An 'institution in his time'

Sen. Harold Giss, D-Yuma, was one of the most dedicated, influential, productive and accessible political leaders of his day, at a time when Arizona was just beginning its explosive growth and had to deal with the complexities of a rapidly expanding state government.

Giss served 25 years - 1948-1973 - in the Arizona State Legislature, 12 as Senate majority leader and seven as minority leader.

Considered a parliamentary expert, Giss was sought out by colleagues on both sides of the aisle for his knowledge, wise counsel and skill in moving bills through the legislative machinery. Hundreds of legislative acts on behalf of reclamation, agriculture, industry, the judiciary and public education bear his stamp. Giss devoted almost all his time and energy to the legislative process.

As time went on, he paid less attention to managing The Emporium, a general store that he operated in Yuma for years, eventually going bankrupt. Although it caused him great embarrassment, his beloved public persona was not altered.

Giss was in office when he died of a massive heart attack in 1973, at age 67. It happened suddenly while he was visiting an Indian Village at the Yuma County Fair with his wife Goldie and son, Jerry. There was shock and an immediate outpouring of grief throughout the state from family, friends, colleagues in the Legislature, state government officials, the capitol press corps, plain citizens and constituents.

An observant Jew, Giss helped start a small synagogue in Yuma and served as president. When the decision was made to hold his funeral in his hometown rather than the Capitol Rotunda in Phoenix, some thought of the synagogue as an ideal location. Unfortunately, it was too small to accommodate the expected turnout of mourners. Aware of the problem, his friend Monsignor Richard O'Keeffe, a former legislative lobbyist for the diocese, offered the use of Yuma's Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.

More than 1,300 mourners filled the church to capacity while another 200 waited outside to see the casket carried out by six uniformed highway patrolmen on its way to burial at the Desert Lawn Park Mausoleum. The funeral had all the pomp and ceremony reserved for the highest state officials. Above all, it was a Jewish service.

All Catholic images in the church were covered, a large menorah and Mogen David were installed and Rabbi Albert Plotkin officiated. Plotkin, then rabbi at Temple Beth Israel in Phoenix, remarked at the funeral that it was an historic occasion for a Jew to be given the final rights of his faith in a Catholic church. "It was fitting," he said, "in the case of Harold Giss, who drew no religious lines or religious distinctions."

James Osborn, a friend and co-publisher of the Yuma Daily Sun, delivered a eulogy that best summed up Harold Giss as a political leader and a man:

"Harold Giss was, without question, an institution in his time. He was the Senate to a very large degree. No problem was so small as to be denied his intense attention and no matter was too formidable. As a human being, he was marked by his unfailing courtesy, his decency and his genuine consideration for others."

Ira Morton, who has been an Arizona resident since 1957, is an author and veteran journalist.

Home