Norman Howard Bangerter (nicknamed "Norm") was the 13th Governor of Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

 from 1985 to 1993. He was the first Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 elected to the position since 1965.

Biography

Bangerter was born in Granger, Utah (now West Valley City) to William Henry Bangerter and Isabelle Bawden. His older brother W. Grant Bangerter

William Grant Bangerter

William Grant Bangerter was a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1975 until his death. In 1989, he was given general authority emeritus status and released from active duties....

 served as a General Authority

General authority

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a general authority is a member of certain leadership organizations who are given administrative and ecclesiastical authority over the church...

 of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Bangerter married his wife, the former Colleen Monson, in 1953. The two had six children. He received a bachelors degree from Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...

 in 1955.

Prior to his election, Bangerter founded a successful construction

Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...

 firm that specialized in building homes. He served in the Utah House of Representatives from 1975 to 1985 and as Speaker

Speaker (politics)

The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...

 of that body from 1981 to 1985.

During his tenure as governor, Bangerter dealt with the flood

Flood

A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...

ing of the Great Salt Lake

Great Salt Lake

The Great Salt Lake, located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah, is the largest salt water lake in the western hemisphere, the fourth-largest terminal lake in the world. In an average year the lake covers an area of around , but the lake's size fluctuates substantially due to its...

 and its tributaries by approving the construction of large, US$60 million pumps to channel excess water from the Great Salt Lake onto the Bonneville Salt Flats. This was initially successful, yet caused some controversy when the lake's water level fell in later years, and some regarded the idle pumps as wasteful.

Bangerter's "foremost interest was improving the state's educational system".

After his retirement as governor, Bangerter returned to his construction firm and served for three years as president

Mission president

Mission president is a priesthood leadership position in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . A mission president presides over a mission and the missionaries serving in the mission...

 of the South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

 Mission

Mission (LDS Church)

A mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a geographical administrative area to which church missionaries are assigned. Almost all areas of the world are within the boundaries of an LDS Church mission, whether or not Mormon missionaries live or proselytize in the area...

 of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1996 to 1999.

The Bangerter Highway (SR-154), which opened in 1998, was named after the former governor, who had long supported such a road.

In 2008, Norman Bangerter was appointed to the Governing Board for the national children's charity Operation Kids

Operation Kids

Operation Kids is a public 501 nonprofit organizationfounded in 1999 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Operation Kids provides customized philanthropic services at no cost to donors seeking to give money to children's organizations....

.