- O. C. Tanner (person)
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"O.C. Tanner" redirects here. For other uses, see O.C. Tanner (disambiguation).
O.C. Tanner Born September 20, 1904
Farmington, UtahDied October 14, 1993 (aged 89)
Palm Springs, CaliforniaOccupation Founder, O.C. Tanner Co. Religion The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Spouse Grace Obert Clark Tanner (September 20, 1904 – October 14, 1993) was a University of Utah professor of philosophy, philanthropist, and founder of O.C. Tanner Co.
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Early life and education
Tanner was born in Farmington, Utah to Joseph Marion Tanner and Annie Vilate Clark. His mother was Tanner's second wife, and they spent their wedding night apart because of the Federal government opposition to polygamy. O.C. Tanner was the youngest of Annie's 10 children, and he would later publish her memoirs as A Mormon Mother: An Autobiography by Annie Clark Tanner. It details how his father, exiled to Canada because of his practice of polygamy, was a fading presence in the life of his son.
Annie struggled to survive financially, and O.C. felt a responsibility to contribute financially from an early age, doing odd jobs that included stoking furnaces at the university to pay his tuition. One of the persons whose fires he maintained showed him how to enter the jewelry business, and he started selling seminary graduation pins and class rings from the back of his car. He founded the O.C. Tanner Co. in 1927, while he was still an undergraduate—a company that is now one of the largest manufacturers of retail and corporate awards in the U.S. He married Grace Adams in 1931.
He completed his B. A. degree in 1929 at the University of Utah, his L.L.B., also from the University of Utah in 1936, his M.A. from Stanford University in 1937, and his J.D. degree from the University of Utah in 1967. He has received numerous honorary degrees from Utah universities and colleges. The family foundation endowed the University of Utah Obert C. and Grace A. Tanner Humanities Center.
Tanner took an interest in Mormon studies and once offered Fawn Brodie, famous for her psycho-biography of Joseph Smith, $10,000 for a similar biography of Brigham Young.
Professional Career and Awards
Tanner contributed enormously to Utah's cultural community, chairing the commission that planned the construction of Abravanel Hall, the Utah Art Center, and the restoration of the Salt Lake Capitol Theatre. He also served on the Utah American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, the Utah Symphony Board, and the White House Conference on Children and Youth.
Before his appointment as professor of philosophy, he was an instructor in Religious Studies at Stanford University from 1939 to 1944. He was the author or co-author of 10 books, including New Testament Studies, The New Testament Speaks, Christ’s Ideals for Living, and co-author of Toward Understanding the New Testament. His autobiography One Man's Journey: In Search of Freedom, discusses his views about his commitment to learning and freedom.
Tanner was a recipient of the National Medal of Arts and an honorary fellow of the British Academy, Oxford University, and Cambridge University. In 1978, he permanently endowed the Tanner Lectures on Human Values, which are presented annually at several universities in England and the United States. He enjoyed donating fountains, often to universities and hospitals, which can be found at the University of Utah, Stanford University, Westminster College, Primary Children's Hospital, among others.[1]
He died in Palm Springs, California.
His daughter, Carolyn Tanner Irish, converted to Anglicanism and is the 10th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah.
References
Sources
- Article on Tanner in the Utah Historic Encyclopedia
- Google Finance article on O. C. Tanner Co.
- Tanner biography on Signature Books Web site
External links
Categories:- 1904 births
- 1993 deaths
- American businesspeople
- American Latter Day Saints
- People from Farmington, Utah
- People from Salt Lake City, Utah
- Fellows of the British Academy
- Stanford University alumni
- University of Utah alumni
- University of Utah faculty
- Utah Democrats
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