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Show Times Newspaper Wednesday, December 8, 1999 Page 12 Orcm Mayors (from front page) that some 22 years later, he would become the Mayor of the Town of Orem. IVAN JAY BURR Scion of the first settlers of Burrville, Utah, Ivan Jay Burr was born to Henry U. and Caroline Beal Burr in December, 1889. He lived the life of a typical farm boy in a community, where many of the settlers ran dairy cattle and made butter and cheese from the milk. Over the years, many members of the Burr family moved away from Burrville, seeking better economic opportunities. One of those was Ivan J. Burr, who re-located to the Provo Bench early in this century. Inspecting this arid community, supporting less than 900 people at the time, Burr found some acreage in the southwest section, which he could buy and put his plow into the rocky soil. As other settlers had done, Ivan J. Burr planted an assortment of fruit trees, a couple of walnut trees, and some raspberries and strawberries. The early years of laying out his farm and bringing his berries and fruit trees into profitable production were difficult, but rewarding. Ivan J. Burr was one of those men at that time, whose typical costume included a straw or felt hat, overalls, overshoes or rubber boots, and a shovel. Those were the essentials for a day-time watering turn in the irrigation ditches which cris-crossed cris-crossed the Bench. A flashlight was added to the costume for a night-time watering turn. Early on, Ivan met a pretty young school teacher who was teaching at the local Sharon Elementary School, and they were married. Her family recalled that Nellie Mitchell Burr was a beautiful housekeeper and one of the world's best cooks. During those early years, living on the Provo Bench, irrigation canals and ditches were extended to meet the agricultural needs of incoming settlers, and a few wells were dug, rather unsuccessfully. Although fruit trees and produce would thrive, it seemed to become increasingly more difficult to gain access to a pure glass of water to drink. Although he had but an eighth-grade eighth-grade education, Ivan J. Burr had a keen intellect, and was well-known well-known for planning ahead for eventualities. Thus, when it came time for the incorporation of the Town of Orem, in order to finance the construction of a culinary water system for the community, Burr could support that effort. In 1919 the Town of Orem was incorporated, and for the next 13 years two Town Board PresidentsMayors-Snow and Gillman-directed the affairs of the Town. Ivan J. Burr took an active interest in the affairs of the town. He became the president of several irrigation canal companies, as well as being the instigator and organizer of the Utah Berry Association, and President of the Orem Chamber of Commerce. In 1931 J.W. Gillman was completing his first seven years of service as Town , Board PresidentMayor of Orem. In the municipal election that fall, Ivan J. Burr was elected Town Board PresidentMayor of Orem, along with B.M. Jolley, Ivern Pyne, A.V. Washburn, and Erven Hooley, Town Board Trustees. One of the first hems of business for the new administration was the appointment of V. Emil Hansen as town clerk; E.H. Calder, town auditor; and A.H. Christensen, town attorney. The administration of Ivan J. Burr saw the Town of Orem hit hard by the national Depression. The Town Board was made responsible for the distribution of food and clothing to needy citizens under the United States welfare program. During Burr's administration, the Town of Orem owned no building which it could use for a town hall or for storage of relief supplies. Therefore, the government- issued wheat was stored in,; aad issued, from Mayor Burr's barn. Men came in droves to get flour for hungry families, when shipments came in. Often times, citizens, living under the pressures of the Depression became difficult to deal with, and the Mayor was called on to handle some difficult situations. In 1930 my uncle and aunt, Wilford and Edna Larsen, moved to Orem, buying a 10-acre fruit farm, just one-half a block east of the Ivan J. Burr home. With nearly adjoining fruit farms, the Larsens and the Burrs became well-acquainted. Little did I know that Mrs. Burr's husband was Mayor of the Town, or that, many years later, I would employ Ivan J. Burr as a rural carrier at the Orem Post Office. During the summers, as a child, when I spent a lot of time visiting with my aunt and uncle, I also became acquainted with the other children in the neighborhood. I remember stopping in, occasionally, at the Burr home, where Mrs. Burr would give us kids cookies and glasses of cold lemon-aid. Little did I know