Layton said.
Today Layton Construction, which has more than 900 employees and building projects in 16 states, owes its success to honesty and quality, Layton said. "The strength of our company is the strength of people like Larry Dansie."
And Dansie, who was offered other jobs throughout his career but turned them down, remained loyal to Layton.
"I've been treated very well. I don't think I could have bettered myself," he said.
Last month Dansie, now 80 years old, worked his last day for Layton Construction.
"I like my work. I'd like to go another 10," he said.
E-MAIL: danderton@desnews.com