Gary Served as Mayor of North Ogden from Jan. 1998 – Dec. 2001 and again from Jan. 2006 – Dec. 2009.

Gary Harrop moved to North Ogden when he was in high school and soon after, left to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He then attended college and soon met his wife Linda who had lived in North Ogden her entire life. That’s when they decided they wanted to raise a family in North Ogden.

Gary served on the city council for North Ogden and also served as Mayor of the city for two separate terms. His goal when he served was to stay within the budget and to serve the city. He focused his efforts on parks and family entertainment. He remembered the old North Ogden pool as a great place for his own children to spend summer days and so he led the effort to have the North Shore swimming pool built for our community.

The pool served two purposes in his mind. First, it is a great place for families and children to spend their days during the dog days of summer and it also serves as a place for young people to have job opportunities that might not otherwise have that chance.

Gary also led the effort to build the new fire station in North Ogden. He toured the state looking at other fire stations and brought ideas back to help with the process. This was typical for Gary. He wanted to always do what was best for the city. He also helped North Ogden build the senior center and the museum, both still widely appreciated today. The museum helps this publication every month with our history stories. Gary pulled together volunteers of local historians who put our museum in place. It is a great place to learn about the history of North Ogden.

When the roads widened and changed years ago, it took out the locally famous water stump that had been piping water out of an old stump for many years. People traveled from all over to taste that delicious fresh water and Mayor Harrop wanted to retain that history and public resource. He and city council members decided to find a North Ogden tree that they could base a cast statue from and have the water run from that stump likeness. He used his contacts as a temple architectural designer for the LDS Church to have the current stump made by the man who created the Angel Moroni, the Gold statue with a trumpet you see atop LDS Church Temples. That stump is where you will find the same delicious water today in front of Lee’s Marketplace.

Finding himself a widower after serving as Mayor, he met and married Nancy Reed who was also widowed. Nancy told me that Gary was well known for his kind acts of service. As mayor, he would drive around town and find unique or special Christmas decorations at homes and he would stop in and give them a certificate to honor their efforts. He even got local businesses to give gift cards to the certificate winners. He was also known to carry a snow shovel in his trunk and he would stop and help older folks clear their walks if needed. He was known as someone who didn’t hold a grudge even against opponents and always wanted to show support for those in charge.

Gary lived an exemplary life as a professional and civil servant but most importantly as a family man who loved God. Gary Served as Mayor of North Ogden from Jan. 1998 – Dec. 2001 and again from Jan. 2006 – Dec. 2009.