Uncategorized

B.M. Jolley, Orem Leudeii

Click to see original imageOrem mayor, state senator, president of the Chamber of Commerce, Lions Club president, educator, church worker – these were some hallmarks in the community service which distinguished the life of Bryant Manning “B. M.” Jolley. Mr. Jolley, 84, whose funeral services will be Monday, retired in 1959 after 43 years of service in the public schools – 3 years teaching, 19 as principal, and 21 as director of pupil personnel. His church and civic service did not end with retirement from his career in education, and many of his fine contributions came in his later years. “B. M.” will be remembered as a diligent and dependable man, persistent and conscientious to the last detail in seeing that things were done right. Always alive to happenings in the world and particularly on issues at home, he did not hesitate to express an opinion or let people lmow how he stood or to “get involved” if he thought he could contribute something. He,will be remembered as the top Orem municipal official at the time the community made the transition from “town” to “third class city.” Formerly known as “Provo Bench,” Orem was incorporated as a town in 1919. Mr. Jolley was serving as president of the town board when the community became a city of the third class in 1941. With this change he became Mayor Jolley. In those years, “B. M.” and his associates in the city administration were instrumental in laying foundations for Orem’s rapid growth which has seen the community climb from a population of 2919 in 1940 to the select circle of the state’s largest cities. Among the steps taken in the eight – year Jolley administration were purchase of the James G. Stratton home and grounds to establish the first Town Hall (site of today’s beautiful city center); appointment of a planning commission; designation and numbering of streets; road improvement and expansion; water system development; and cooperation in the Scera movement, with the theater – auditorium completed in 1941. It was in this era that Geneva Works was established, bringing “instant growth” that called for immediate and imaginative action on the part of the city officials in providing municipal services. B. M. Jolley was one of the good and influential men in Orem – a man who provided leadership in his time, and a guiding hand when it was needed. The Herald salutes him and in his passing, expresses condolences to his family. So They Say “The Devil is in the flesh, or so I was taught when I was growing up. I didn’t believe it.” -Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy magazine, complaining that modern society has separated the mind and bodyplttlag them against each other.