On Saturday, the farmer and former principal/mayor/state lawmaker died after complications due to cancer. He was 74.
McMullin served in the Utah House from 1977 through 1982 and in the state Senate from 1983 through 1992.
"The community will miss him, and I'll miss him," said former Gov. Norm Bangerter, a longtime friend and colleague. McMullin "was not motivated by personal interest. I always felt he tried to do the best for everybody in the state."
As a Republican legislator, McMullin pushed the west-side highway that bears Bangerter's name. He also championed education and other transportation projects, the former governor noted.
McMullin cut his political teeth as a South Jordan planning commissioner and City Council member. After retiring from the Legislature, he was elected South Jordan mayor in 1997 and served four years.
A fourth-generation resident of the burgeoning suburb, McMullin loved to work his five-acre farm and care for his horses, recalled son-in-law Tom Christensen.
"He had a lot of teaching moments with [his grandchildren] there," Christensen said. McMullin considered his greatest accomplishment to be "his family," Christensen added.
McMullin and his wife, Renae, reared five children and had 31 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They were married 54 years. Dix McMullin lived 30 more days after his wife died during heart surgery last month.
The former legislator came to the Utah House with an education background. He earned bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Utah in education. He taught elementary school, counseled high school students and served as a school administrator, including as principal of Kearns High.
Mike Dmitrich, a Price Democrat who recently retired from the Legislature, praised McMullin for his ability to reach across the aisle and work with Democrats and Republicans alike.
"If he had a cause, he really believed in it," Dmitrich said. "He was firm, but very gentlemanly in everything he dealt with."
Plus, Dmitrich added, McMullin was a "good friend" and a "good guy."
