66 UTAH INTERNATIONAL: A BIOGRAPHY OF A BUSINESS “father’s wish that, if anything happened to him, Marriner become head of the company.” The board’s subsequent selection of Eccles as company president was astute in any case. Self-assured, thoughtful, broadgauged in his thinking, and intellectually challenging of his associates, Eccles was such a formidable financier that the government named the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D.C., after him in 1982 to honor his long tenure as chairman of the “Fed.” Born in Logan, Utah, on September 9, 1890, Marriner was the eldest son of Ellen Stoddard Eccles and industrial magnate David Eccles, one of Utah Construction’s founders. Marriner was twenty-two when his father died suddenly, leaving behind diverse and extensive holdings in banking, lumber, railroads, sugar, food processing, and livestock, in addition to the Eccles interest in Utah Construction. Stepping forward to manage those assets, Marriner soon controlled a large portion of his father’s enterprises. Financier Marriner S. Eccles (left) was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to lead the Federal Reserve System. Simultaneously, Eccles served as Utah Construction’s president.