John Valentine, Janette and Ray Beckham to receive Pillar of the Valley Award
State Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, speaks during a press conference at the Zions Bank building in Provo on Tuesday, April 29, 2014. Mayor John Curtis announced that the city will be purchasing 80 acres of land in Rock Canyon, ending a multi-decade land dispute and ensuring the preservation of the canyon.
Raymond Beckham and his wife, Janette Hales Beckham, stand in a meeting.
Utah State Tax Commissioner John L. Valentine
The late Ray E. Beckham and Janette Hales Beckham
Utah State Tax Commissioner John L. Valentine and Janette Hales Beckham and the late Ray E. Beckham have been selected to receive the 2019 Pillar of the Valley Award.
The Pillar of the Valley Award was created in 2011 to honor an individual or individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the business, civic, social, educational and cultural climate of Utah Valley.
“John Valentine and Ray and Janette Beckham are exemplars of the spirit of leadership and giving the Pillar of the Valley represents,” said Rona Rahlf, president and CEO of Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce. “These individuals have served the residents of Utah County for numerous years, changing thousands of lives around the state. Many people owe in part, their success, health and well-being to these great pillars of our valley.”
Valentine lives in Orem and graduated from Brigham Young University in 1973 with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Economics. He later earned a juris doctorate from the J. Reuben Clark Law School in 1976.
“I am absolutely flabbergasted they’d choose me,” Valentine said. “I am very, very honored. I can’t believe they’d consider me.”
In 1988, Valentine was appointed to the Utah House of Representatives and was elected that same year. He served until 1998 when he was appointed to the Utah Senate. While in the House of Representatives and Senate, he served on many committees and other appointments as well as the Senate president.
According to Rahlf, “Valentine was key in using a public-private partnership to purchase an interest in Rock Canyon, Utah. His actions are providing an open space easement for future preservation of this gateway to the rugged mountains east of Provo.”
Utah County also saw Valentine’s efforts in the preservation of the Cherry Hill barn and farm, where he served as counsel for the Taylor family in the preservation of this historical site and green space.
One of his greatest contributions has been using his legislative impetus for turning Utah Valley Community College into a university, according to Rahlf.
Valentine is the current commissioner of revenue and chairman of the Utah State Tax Commission. He has served in Gov. Gary R. Herbert’s cabinet from 2014 to the present. He was elected to the board of the Multi State Tax Commission in 2015. Valentine was elected to the board of the Federation of Tax Administrators in 2016 and re-elected in 2018. Commissioner Valentine and his wife, Karen, are parents of six children.
Ray Beckham and Janette Callister Hales Beckham have each invested most of their adult years in Provo and the Utah Valley community, according to Rahlf.
“In 1994, they became acquainted and later married after meeting in the parking lot that adjoined the Relief Society Building of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where Janette, a widow, was serving as the president of the Young Women organization of the church. Ray, a widower, was leaving the Joseph Smith Building where he was serving as a missionary in the Public Affairs Office of the church,” Rahlf said.
“It touched me most of all to be remembered with John Valentine,” Janette Beckham said. “I am flattered to be with him on the same team.”
In 1998, Ray and Janette Beckham were asked to serve on the church’s Olympic Committee in preparation for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games. Faith, family, freedom, education, politics, athletics and community service have been their priorities and have filled the lives of each of the Beckhams.
Janette was appointed and then elected to the Utah Legislature in 1988, just shortly after the untimely death of her husband Dr. Robert Hales to cancer. She was also called to the General Board of the LDS Church’s Primary organization. Being called as a counselor in the Young Women presidency and assignments to the boards of the Church Education System and Deseret Book ended Janette’s further availability for public office, according to her biographical information.
Having grown up in Utah Valley, Janette committed the then-UVSC where she served on the board and as chairman of the trustees as they dedicated a new library, gained full university status and hired President Matthew Holland.
“UVU has been my greatest passion,” Janette Beckham said. “It has meant a lot to me.”
Beckham added, “Titles are temporary, but it is a luxury to be remembered as a contributor, a booster, a friend, or a teacher.”
The late Ray Beckham had been a successful administrator and Ph.D. faculty member for 42 years at Brigham Young University. He was successful in organizing fundraising for the Marriott Center and football stadium as well as developing the Aspen Grove Alumni Camp, according to his biographical information.
His BYU commitment allowed a year in Washington working on the Reagan campaign and three years as a mission president in Calgary, Alberta. Ray valued his relationships and work at NuSkin Enterprises following his BYU retirement.
Following the Olympics, Ray Beckham dived into projects to enhance downtown Provo including support of the Crandall Historical Printing Museum.
“He enthusiastically gave support to the bond and the building the Provo Recreation Center,” Rahlf said. “His 90th birthday was celebrated there with the gift of a free outing to every fourth-grade student in the Provo School District.”
Valentine and the Beckhams join a long list of residents who have gone beyond the norm to make Utah County and its communities a better place to live.
Other former recipients include JoAnn B. Losee, Bill Hulterstrom, Gov. Gary Herbert, Becky Lockhart, the Woodbury family, Wilford Clyde, Harold R. Wing, Dallin H. Oaks, Ray Noorda, LaVell and Patti Edwards, Stephen R. Covey, and Alan and Karen Ashton. Blake Roney, co-founder of NuSkin was the first to receive the award.
They will be honored March 19 at the ninth annual Pillar of the Valley Gala, to be held at the Utah Valley Convention Center.
