A biographical overview of the life of Spencer W.
Kimball,
the twelfth President and Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ
Following is a brief
summary of some major events in the life of Spencer W. Kimball, the twelfth
President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Spencer Woolley
Kimball was born on March 28,
1895 to Andrew Kimball and Olive Woolley
Kimball. Spencer was the sixth of eleven children, and the third son.
- Spencer was the grandson of
Heber C. Kimball, one of the original Twelve Apostles and a counselor to
Brigham Young in the First Presidency. Andrew Kimball, Spencer's father,
served as the stake president of the St. Joseph Stake for 26 years.
- He was baptized on his eighth
birthday by his father. He was baptized in a hog-scalding tub that the
family also used as a bathtub. He was rebaptized
in a canal at age 12 due to questions about the propiety
of the tub baptism. Spencer's father was not in the water with him when he
was baptized in the tub.
- His mother died when he was
just eleven years old (1906).
- Spencer was raised on a small
farm in the Gila Valley
of eastern Arizona.
- He graduated with honors from
Gila Academy,
a church-owned high school, in 1914. While at the school, he was the
student body president and a star forward on the basketball team (despite
his diminutive size).
- From 1914 to 1916 (age
19-21), he served as a missionary in the Central United States
mission. His mission call was originally to the Swiss-Austrian Mission,
but the call was changed due to the unstable situation in Europe
surrounding World War I.
- After his mission, he
attended and graduated from the University
of Arizona, studying banking,
real estate, and insurance. He eventually became the manager-president of
Kimball-Greenhalgh Realty and Insurance Company.
- He married Camilla Eyring on November
16, 1917 (age 22).
- He was called to serve as the
2nd Counselor in the St. Joseph Stake Presidency on September 8, 1924 (age 29). It was his own father's death which necessitated a change in
this stake presidency.
- He was then called to serve
as the Stake President of the Mt. Graham Stake on February 20, 1938 (age 43).
- He was ordained an apostle by
Heber J. Grant on October 7, 1943
(age 48).
- In 1946 (age 51) he received
a special assignment from President George Albert Smith to work with the
American Indians. He was named chairman of the Church Indian Committee.
- In 1948, he suffered and
recovered from a serious heart ailment.
- In 1951, he lost his voice
through a serious throat ailment. His voice was restored following a
priesthood administration.
- In 1957, he was operated on
for cancer of the throat. One and one-half vocal cords
were removed. This operation saved his life but left him with a soft,
raspy voice.
- From 1964 until 1967 he
supervised the missionary work in South America.
- He was named Acting President
of the Quorum of the Twelve in 1970.
- He was set-apart as President
of the Quorum of the Twelve in 1972.
- He was ordained as President
of the Church on December 30,
1973 and was sustained by the membership of the Church on April 6, 1974. He chose as his
counselors in the First Presidency N. Eldon Tanner and Marion G. Romney.
- He dedicated the Washington,
D.C. Temple
on November 19, 1974.
- During his administration,
temple building and temple work greatly expanded. He announced and commenced the
construction of six temples in five years, this being more than a third as
many as the 17 built in the preceding 144 years of Church history.
- Under his direction, the
First Quorum of the Seventy was reconstituted in 1975. He later instructed that the Assistants
to the Twelve were to be released and called into the First Quorum of
Seventy.
- He created an “emeritus”
status for some general authorities, honoring them for their long and
faithful service but relieving them of the heavy responsibilities borne by
all general authorities.
- Under his direction, two new
sections were added to the Doctrine and Covenants in 1976. These sections included Joseph Smith’s
vision of the celestial kingdom and Joseph F. Smith’s vision of the
redemption of the dead. This was
the first formal addition to the church’s canon of scripture in 86 years.
- He eliminated auxiliary
general conferences, replacing them with regional meetings and area
conferences.
- In 1978 (age 83) he received
a revelation to extend the priesthood to all worthy males, regardless of
race.
- From 1979 to 1981, the new
LDS edition of the standard works was published.
- During his tenure, the
genealogical name-extraction program was instituted, wherein names of the
dead were collected much more efficiently by extracting them directly from
civil and church records.
- President Kimball stressed
simplification in many ways to save effort, time, time, travel, and
expense for church members. This simplification
included shortening general conference to two days, reducing the number of
stake conferences to two per year, and making meeting and interview
schedules more flexible. He also
introduced the new consolidation, unification, and simplification program
throughout the church, ultimately placing highest priority on the home and
family.
- President Kimball oversaw a
vast increase in missionary emphasis, with special attention given to the
three-quarters of the world’s population where no missionary work was
being performed. The number of
missionaries increased 36 percent during his administration.
- President Kimball introduced
profound organizational changes in church administration. This included clearly dividing
ecclesiastical responsibilities under the Twelve from temporal responsibilities
under the Presiding Bishopric, clarifying the role and administration of
the youth organizations, and redefining the roles of the Twelve and the
Seventy.
- President Kimball gave
special attention to the problems of women in today’s world, including
official statements on abortion and the proposed “equal rights amendment”,
organization of a women’s resource center, and the holding of the first
church-wide women’s meeting on a scale comparable to the general
priesthood meeting.
- President Kimball instituted
mass media methods of spreading the gospel, including a nationwide
prime-time television program on the family, a series of inserts in
Readers’ Digest, and a number of family-centered rallies featuring church
leaders and celebrities in entertainment and sports.
- President Kimball oversaw the
construction of the Orson Hyde
Memorial Gardens
on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem
to focus attention on the church’s particular interest and involvement in
that part of the world.
- He instituted the assignment
of general authorities as general auxiliary heads.
- President Kimball approved
the two-piece garment.
- President Kimball passed away
on November 5, 1985.
He was 90 years old.
- President Kimball's legacy as
an indefatigable worker is well documented. Two of his favorite
expressions were "DO IT!" and "Lengthen your stride!".
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