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Show of Orem. In 1981 he declined to run for another term as Mayor, saying, "Two or three terms is enough for any man." In the election that fall one of Orem's most active civic workers was elected Mayor of Orem. DeLance W. Squire, the Certified Public Accountant and head of Squire & Associates, outlined his platform: 1. Support the construction of the new Orem Community Hospital. 2. To attract strong, clean industries to our city. 3. To provide better opportunities for young people to obtain employment in Orem. 4. To work for a balanced tax base. 5. To improve working relationships between business and commercial interests of Orem City. "We should always keep in mind that substantially more than half of our city operations are paid for from property taxes and other taxes collected by this group," he stated. Mayor-elect Squire said that he would concentrate on putting the city's finances in order. During the election campaign, he had made an issue of the one million dollar error in the city's bookkeeping, occurring during the past year, which adversely affected the current year's budget Courteous and mild-mannered in ail his dealings with people, I would be surprised to hear anyone say they had ever seen DeLance W. Squire publicly express anger When he took office as Mayor of Orem, DeLance W. Squire had a wide base of support from the community. He had been active for many years in the Orem Chamber of Commerce, having served as a Board member for six years, and chairman of the Chamber's Industrial Development Committee. I, personally, felt privileged to have been a member of the Orem Kiwanis Club during the time DeLance W. Squire was a member and served as Kiwanis President. I, also, enjoyed serving with him on the SCERA Board of Directors for several years. For many years Orem City officials had unsuccessfully tried to entice the construction of a hospital in Orem to serve the burgeoning population. Mayor DeLance W. Squire was not only instrumental in making the Orem Community Hospital a reality. He also served as Chairman of its Board of Directors, after it was built. Mayor Squire was also the moving force behind mar.y other civic improvements. He had a gift of listening to presentations and arguments on different sides of a subject and moderating the conversation, so as to obtain a propitious outcome. He has been an untiring worker in his church, over the years, having served in both bishoprics and stake presidencies. Courteous and mild-mannered in all his dealings with people, I would be surprised to hear anyone say they had ever seen DeLance W. Squire publicly express anger. Several years ago, I was honored to receive from DeLance W. Squire a copy of a booklet, titled "Observations of Life, " written by his father, Loren DeLance Squire. The booklet contained an assortment of proverbs, quotations, stories and jokes which he had collected, during a half-century. One of DeLance W. Squire's father's observations in the booklet seems to describe how I believe his son feels about telling stories: "It is a poor story if: Some woman blushes with embarrassment; Some heart carries away an ache; Something sacred is made to appear common; A man's weakness provides the cause of laughter; Profanity is required to make it funny; A little child is brought to tears; Every one can't join in the laughter." After serving a memorable term as Mayor of Orem, DeLance W. Squire announced that he was "stepping down to be a husband again." He said, "My wife, Dot, assures me I'll never be entirely out of public service." He never spoke truer words. It wasn't very long, before he was again enlisted in the service of Orem, as the Director of the Orem Commission for Economic Development. Leaving his business in the hands of his associates, he moved his office into the old LDS Seminary building on 765 South State Street, and took up the cause of facilitating economic development in this community. For several years, until his retirement two years ago, DeLance W. Squire's office became an open door to a myriad of developers, investors and new business owners, wishing to become established in Orem. His expertise in finance, municipal government and civic development proved invaluable to those needing financing andor guidance through the maze of regulations and approvals which were usually Page 63 |