The year was 1997 and Utahns were losing faith in the preparations for the 2002 Winter Olympics. The organizer of Utah’s successful bid had resigned. An opinion poll showed that only 36% of Utahns believed the Games could be staged without leaving a debt for taxpayers.
It was against this bleak backdrop that the governor at the time, Mike Leavitt, appointed Robert “Bob” Garff to be chairman of the organizing committee’s board of trustees. What happened after that needs little description for anyone who lived through those days. Mitt Romney, who eventually came to the state to lead the Olympic effort, lists Garff’s “sound and principled leadership” during that time as his “most compelling” contribution to the state.
The games made a profit and left the state with a legacy so long-lasting that new leadership is now seeking a second Olympic bid.
For many people in Utah, the COVID-19 pandemic hit home Sunday with news that Garff became the third person in the state to die from the virus. He was 77, but that seems far too young for someone who meant so much to the community he loved.
Garff’s Olympic service was certainly not the only way he served the state. He came to the effort with an impressive record. He was speaker of the Utah House in the state Legislature from 1985 to 1987. He may have been best known to Utahns as chairman of the Ken Garff Automotive Group, named after his father. The family’s first car dealership was started in the midst of the Great Depression in 1932 and grew to include dealerships in five other states. Bob Garff spent many years working in the family business.
He also was a philanthropist, contributing generously to the University of Utah, where he had obtained a Master of Business Administration. He funded a building that is part of the business school, as well as a soon-to-be built “Ken Garff Performance Zone” that will be part of Rice-Eccles Stadium. He served as chairman of the board for Deseret Book Co., as well as of the Salt Lake Chamber. He also was a board member of Intermountain Healthcare.
He also served The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in many capacities, including as an Area Seventy and president of the Bountiful Utah Temple.
The death of this community giant leaves a giant void. It also serves as a grim exclamation point on the seriousness of the current pandemic. Garff and his wife, Katharine, had just returned from a trip to Palm Springs, California, when they fell ill and went into self-quarantine. A statement from Ken Garff Automotive said his wife is recovering at home.
“If we can assure the public we’re going to run the Olympics and size it to our revenue sources, that will bring confidence,” the Associated Press quoted Garff saying 23 years ago, adding, “Beyond that, our actions will speak louder than words.”
That seemed a bit preposterous at the time, but it now symbolizes the grit and spirit of a man whose legacy and actions will continue to bless Utah for years to come.