President Ezra Taft Benson, who served The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as church president and general authority for more than 50 years, died Monday at 2:35 p.m. at his home of congestive heart failure. He was 94.
The church's 13th president, President Benson had been in frail health during his last years. He last spoke in general conference in October 1989. He attended several sessions since then but did not speak. His last public appearance was at his wife's funeral nearly two years ago.With President Benson's death, the church's First Presidency has been dissolved, according to established procedure, and the Council of the Twelve is now the governing body of the church. President Ben-son's counselors, President Gordon B. Hinckley and President Thomas S. Monson, have taken their places within the 14-member council.
Some time soon, following President Benson's funeral, council members will sustain a new church president. If historical precedent holds, the council's senior apostle and president, President Howard W. Hunter, 86, will succeed President Benson as the church's 14th president.
Details of President Benson's funeral, which will be held in the Tabernacle on Temple Square, were pending early Tuesday.
The rural Idaho native filled his life with a distinguished career not only in his church but also in national politics and the agriculture industry.
Called to the church's Council of the Twelve in October 1943, President Benson became president of that quorum on Dec. 30, 1973, when President Spencer W. Kimball became church president following the death of President Harold B. Lee. President Benson became church president on Nov. 11, 1985, upon the death of President Kimball.
In 1952, U.S. President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower named then-Elder Benson to become U.S. secretary of agriculture. After counseling with then church President David O. McKay, Elder Benson accepted the political appointment and gained a national reputation during his eight years in office for his unshakeable resolve during turmoil in the agriculture industry.
The son of George T. and Sarah Dunkley Benson, President Benson was born Aug. 4, 1899, in Whitney, Idaho. The doctor attending the birth questioned whether the baby would live, but priesthood blessings from his father and subsequent alternating immersions into pans of cold and warm water "brought forth a husky yell to the joy of all," as President Benson later related the experience based on recollections of those present at his birth.
The oldest of 11 children on the 40-acre family farm, he learned to drive a wagon team at age 4 and was given increasingly heavy re-spon-sibilities as he grew older. At age 14 he took the major share of responsibility for the farm's pasture land and dairy herd while his father served a two-year mission for the LDS Church.
Young Ezra's perseverance came to the fore when, at 16, he single-handedly thinned an acre of a neighboring farmer's sugar beets in one day with a short-handled hoe - a feat grown men had trouble with.
His boyhood experiences with a close-knit, hard-working family shaped the way he structured his own family life years later. "We sang together, played together, prayed together, worked together and stayed together. . . . We played basketball and baseball, and we went swimming, ice skating and horseback riding." Camping, fishing and hunting trips were also part of his early life.
He was an active Aaronic Priesthood holder and student and graduated from the Oneida Stake Academy in 1918. He became a Scoutmaster, the beginning of a long and distinguished career of service to the Boy Scouts of America, an organization that would later bestow its highest awards upon him.
In 1919, young Ezra began studying agriculture at Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University) in Logan, where he met his future wife, Flora Amussen. After two years of school, he served a two-year mission in the British Isles and returned with thoughts of marriage. Instead, he went alone to Brigham Young University to continue his education while his future bride served a mission to the Hawaiian Islands.
He graduated with honors from BYU in 1926 and received a scholarship to Iowa State College, which he accepted after he and Flora were married on Sept. 10, 1926, in the Salt Lake Temple. That same day, in a second-hand Ford pickup truck, the couple headed to Ames, Iowa, where they lived on $70 a month for a year while he completed work on his master's degree.
Sister Benson died Aug. 14, 1992. She was 91.
In 1927, they returned to the family farm in Idaho, which he and his brother had purchased. Two years later, he became a county agricultural agent for the University of Idaho Extension Service. He worked for a year in Preston before accepting a job as extension economist for the university's College of Agriculture in Moscow, Idaho. A year later he was named head of the school's newly formed agricultural economics and marketing department.
Although his early career was fast-moving, it merely initiated what would become nearly a dozen different moves for the family as President Benson's civic, educational and church responsibilities grew. In 1933, he became a member of the Boise Stake presidency. He was called as stake president four years later. During that time he received a year's leave of absence to do graduate work at the University of California.
In 1939, he was appointed executive secretary of the National Council of Farmers Cooperatives in Washington, D.C., a federation of 4,600 cooperative marketing and purchasing organizations. He accepted a call as president of the newly created Washington Stake in 1940. The family lived in Washington for four years until President Benson, on July 26, 1943, received a call from President Heber J. Grant to be an apostle. The family returned to Salt Lake City, but Washington would beckon him again within the decade.
Church service and high-level Scouting responsibilities occupied his time for three years. Then, in early 1946, he was appointed president of the European Mission, with specific instructions to attend to the spiritual and physical needs of church members in the war-torn region.
He returned from the assignment later that year and again immersed himself in church work and Scouting until November 1952, when Eisenhower offered him the Cabinet post as secretary of agriculture. Elder Benson again headed for Washington.
It was during his eight-year service there that his steadfast implementation of free-market eco-nom-ic principles brought both praise from conservatives and strong condemnation from the nation's liberal agricultural community, which depended heavily on farm price supports.
While in Washington he and his family of two sons and four daughters were examples of family solidarity. He and his wife were also considered by visiting dignitaries and Cabinet officers to be gracious hosts, despite their determination that Word of Wisdom standards prohibiting the consumption of alcohol, tea and coffee be adhered to in their home.
During Secretary Benson's administration, he traveled throughout the world, exploring foreign agricultural achievements and methods. He frequently used his Sundays during those trips to visit members of the church as a member of the Council of the Twelve. He also received 11 honorary doctorates, many of them during his time as agriculture secretary.
Many other honors came his way during those years, including being named trustee of the Robert A. Taft Memorial Foundation, being awarded four George Washington Honor Medals by the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, receiving the highest decoration bestowed by the Italian government and being named to the Hall of Fame of the Saddle and Sirloin Club of Chicago.
Elder Benson returned to Utah and to full-time responsibilities with the Council of the Twelve in January 1961. But his time in Utah was again somewhat short-lived as he was again called as president of the European Missions in 1963 and worked in Frankfurt, Germany, for two years.
In 1966, he rededicated Italy to missionary work and organized the Italian Mission. He continued to travel in his church responsibilities and was assigned to supervise church work in Asia in 1968, a task he continued until 1971.
In 1975, Brigham Young University organized the Ezra Taft Benson Agriculture and Food Institute to benefit developing countries. In 1978, President Benson received an award for Distinguished and Meritorious Service from the American Farm Bureau Federation.
For several years prior to becoming prophet, President Benson served as president of the Quorum of the Twelve. During addresses to church members worldwide, he spoke repeatedly during those years of the importance of the Book of Mormon.
Since becoming church president, his favorite topic has been the importance of reading and studying the Book of Mormon - one of the four standard works of the church. A comprehensive cross-referencing system for all of the church's scriptures, including the Bible, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price and the Book of Mormon, was completed during his tenure as prophet.
A staunch defender of freedom, President Benson was known for his emphasis on devotion to God, family and country. He is the author of nine books.
The Bensons have six sons and daughters: Reed A. Benson, Provo; Mark A. Benson, Beverly (Mrs. James M.) Parker, both of Salt Lake City; and Beth (Mrs. David A.) Burton, Frankfurt, Germany, where her husband is serving as president of the Germany Frankfurt Mission; Barbara (Mrs. Robert H.) Walker, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; and Bonnie (Mrs. Lowell L.) Madsen, Littleton, Colo.
President Benson has 34 grandchildren and more than 60 great-grandchildren.