Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, honored Larry H. Miller in a U.S. Senate speech Wednesday, saying Miller was not only an amazing businessman and philanthropist — but also a history buff who loved his country.
"He fell in love with the Founding Fathers. I remember talking to Larry Miller about John Adams, about Thomas Jefferson," Bennett said. Once he promised to send Miller a book about Adams, but he forgot.
Bennett said that when he apologized to Miller, "He said, 'That is all right, senator. I went out and bought one on my own.' He followed through where I didn't."
Bennett said Miller followed through in other ways to help the people of Utah that most people would not do, including giving "money to community colleges to help people who were more like him in terms of their academic needs" than some philanthropists who give only to elite universities.
"Larry Miller is a true American success story," Bennett said, noting he began "in a parts department in an auto dealership — not a very auspicious beginning for someone who became extremely wealthy." But he said "he built a string of 40 auto dealerships" through "an incredible work ethic."
Bennett noted that Miller is best known as owner of the Utah Jazz, and for saving it from moving out of the state.
He said as the team was about to leave, Miller "bought the majority partner out, kept the Jazz in Utah, and then he presided over the revival of the Jazz," he said.
Bennett concluded, "He was generous. He was inventive. He was tenacious. The people of Utah have been more than blessed by the fact that he chose Utah as his home. We miss him terribly and extend our deepest sympathies to his family."
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