then, that Mrs. Burr's husband was the Mayor of the Town, at the time, and that, many years later, I would employ Ivan J. Burr as a rural carrier at the Orem Post Office! During those Depression years, many Orem citizens, who until that time, had been largely self-sustaining, self-sustaining, found themselves employed on construction projects, administered by the Work Projects Administration (W.P.A.) Perennial problems during the Depression years were delinquent water accounts. A number of residents were unable to pay their water bills, and as a result, in some instances, their water was turned off. It was during the Depression that Ivan J. Burr became employed by the Alpine .School,, District as a school bus driver. When students, at times, became unruly on his bus, Ivan would maintain strict discipline. And he also was known to wait for late students, running down the lane to catch the bus. During Ivan J. Burr's second administration from 1934 through . 1935, Orem voters approved, by 95 to 3, a $34,000 water improvement program. The Orem Metropolitan Water Board was created on September 16, 1935, with Emery McKellip, B. M. Jolley and A.H. Christensen, appointed members. Also, during the Burr administration, the wood stave pipe water mains were replaced with cast iron water pipe. The sidewalk on the east side of State Street, extending from 800 North to 800 South, was also constructed. Two hundred acres of land, including Canyon Glen, were purchased by Orem Town, and subsequently traded to Provo City, in exchange for its half interest in a jointly-owned spring. After serving his four years as Mayor of Orem, Burr turned the reigns of government over to Emery McKellip, who had served with him on the Town Board of Trustees. Ever active in civic affairs, Ivan J. Burr served a term on the SCERA Board of Directors. He also served as President of the Orem Lions Club, as well as earning a 20-year perfect attendance recognition. Along with his other duties, he also sold brooms to help the blind, as part of his Lions Club work. Some time, after I was appointed Orem Postmaster by President Harry S. Truman back in 1951, I had occasion to tell I.J. Burr about my need for a substitute rural carrier, whom I could use to replace my regular rural carriers, during their absences. "I drove a school bus for 26 years without an accident," I.J. said. "Would that qualify me as a substitute rural carrier?" -: When I realized that he was serious about the job, I hired him oo the spot. . I always looked fertftjMSc lfirhen Ike would be scheduled to deliver a rural route. He always seemed to enjoy the challenge of delivering the mail and seeing many of the people that he knew. In the fall Ike would often bring me a sack of English walnuts, which he had picked from the big tree in his back yard. During his later years, Ivan Burr enjoyed working on service projects with the Orem Lions Club. He, also, was active in the Orem Senior Citizen organization and was instrumental in planning and building the Orem Senior Friendship Center. Those who knew him well said, if they wanted to go somewhere with him, they had better be ten minutes early. Because of the value he placed on time, some said he could get things done, while other people were merely thinking about doing something. One day, when Ike was eighty, he telephoned his son, Dick: "Are you going to order any fruit trees, this year?" "No," Dick replied. "My wife1 says I'm too old to be planting more fruit trees." "Well," Ike said. "Order some forme." And Ivan J. Burr lived to pick delicious, ripe fruit from those very trees! One summer, when Ike was ninety-two years of age, his son found him standing in the very highest crotch of a tree, picking cherries. During his long and productive live, I suspect that there were not too many people who knew him that realized Ivan J. Burr had served a four-year term as Mayor of Orem. In a tribute given to Ivan J. Burr, at the time of his passing, it was said that "He loved the earth and all that it bore: fruit trees, shade trees, pine trees, pine nuts, good fertile soil, a fire burning in the hearth, fish in the stream, horses in the pasture, family home visiting, pitchy-pine wood. "One day, he was with a friend out in the forest, gathering wood for the winter fire. I.J. was driving through some pretty rough gullies and washes, and also over some good-sized boulders. He said to his friend, "Pick up that box from the floor of the truck. Don't let it bounce around!" "What is in it?" asked his friend. "Dynamite!" replied I.J." If I had to give a one-word description of Ivan J. Burr, I think the word "Dynamite" would do. very well. 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