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Show James Levi Myers, Former Track Great, Deail at 78 James Levi Myers, Sr., 78, died March 10, 1985, at a West Valley City hospital of a massive heart attack. He was born July 25, 1907, Fanguitch, to Commodore Seguine and Rebecca Adams Myers. He married Ora Excell, Sept. 25, 1929, in Richfield; later solemnized in the Logan LDS Temple. He was a member of the Granger Second Ward and was employed by Eimco Corp for 23 years as a machinist, retiring in 1973. Mr. Myers was a track great of the 1920s and 1930s and a 1981 inductee into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame. During his running career at Utah State Agricultural College (now USU) and in international competition, Mr. Myers set several records and achieved world class status. During a track meet at BYU in 1931, he clocked a 47.8-second quarter mile, a conference record that was not broken for 32 years. That run put Mr. Myers within two-fifths of a second of a world record. In the same year he competed for the United States against Great Britain in the two-mile relay and was the only American to win his segment of the race. He qualified for the 1932 U. S. Olympic track team but couldn't afford the trip to Palo Alto, Calif, to train for the Los Angeles games. Survivors: wife, West Valley City; sons, daughters, James Levi, Jr., Ned D., bdth West Valley City; Mrs. Gaydon L. (Elva) Mortensen, West Jordan and Mrs. Lawrence R. (Gwen) Brown, Woodruff; 21 grandchildren; 22 greatgrandchildren; sisters, brothers, Clark Dickinson, Richfield; ArDell Dickinson, Annabella; Mrs. Charles A. (Hope) Stillman, Taylorsville; Mrs: Joy Kennedy, Salt Lake City; Mrs. DeLoy (Mary Jane) Jacobson, Elsinore. Funeral services were Wednesday in the Granger Second Ward chapel. Additional services will be Thursday at 11 a.m. in the Panguitch Third Ward chapel where friends may call after 9:30 a.m. Interment will be in the Panguitch Cemetery by Neal S. Magleby and Sons Mortuary, Richfield. |