Spencer W. Kimball

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Spencer W. Kimball bigraphy, stories - President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Spencer W. Kimball : biography

March 28, 1895 – November 5, 1985

Spencer Woolley Kimball (28 March 1895 – 5 November 1985) was an American business, civic, and religious leader, and was the twelfth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The grandson of early Latter-day Saint apostle Heber C. Kimball, Kimball was born in Salt Lake City in 1895 but spent most of his early life in Thatcher, Arizona, where his father, Andrew, farmed and served as the area’s stake president. He served an LDS mission from 1914 to 1916, then worked for various banks in Arizona’s Gila Valley as a clerk and bank teller. Kimball later co-founded a business selling bonds and insurance which, after weathering the Great Depression, became highly successful. Kimball served as a stake president in his hometown from 1938 to 1943, when he was called to serve as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Like most LDS apostles, Kimball traveled extensively to fulfill a wide variety of administrative and ecclesiastical duties. Early in his time as an apostle, Kimball was directed by LDS Church president George Albert Smith to spend extra time in religious and humanitarian work with Native Americans, which Kimball did throughout his life. In 1974, following the sudden death of church president Harold B. Lee, Kimball became the twelfth president of the LDS Church. Kimball’s presidency was noted for the church’s 1978 announcement ending the restriction on church members of black African descent being ordained to the priesthood or receiving temple ordinances. There was also increasing emphasis from the LDS Church on all able-bodied male members serving missions.

Those who listened to Kimball speak publicly were often struck by his weakened, perpetually hoarse voice. Beginning in the 1950s, Kimball began experiencing symptoms of throat cancer, even though he had never smoked or used tobacco. He underwent numerous surgeries, biopsies, and radiation treatments on his throat and vocal cords, which resulted in lifelong impairment to his voice. When speaking to large congregations, Kimball often wore an additional ear-mounted microphone to help magnify his voice.

Legacy

The number of missionaries also greatly increased and a burst of temple building occurred. His book The Miracle of Forgiveness is one of the best-known church books within the LDS Church.

Early life (1895–1916)

Kimball was born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory to Andrew Kimball and Olive Woolley, sister of Mormon pioneer and eventual Mormon fundamentalist John W. Woolley. In 1898, when Kimball was three years old, his father was called as president of the St. Joseph Arizona Stake, and his family relocated to the town of Thatcher in southeastern Arizona.

During his childhood, Kimball suffered from typhoid fever and facial paralysis (likely Bell’s palsy) and once nearly drowned. Four of his sisters died in childhood, and his mother died when he was eleven. Though short in stature – he stood only as an adult – Kimball was an avid basketball player, and was the star and leading scorer on most of his school and recreational teams. During summer holidays, he often worked at a dairy in Globe, Arizona milking cows, cleaning stalls, and washing bottles for $50 to $60 per month, plus room and board.

Kimball graduated from high school in May 1914, and one week later was called to serve as a missionary in the Swiss-German Mission. However, less than two months later his mission call was halted by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the subsequent outbreak of World War I. Kimball was reassigned to the Central States Mission and spent most of his mission in the towns and rural settlements of Missouri, finishing in 1916.

Career and stake presidency (1925–1943)

In 1925, Kimball and Joseph W. Greenhalgh, a Latter-day Saint businessman who served as a bishop in one of the local wards, began a small securities business making and purchasing loans from local businesses and individuals. By 1927 the business was strong enough to become independent, and after investing $150 of his own money in the business, Kimball began running it full-time in Safford, Arizona as the "Kimball–Greenhalgh Agency", dealing in local insurance, real estate, debt collection, and bonds. Greenhalgh was much older than Kimball and was semi-retired, and had little to do with the agency’s daily management. The business suffered greatly during the Great Depression, and lost much of its capital between 1930 and 1933. In the mid-1930s, Kimball invested some of the agency’s capital in the creation of KGLU, the area’s first ever radio station. The station was a success and became part of NBC in 1940. Through continued work and re-investment of profits, the agency survived the Great Depression and became increasingly successful during the late 1930s and early 1940s. By 1943, Kimball’s initial $150 investment in the agency was worth nearly $100,000.