Ivy Baker Priest | |
---|---|
California State Treasurer | |
In office 1967–1975 |
|
Governor | Ronald Reagan |
Preceded by | Bert A. Betts |
Succeeded by | Jesse M. Unruh |
30th Treasurer of the United States | |
In office January 28, 1953 – January 29, 1961 |
|
President | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
Preceded by | Georgia Neese Clark |
Succeeded by | Elizabeth Rudel Smith |
Personal details | |
Born |
Ivy Baker September 7, 1905 Kimberly, Utah, U.S. |
Died | June 23, 1975 Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
(aged 69)
Resting place | Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park 40°41′52.08″N 111°50′30.12″W / 40.6978000°N 111.8417000°W |
Spouse(s) | Roy Fletcher Priest Sidney Stevens |
Children |
Pat Priest 3 other |
Religion | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) |
Signature |
Ivy Baker Priest (September 7, 1905 – June 23, 1975) was Treasurer of the United States from 1953 to 1961 and California State Treasurer from 1967 to 1975.
Priest was born in Kimberly, Utah on September 7, 1905, to Clara Fernley and Orange D. Baker. Her father worked as a gold miner in Kimberly and later as a copper miner in the town of Bingham Canyon. She was active in politics from high school, when she worked to register voters in a mayoral campaign. She was a delegate to the GOP state convention in 1932, and ran for Congress in Utah on the Republican ticket in 1934, but lost.
On December 7, 1935 in Salt Lake City, Utah, she married Roy Fletcher Priest.
Beginning in 1944 she served for several years as Utah's Republican National Committeewoman, and in 1950 ran for Congress in Utah again and lost for a second time. During Dwight D. Eisenhower's campaign for president, Priest took charge of the women's division of the Republican National Committee and was credited with the successful drive to get out the women's vote, which totaled 52 percent of Eisenhower's victory margin.
She served as Treasurer of the United States under President Eisenhower from January 28, 1953 to January 29, 1961, during which time her signature appeared on all U.S. currency.
In 1967 she became national chairman of the Easter Seals.
On June 20, 1961 in Los Angeles, California, she married Sidney William Stevens.
In 1967 she was elected as a Republican to the office of California State Treasurer, serving two terms from 1967 until her death in 1975.
She died of cancer in Santa Monica, California on June 23, 1975. She was buried in the Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Utah.
She was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Priest was the mother of Pat Priest, an actress best known for playing Marilyn Munster in the 1960s television show The Munsters.