Gordon B. Hinckley's - Growth

Gordon Bitner Hinckley (June 23, 1910 – January 27, 2008) was an American religious leader and author who served as the15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from March 12, 1995, until his death. Considered a prophet, seer, and revelator by church members, Hinckley was the oldest person to preside over the church in its history.

Hinckley's presidency was noted for the building of temples, with more than half of existing temples being built under his leadership. He also oversaw the reconstruction of the Nauvoo Illinois Temple and the building of the 21,000 seat Conference Center. During his tenure, "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" was issued and the Perpetual Education Fund was established. At the time of his death, approximately one-third of the church's membership had joined the church under Hinckley's leadership.

Hinckley was awarded ten honorary doctorate degrees, and in 2004, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George W. Bush. Hinckley also received the Boy Scouts of America's highest award, the Silver Buffalo, and served as chairman of the Church Boards of Trustees/Education. Hinckley died of natural causes on January 27, 2008, and was survived by his five children. His wife, Marjorie Pay, died in 2004. He was succeeded as church president by Thomas S. Monson, who had served as his first counselor in the First Presidency, and, more importantly, was the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; therefore, according to LDS doctrine and practice, Monson was Hinckley's anticipated successor.

A multi-generational Latter-day Saint,^[4] Hinckley was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to prominent LDS writer and educator Bryant S. Hinckley and Ada Bitner Hinckley. He graduated from LDS High School in 1928. He grew up on a residential farm in East Millcreek. His home library contained approximately a thousand volumes of literary, philosophical and historical works.^[5] Hinckley was known for his optimism and plain-speaking. Hinckley attended the University of Utah, where he earned an undergraduate degree in English, and minored in ancient languages. He studied Latin and could read ancient Greek. Hinckley became a missionary for the LDS Church, an unusual occurrence for Depression-era Latter-day Saints. He served in the London-based British Mission from 1933 to 1935. He would later write the words for LDS hymn no. 135, "My Redeemer Lives".

Hinckley returned to the United States in 1935 after completing a short tour of the European continent, including preaching in both Berlin and Paris. He was given an assignment by his mission president, Joseph F. Merrill, to meet with the church's First Presidency and request that better materials be made available to missionaries for proselytizing. As a result of this meeting, Hinckley received employment as executive secretary of the church's Radio, Publicity and Missionary Literature Committee (he had received schooling as a journalist in college). Hinckley's responsibilities included developing the church's fledgling radio broadcasts and making use of the era's new communication technologies. Starting in 1937, he also served on the Sunday School General Board. After the Second World War, Hinckley served as executive secretary to the church's Missionary Committee. He also served as the church's liaison to Deseret Book, working with Deseret Book's liaison to the church, Thomas S. Monson. At various times, especially in the late 1940s, Hinckley was also a reporter for the Church News, a publication of the Deseret News.

In the early 1950s, Hinckley was part of a committee that considered how to present the temple ordinances at the Swiss Temple. The concern was how this could be done when a need existed to provide them in at least 10 languages; the concern was eventually solved through the use of a film version of the endowment. Hinckley's background in journalism and public relations prepared him well to preside over the church during a time when it has received increasing media coverage.

On April 29, 1937, Hinckley married Marjorie Pay (November 23, 1911 – April 6, 2004) in the Salt Lake Temple. They had five children, including Richard G. Hinckley, an LDS Church general authority since 2005, and Virginia Hinckley Pearce, a former member of the church's Young Women general presidency.

Another of their daughters, Kathleen Hinckley Barnes Walker, co-authored several books with Virginia, and ran an events company. Her first husband, Alan Barnes, died in 2001 and in 2004 she married M. Richard Walker. The Walkers served from 2005 to 2008 as president and matron of the Salt Lake Temple and lived in Preston, England, from 2011 to 2013, while Richard served as president of the Missionary Training Center.

Hinckley's other son, Clark, has also served in several church leadership positions, including stake president, as president of the church's Spain Barcelona Mission (2009 to 2012), and as the first president of the Tijuana Mexico Temple since December 2015.

On January 27, 2008, Hinckley died at the age of 97 while surrounded by family in his Salt Lake City apartment. According to a church spokesman, the death was due to "cause’s incident to age." The Deseret Morning News reported that Hinckley had just gone through a treatment of chemotherapy a few days earlier, and had "worked until the very end." The day following Hinckley's death, thousands of LDS youth in six states organized a social network campaign to dress in "Sunday Best" to honor Hinckley. Thomas S. Monson became the presidential successor on February 3, 2008. Funeral services were held on February 2, 2008, at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, to which tens of thousands attended. Hinckley was buried at the Salt Lake City Cemetery next to his wife, who had died almost four years earlier. Some of the soil that was used to bury him was imported from the grounds of the Preston England Temple in Lancashire; this was done because Hinckley had been a missionary in this region of England.