Governor
Dan E. Garvey
(1948-1951)
"Dan Garvey was 45 before he worked for a government agency, but he devoted thenext 38 years to public service. He was a railroad acountant whenhe came to Arizona Territory in 1909 and continued in that capacity, except for a brief business venture, until he entered public employment as deputy Pima County treasurer in 1931. Garvey became Pima County treasurer in 1935, and Tucson city treasurer in 1938. He came to Phoneix in 1940 as assistant to Secretary of State Harry M. Moore, adn was appointed secretary of state upon Moore's death in 1942. That appointment, by Gov. Sidney P. Osborn, was Garvey's stepping-stone to the governorship.
As secretary of state, he became governor when Osborn died in May, 1948. A well known and popular state official, Garvey won re-election as governor on the Democratic ticket in 1948. Garvey presided over one of the most amazing growth periods in Arizona history, 1948-1951. But a large majority of Arizona newcomers were Republicans, and they made this a bona fide two-party state for the first time, electing Howard Pyle governor in November, 1950.
Dan Garvey was born June 19, 1886, at Vicksburg, Mississippi; and was graduated from St. Aloyius College. He went ot work for the Illinois Central Railroad; and came to Tucson in 1909 as an accountant for the Randolph Railroad, Co., a company later absorbed by the Southern Pacific Company. He entered the automobile businesss, but it failed during the early Depression, and he was hired by the Pima County treasurer's office in 1931. Garvey became known throughout Arizona during the next two decades as a dedicated public servant. At the end of his elected term as governor, he was appointed Arizona administrator for the Federal Reconstruction Finance Coporation. In 1955 Gov. Ernest W. McFarland appointed him state examiner, a post which he held until his retirement in 1969. He died at age 87, Feb. 5, 1974."
Goff, John F. Arizona
Biographical Dictionary. Black Mountain Press. Cave Creek,
Arizona 1983.
p. 268
Daniel E. Garvey collection, 1917-1974 (bulk
1938-1950)
MS
CM MSS 40
Biography of Dan E. Garvey
CB BIO GAR,DAN
Dan Garvey Photograph Collection
CP DG
