Robert H. Garff, chairman of Garff Enterprises Inc., the car dealership group founded by his father and a former speaker of the Utah House, died last week from complications of the coronavirus.
After driving back from a visit to Palm Springs, California, Garff and his wife Katharine were tested and confirmed positive for COVID-19, at which time they immediately self-quarantined. Robert Garff’s illness became worse and he was taken to a hospital where complications took his life on March 22. Katharine continues to recover at home in Bountiful, according to a statement from the Garff Automotive Group. The couple has five children and 21 grandchildren.
“Robert was a giant in the community, a pioneer in the auto industry and the biggest cheerleader to every employee at Ken Garff Automotive. Robert loved his family immensely and will be missed by them as well as his employees and many friends,” the Garff company release said.
Garff was notably the chairman of the organizing committee for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City when an international bid-buying scandal hit the Olympic movement.
“With profound sadness, I have learned that my friend Bob Garff has passed away from COVID-19. It breaks my heart,” said U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who was handed the reins of the organizing committee by Garff and other Utah leaders as the scandal broke. “The scandal that surrounded the Games could have overwhelmed our collective commitment, but Bob’s genuine goodness, clear-eyed optimism and can-do management experience helped to reignite our confidence and community spirit,” Romney said. “The Games were arguably the best ever, in large measure thanks to the character and care of Bob Garff.”
Fraser Bullock, the chief operating officer of the 2002 Olympics and the president and CEO of the new committee seeking a future Winter Games for Utah, praised Garff’s “calming influence” as the organizing committee under Romney worked to get the event back on track.
“Right when we started, we had a budget deficit and we had many people questioning how the organizing committee was going about its business,” Bullock said in a statement. “There was something about his gentle, kind nature that was an influence for good on all of us. In every single one of my interactions with him, you could feel his care for you, his concern for you, his kindness. He always had a smile. He was always calm and friendly, no matter what was going on.”
Garff was the leader of a family with a legacy of being involved in and giving back to the community. He and his family are very committed to education, founding the Keys to Success program to encourage Utah students to focus on education and build their futures. He was a major supporter of his alma mater, the University of Utah, helping fund a building for the David Eccles School of Business and the planned Ken Garff Performance Zone at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
He has held multiple community positions, including chairman of the board for the Deseret Book Co. and board member for organizations such as Intermountain Health Care, the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Utah Commission on Volunteers. In addition to his role as speaker of the House in the Utah Legislature, he was board member of First Security Bank and chairman of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, along with a number of positions with the American Cancer Society.
His business acumen earned him numerous accolades, including Dealer of the Year from the American International Automobile Association, the Distinguished Utahn Award from the Salt Lake Chapter of the BYU Management Society, and most recently, a spot in the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business Hall of Fame.
Garff was a lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with numerous callings, including bishop, president of the England Coventry Mission, stake president for students at the University of Utah, an area seventy serving the Fifth Quorum and president of the Bountiful Temple.