Haven Barlow, longest serving state lawmaker in Utah history, dies at 100
JANAE FRANCIS, Standard-Examiner file photo
Haven J. Barlow, 94, stands next to a photo of himself on a timeline honoring him in the Haven J. and Bonnie Rae Barlow Manufacturing Building at the Davis Applied Technology College on May 12, 2016. Barlow was honored this week as the first Legacy Award recipient at the college. In the future, the award will carry his name.
LAYTON — A day after the death of Haven Barlow, the longest-serving legislator in Utah history, the accolades were coming in.
“Had a great outpouring,” his son Stewart Barlow — himself a member of the Utah House from Fruit Heights — said Monday.
Haven Barlow, 100, died Sunday at his home in Layton. He served a stint in the U.S. Navy during World War II but otherwise lived the bulk of his life in Davis County.
“He passed peacefully. He had family by his side so he couldn’t have departed in a better way,” Stewart Barlow said.
Haven Barlow has the distinction of having served the longest stint in the Utah Legislature in state history, with 42 years in all in the Utah House and Utah Senate, from 1953 to 1994. Accordingly, his death prompted a broad range of remembrances from Utah politicos.
Photo supplied, Jenn Barlow and Jesselie Anderson
Haven J. Barlow, circa 1994.
“Haven J. Barlow epitomized a dedicated public servant,” Gov. Spencer Cox said in a tweet.
House Speaker Brad Wilson tweeted that Barlow’s legacy will live on. “The impact Haven Barlow had on our state is impossible to measure. His contribution is eclipsed only by his warmth and love of others,” Wilson tweeted.
“What a life!” tweeted Utah Rep. Stephen Handy. “I had the opportunity to accompany this great WWII vet on an Honor Flight to Washington, one of the highlights of my life. Rest In Peace, Haven, and take a horseback ride for me.”
For Stewart Barlow, the remembrance was more personal, about how his dad related to others.
“He was just a fantastic father, treated everyone like they were his best friend,” the younger Barlow said. “Had a great sense of business, always treated people fairly and honestly in his business affairs and dealings.”
Photo supplied, Utah Senate
A photo from December 2021 of the commemorative coin issued by the Utah Senate to honor Haven Barlow, the former state lawmaker from Davis County who died Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022.
Beyond his service in the Utah House and Senate, Haven Barlow was a businessman with real estate and insurance dealings.
Last December as his 100th birthday on Jan. 4 loomed, the Utah Senate issued a commemorative coin to honor the longtime public servant, with the Senate seal on one side and the former lawmaker’s likeness on the other. On the occasion of his birthday last month, numerous friends and colleagues visited to pay their respects, giving the elder Barlow a chance to say hello and bid farewell, said his son.
“I think a lot of people were rooting for him to reach 100,” Stewart Barlow said. He said funeral arrangements are pending.
Haven Barlow, whose birthday coincides with anniversary day of Utah’s statehood, Jan. 4, had many accomplishments as a lawmaker. He was a driving force behind creation of the Utah Board of Higher Education and also was key in creation of what is now the Davis campus of Weber State University.
-
- Haven J. Barlow, 94, stands next to a photo of himself on a timeline honoring him in the Haven J. and Bonnie Rae Barlow Manufacturing Building at the Davis Applied Technology College on May 12, 2016. Barlow was honored this week as the first Legacy Award recipient at the college. In the future, the award will carry his name.
-
- Haven J. Barlow, circa 1994.
-
- A photo from December 2021 of the commemorative coin issued by the Utah Senate to honor Haven Barlow, the former state lawmaker from Davis County who died Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022.