Pillar of the Valley Award recipients announced by the Utah Valley Chamber

The Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce has selected John L. Valentine, Utah County commissioner and chairman of the  Utah State Tax Commission, and Janette Callister Hales Beckham and the late Ray E. Beckham as the Pillar of the Valley Award recipients for 2019. They will be honored on March 19 at the ninth annual Pillar of the Valley Gala to be held at the Utah Valley Convention Center.

The Pillar of the Valley Award was created in 2011 to honor an individual or individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the business, civic, social, educational and cultural climate of Utah Valley, the chamber said. The gala attracts many key Utah business, civic and religious leaders.

“John Valentine and Ray and Janette Beckham are exemplars of the spirit of leadership and giving the Pillar of the Valley represents,” said Rona Rahlf, president and CEO of Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce. “These individuals have served the residents of Utah County for numerous years, changing thousands of lives around the state. Many people owe in part their success, health and well-being to these great pillars of our valley.”

Valentine graduated from Brigham Young University in June 1973 with a B.S. in accounting and economics and earned a juris doctorate from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU in April 1976. He went to work for Howard, Lewis & Peterson in Provo soon after graduation and worked there until 2014, becoming a managing shareholder in 2000. In 1988, Valentine was appointed to the Utah House of Representatives and was elected that same year. He served until 1998 when he was appointed to the Utah Senate, where he served as president.

Valentine was key in using a public-private partnership to purchase an interest in Rock Canyon, providing an open space easement for future preservation of a gateway to the mountains east of Provo. He was instrumental in the legislation turning Utah Valley State College into a university. 

Valentine is the current commissioner of revenue and chairman of the Utah State Tax Commission. He has served in Gov. Gary R. Herbert’s cabinet from 2014 to the present.   He was elected to the board of the Multi-State Tax Commission in 2015. Valentine and his wife, Karen, are parents of six children.

Ray and Janette Beckham both invested most of their adult years in Provo and the Utah Valley community. Both widowed, they became acquainted in 1994 and later married. Janette, while a widow, was serving as the president of the Young Women organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ray was serving as a missionary in the Public Affairs Office of the church.

In 1998, the couple asked to serve on the church’s Olympic Committee in preparation for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games. Faith, family, freedom, education, politics, athletics and community service have been the priorities and have filled the lives of the Beckhams.

Janette was appointed and then elected to the Utah State Legislature in 1988, shortly after the death of her husband, Dr. Robert Hales. She was also called to the general board of the church’s Primary organization. She also served as a counselor in the Young Women presidency and filled assignments to the boards of the Church Education System and Deseret Book. She served as a member and chairman of the Utah Valley University board of trustees.

Ray had been an administrator and Ph.D. faculty member for 42 years at Brigham Young University. He organized fundraising for the Marriott Center and football stadium as well as developing the Aspen Grove Alumni Camp. He worked on Pres. Ronald Reagan’s campaign and served as mission president in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 

Following the Olympics, Ray was involved in projects to enhance downtown Provo, including support of the Crandall Printing Museum and the building the Provo Recreation Center. Ray passed away in November.