William Henrichsen Neff1

M, b. 22 September 1905, d. 24 March 2001
     William was born on Friday, 22 September 1905. He was the son of William Cyrus & Caroline [Henrichsen] Neff. William married Elizabeth Leggett, daughter of Augustus Wright Leggett and Emma Kay Carter, at Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah. He designed the gardens of the Mormon Church in Salt Lake. 23 April 1940, William and his wife, Elizabeth, were listed on the U.S. Federal Census at 1430 Holladay Blvd., Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah. Enumerated in this household were Wm. H. Neff [34 Utah[, his wife: Elizabeth [34 Utah] & Carolyn [6 Utah]. Highest grade completed: William was 3 years of college & Elizabeth was 3 years of Hifh School. In the prior week, he had worked 60 hours as a landscaper & Elizabeth 40 hours as a bookeeper. Their income was $4,126.00.2 William's wife, Elizabeth, died on 16 December 1991 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah, at age 86 years and 17 days, leaving him a widower.3 William departed this life on Saturday, 24 March 2001 at Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah, at age 95 years, 6 months and 2 days.

Family

Elizabeth Leggett b. 29 Nov 1905, d. 16 Dec 1991

Citations

  1. [S24] Utah Golf Association Hall of Fame, William H. Neff - Inducted, 2002
    William Henrichsen Neff was the foremost golf course architect in Utah during the first boom of golf course construction in Utah from 1950 through 1980. He designed and supervised construction of three country club courses, Oakridge, Alpine, and Bloomington, and they remain three of Utah's most playable and enjoyable courses.
    On the public side he designed and supervised construction of Bountiful Ridge, St. George Golf Club, Stansbury Park, Mountain View, the Canyon and Lake nines at Wasatch Mountain, the second nine at Davis Park, Cascade Fairways, Cottonwood Club, Fore Lakes, Westland Hills (later became Glenmoor), the mountain nine at Hidden Valley CC, the original nine at Park City, and Sweetwater.
    A landscape architect for over 20 years, he shifted focus to golf in 1954 when he helped implement architectural changes to the Salt Lake Country Club under direction of architect William P. Bell. He also worked with architect Ralph Plummer and contractor Enoch Smith in the redesign at The Country Club in 1960 when the interstate was built through the club.
    He became the on site contractor for architect William F. Bell in the construction of Riverside CC. In that capacity they became a team and built the second nine at Bonneville, and the courses at Mountain Dell and Rose Park. He then ventured out on his own and became Utah's premier home-grown golf course architect until he retired.
    He was one of the early members of the American Society of Golf Course Architects and helped write the by-laws for the organization and reorganize it into a professional and purposeful structuring. He invented a lawn-planting machine to seed many of his projects. He was a nurseryman and enjoyed growing trees and plants. He was proud of his landscape architecture work at the Los Angeles LDS Temple.
    His long time aide, Doris Taylor, said, "Bill was an artist. The earth was his canvas, trees and flowers were his palette, and cranes, trucks, front loaders, rakes and shovels were his brushes."
    He was born September 22, 1905 and died March 24, 2001. He married Elizabeth (Betty) Leggett and they had two daughters, Carolyn Dunn and Diana Gouge. He attended the University of Utah and graduated from the American Landscape School in Des Moines, Iowa. He was a member of the LDS Church and first president of the Holladay Lions Club. He was also a member of the Sugarhouse Rotary Club and president of the Utah-Idaho Nurseryman's Association. He was also a long-time member of the board of the Red Butte Garden and Arboretum. His architectural work and drawings are archived at the University of Utah.
  2. [S39] 1940 United States Federal Census, Salt Lake County, Utah - Enumeration District 18-2, sheet 8a, line 11.
  3. [S26] Social Security Death Index, Elizabeth Neff born: 29 November 1905 & died: 16 December 1991 Utah.
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