Dan E. Garvey, Governor

INTRODUCING ARIZONA'S NEW GOVERNOR, WHO HAS LONG RECORD OF PUBLIC SERVICE, AN INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF AFFAIRS OF STATE AND WHO HAS NEVER LOST SYMPATHY AND CONSIDERATION FOR THOSE LESS FORTUNATE.

Dan E. Garvey, governor of the state of Arizona, was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, June 19, 1886. His mother's people were southerners. His father, born in New York, was the son of Irish immigrants. Even today in his speech and mannerisms, Governor Garvey possesses the graciousness of the southerner, the friendliness of the Irish. Many people in Arizona call him by his first name. He is that sort of a person. In the hectic days of a primary campaign, regardless of the candidate you supported, you had to admit that Dan Garvey was a mighty nice person, a gentleman at all times, courteous, considerate and kind.

He was educated in the parochial schools of Vicksburg and in 1901 was graduated from St. Aloysius Academy. His ambition was to be a professional baseball player but he had one handicap. He was too small. The plenty of Irish in him was not enough to overcome the handicap of size. To this day his interest in sports is a consuming one. When the pressure of his official duties lets up, there is seldom an athletic event in town where you will not find the governor in there rooting for 'em.

When he left school he went to work in a dry goods store.

Then he became a clerk in the law office of John Brunini. One of the first letters he received upon his election as governor was a congratulatory message from Mr. Brunini. That reveals another trait of Governor Dan: when he makes friends, he keeps them.

Law was interesting, but not interesting enough to keep Dan Garvey in a law office. He went to work for a telephone company and then in 1903 entered the employ of the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad Company. He liked railroading and decided to stay with it. He served his apprenticeship with Y. & M. and then went to work for the Alabama and Vicksburg. A lively, bright boy with a head for figures, he rapidly advanced in the clerical and accounting department and became night yardmaster. When a better opportunity was offered him by the Randolph Lines in Tucson, Dan Garvey and a friend came west. He arrived in the Old Pueblo December 30, 1909. Arizona was then a territory, young, vigorous, growing. Not a bad place for a young man to come to who wanted to get ahead in the world. The cattle herds were moving, the great copper mines were being developed. There was big Talk about reclamation and irrigation by folks up in the little town of Phoenix. Tucson wasn't big but it was growing. And if you were a railroader you were right in the middle of the whole thing. That is where Dan Garvey found himself. The general offices of the Randolph company were in Tucson, and there Dan settled. To this day he claims Tucson as his home. The company operated a line from Bowie to Miami, one from Tucson to Cochise and Courtland, one from Tucson to Maricopa, and were building a line into Mexico. Shortly after he arrived in the territory, however, he was about to move to San Francisco when destiny in the person of a charming and attractive young lady by the name of Thirza J. Vail intervened. Miss Vail was the daughter of Zachary T. and Carrie Vail, pioneer cattle people of Pima County. Miss Vail proved a greater attraction than San Francisco to the young clerk in the railroad office. They were married February 2, 1912. They had three children: Annette, tragic victim of an automobile accident a few years ago; Dorothy, married and living in Phoenix; and Danny, student at North Phoenix High School. He is a sophomore.

Governor Dan's duties as accountant with the Randolph Lines kept him busy and kept him on the move. He worked for the company in Tucson, Nogales, Phoenix, Empalme in Sonora, Globe, Naco, hardly more than a year or so in each place, acquiring a wide knowledge of the state and a keen insight into the problems confronting all businesses. He lived in Empalme from August, 1914 to July, 1915, when the Revolution was raging and workers on the railroad were protected by arm guards. What we know now as the Southern Pacific of Mexico was pushing its steel rails from Nogales toward Guadalajara. Empalme was an exciting place then. Governor Dan recalls with a smile one early December when the wives of railroad employees went to Nogales to do their Christmas shopping. They returned in February. Floods hadwashed away several bridges and transportation stopped. In 1922 Dan Garvey became traveling accountant for the company. In July, 1927, he was transferred to the general offices of the Mexican line in Guadalajara. He and his family returned to the United States in November, 1927, when he became ill. He did not return to the company.

His experiences in Sonora and his knowledge of the West Coast of Mexico, gained with the railroad, are of inestimable value to him now not only in international relations and friendship but in the understanding of the close bonds of business between Arizona and our southern neighbors. One can rest assured with during the regime of Governor Dan Garvey. Sonora and Arizona will be closer than they have ever been.

Shortly after returning from Guadalajara, Dan Garvey was appointed Chief Deputy County Assessor of Pima Coun-ty under Harry Drachman. That was the beginning of a long career of public service to the people of Pima County, Tucson and Arizona, which culminated in his election as governor. With the exception of a short period in 1929 when he engaged in the automobile business, Governor Garvey held public of-fice in Pima County or with the City of Tucson in several elective or appointive offices. Variously, he was Chief Deputy County Treasurer, County Treasurer, member of the Tucson City Council and Treasurer for the City of Tucson. These years of experience as a city and county official in Pima County and Tucson gave him a deep understanding of taxa-tion, public financing and public service. That the people of his county admired him personally and valued his ability is shown by the support he received from them for governor. On December 31, 1938, he was appointed Assistant Sec-retary of State by Harry Moore. When Mr. Moore died in November, 1942, Governor Osborn appointed Garvey Sec-retary of State. He was re-elected to that important office by the people of the state in 1944 and 1946. Dan Garvey become acting governor upon the death of Governor Osborn in May, 1948, and when the law of suc-cession was voted by the people in the November primaries, he became governor to fill the term of Governor Osborn. That the people had confidence in him was indicated by his success at the polls last election. He was then elected governor. To the important position as Chief Executive of the State of Arizona, Dan Garvey brings a pleasing personality, a wide knowledge of public affairs gained from a distinguished career in public office, plain common sense and a deep sympathy for the needs of the many. Arizona is in good hands. - R. C.