Nancy Workman, Salt Lake County’s first mayor, dies at 79

In this Sept. 22, 2004 file photo, Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman answers questions in an editorial board meeting at the Deseret News in Salt Lake City. Workman died May 3 at her home in St. George, according to an obituary. She was 79. | Deseret News archives

SALT LAKE CITY — Nancy Workman, Salt Lake County’s first mayor, has died, family members say.

Workman, 79, passed away peacefully May 3 in her St. George home, according to her obituary. A cause of death was not released.

After serving as Salt Lake County’s recorder for six years, Workman was elected as the county’s first and only Republican mayor in 2001. She served until September 2004.

She faced controversy at the end of her term as mayor when Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocom charged her with felony misuse of public money based on the hiring of two employees who were paid by the county but worked at the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Valley under the supervision of Workman’s daughter.

Workman’s supporters contended that the accusation was politically motivated. Yocom maintained politics played no part in his decision to file criminal charges against the former mayor.

She was acquitted in February 2005 after more than seven months of investigation. She had been forced to be placed on administrative leave from being mayor during the ordeal, she withdrew from her reelection bid to fight the charges and survived a six-day trial in which a jury declared her not guilty.

Workman said then she broke her own rule and shed tears as she was acquitted.

“I have a rule left over from my childhood: You don’t let them see you sweat, and you never let them see you cry,” she told the Deseret News after the trial.

Several months later, she said: “We can all go through it saying ‘that’s not fair,’ but you just shake it off and keep going. I feel good now. I was just obsessed with the trial for so long. I feel vindicated.”

After the debacle, Workman, then in her 60s, got her contractor license and continued consulting work with a handful of companies, advising them on government issues.

She and her husband built what family members described as a multimillion-dollar construction company, Workman Construction Co. Workman also led the Sandy Chamber of Commerce from 2006 to 2010.

Family and friends plan to gather to scatter her ashes by her late husband’s at Cherry Creek on May 16.

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