Calvin Rampton, former Utah governor, dies at 93
Family beside him as he dies peacefully
Funeral services are planned for 11 a.m. Friday at the Salt Lake Parleys LDS Stake Center, 1870 E. Parleys Canyon Blvd.
On Aug. 8 he suffered a stroke and earlier had been diagnosed with cancer. He was in hospice care, where family joined him Sunday after being alerted to his failing condition, daughter Janet Warburton said.
Son Tony Rampton added, "This was not a shock, and he passed away peacefully and without pain," he said Monday. "We were all there."
Son Vince Rampton said his father was in and out of consciousness during the afternoon and passed away a little after 6 p.m. "He gave a little smile and stopped breathing."
To a generation of Utahns, Gov. Rampton was simply "the governor," because of his 12 years in office.
Gov. Rampton served as governor from 1965 to 1977, winning three four-year terms. By many accounts, he brought Utah's government into the modern fiscal era, initiating the first major bonding/building program in the state's history and restructuring government for the first time since statehood. Much of the University of Utah's "new" campus, as well as other public higher education campuses, were constructed through his efforts. He started "Rampton's Raiders," a group of volunteer businessmen who traveled the United States drumming up economic and tourism interest in Utah.
A Bountiful native, Gov. Rampton retired from government service in 1977, returning to a private law practice.
Gov. Rampton ended his public career still loved by most Utahns, but one might not believe Rampton's political beginnings. He was rejected for office time after time. He lost three races for the state Senate, a race for state Democratic Party chairmanship and one that would have made him the Democratic national committeeman from Utah. He lost the Democratic U.S. Senate primary in 1962. In fact, he lost so many races in so short a span that some wondered what he was thinking when he entered the 1964 governor's race.
But it was a landslide Democratic year. Lyndon Johnson took Utah on his way to the presidency, the only time in the past 43 years that a Democratic presidential candidate carried Utah, and Gov. Rampton swung into office.
He ran on a pledge to change Utah government, and he didn't wait long. He proposed an ambitious bonding program of $67 million — an outlandish amount in the mid-1960s considering that 30 years later the Legislature is arguing over $100 million bonds.
Recent comments
I was in High School when he got elected to Govenor, and it seemed...
Jay Slaughter | Sept. 21, 2007 at 5:11 p.m.
I was in High School when he got elected to Govenor, and it seemed...
Jay Slaughter | Sept. 21, 2007 at 5:10 p.m.
I was in high school when Cal Rampton was elected so he was my governor...
M. Adams | Sept. 18, 2007 at 7:17 p.m.
