Ex-legislator McAllister dies at 75

PROVO — Former Utah legislator LeRay McAllister, 75, died Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005, at the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.

Mr. McAllister, who died from complications of cancer, served as a Republican legislator for 24 years after being first elected to the Utah House of Representatives in 1974 and later serving three terms for the Senate.

During his tenure, Mr. McAllister served as the majority leader for the House of Republicans and as the chairman of the Senate Executive Appropriations Committee.

Mr. McAllister's passion for environmental causes made him the namesake for the state's LeRay McAllister Critical Land Conservation Fund, which provides grants to preserve open space throughout the state.

"The LeRay McAllister fund is one of his lasting legacies," said Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, who worked with Mr. McAllister on the Executive Appropriations Committee.

"In many ways I felt like LeRay McAllister and I engaged in the passing of the torch. LeRay and I would sit there through all those very long executive appropriation meetings, battling out the budget issues. I grew to have a very large respect for him because of that."

Mr. McAllister was also a professor of accounting at Brigham Young University. He received a doctorate degree from Arizona State University. He was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving as a bishop, high councilor and stake patriarch.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. on Monday at the Orem Cherry Hill Stake Center, 1700 S. 400 East, Orem.