A citizen's senator, a fine statesman, a consumer advocate and environmental hero.
That's how colleagues, friends and even former political opponents described former U.S. Sen. Frank Edward (Ted) Moss, who died in his sleep Wednesday morning at 91 years old.
Sen. Moss represented Utah for 18 years as a Democrat in the U.S. Senate.
He was remembered Wednesday as Utah's most prominent Democrat, political science experts say. After all, he was involved in what many believe was the most exciting election in Utah history, beating former Utah Gov. J. Bracken Lee, a Republican who fell out of favor with his party and ran as an independent in the 1958 U.S. Senate race.
"Ted Moss slipped in with a majority of the vote in a staunchly Republican state and then went on to some other amazing victories," said J.D. Williams, emeritus professor of political science at the University of Utah.
Those would include taking on the tobacco industry, pioneering consumer protection laws on behalf of the nation's children, preserving lands in Utah as national parks and pushing through the Central Utah Project, which brought water to the growing Wasatch Front.
"It was he who took tobacco advertising off radio and television. It was he who (helped) pass many consumer protection laws, such as childproof packaging for medicines, making children's nightwear fireproof. He was the father of the Canyonlands National Park and other national park legislation affecting the state," said Dale Zabriskie, Moss' former press secretary.
Sen. Moss, an attorney after whom the federal courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City was named, championed conservation, consumerism and health care during three terms in the U.S. Senate from 1959-77.
"He was a citizen's senator. He kept a common touch; he never went away from his roots," said Milton Weilenmann, who was state Democratic Party chairman when Moss ran for the Senate the first of his three successful terms. "Lots of people go into the Senate and become U.S. senators, but he never really left Utah. He never went away from his roots. His heart was always at home . . . especially in the area of environmental concerns."
Sen. Moss admirers all point to the senator's stellar environmental record, including his efforts over 18 years to designate national parks across the nation.
Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt called Moss "a distinguished public servant who will be remembered for his . . . significant contributions in terms of our national parks and care for the elderly."
From the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: "Sen. Moss enjoyed a long and distinguished career and served the citizens of Utah and the United States with admirable distinction."
But Sen. Moss also butted heads with environmentalists, preferring a more pragmatic approach to land preservation that accommodated some development.
He was instrumental in the creation of Canyonlands National Park, but he also angered conservationists by refusing to phase out mining and oil and gas exploration and for not making the park bigger. He was instrumental in the protection of Rainbow Bridge National Monument, but again he fought environmentalists who wanted to build a dam to block Lake Powell's rising waters from reaching the famed natural bridge. Sen. Moss was a key figure in the expansion of Golden Spike National Historic Site, the creation of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and in turning back attempts to phase out lodging facilities at Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. And he was a champion of the Central Utah Project, the largest water development in Utah history, during its inception, and he was the primary force behind the Dixie Water Project that provided water that enables the St. George area to grow today.He was also a strong advocate of developing oil shales and tar sands, and in developing Western coal reserves. And he was an avid hunter who worked to protect the rights of sportsmen in matters of gun control.
At the same time, he was a leader in the fight against pollution and for coal mine safety, and he pressed many bills to increase environmental research and enforce environmental regulations.
Sen. Moss' maverick environmental approach was articulated in the 1964 Multiple Use Act, which he co-wrote, that first enabled the Bureau of Land Management to determine "best use" management strategies that included wilderness protection, recreation or industrial development.
He is survived by his wife, Phyllis Hart, 92, one daughter, Marilyn Moss Armstrong, and three sons, Edward, Brian and Gordon. He also leaves 14 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Sen. Moss was born in Salt Lake City on Sept. 23, 1911, to Maud Nixon and James Edward Moss, a Utah educator. He attended public schools, graduating from Granite High School in 1929, then went onto the University of Utah, where he received a B.A. degree magna cum laude in 1933. Enrolling in George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., he served as editor of the Law Review in 1936-37 and was awarded the juris doctor degree cum laude in 1937.
From then, he went on to become a member of the legal staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission, returned to Salt Lake City to begin a law practice, and in 1940 was elected as a city judge, from which he resigned in 1950 to become Salt Lake County attorney, a post he held until 1956, when he made his first attempt at statewide office in a race for the gubernatorial nomination of the Democratic Party.
Then in 1958 he made another run, this time for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate. After obtaining the nomination, he ran a campaign against sitting U.S. Senator Arthur V. Watkins, a Republican. Unexpectedly, Moss faced a three-way race against Watkins and J. Bracken Lee.The race, which Moss won due to a divided Republican vote, was described by The New York Times as "one of the most bitter campaigns in recent Utah history." His staying power over his next two terms in a heavily Republican state was considered highly unusual.
"He left a wonderful legacy for the people of this state and the people of this nation," said former Utah Gov. Cal Rampton.
A funeral will be held at noon Monday, Feb. 3, at the Federal Heights LDS Ward, 1300 E. Fairfax Road. A viewing will be held Sunday, Feb. 2, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Larkin Mortuary, 260 E. South Temple. Burial will follow in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.
Contributing: Jerry Spangler
E-mail: nharrison@desnews.com; dennis@desnews.com