President Thomas S. Monson, chosen in 1985 at age 58 to serve in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will serve as first counselor to President Gordon B. Hinckley.
One of the church's most popular speakers and writers, President Monson has devoted most of his life to full-time church service. His sermons, anecdote-laced and embellished with numerous literary references, are often cited by others.In 1950, at age 22, he was called to succeed John R. Burt as bishop of the 6th-7th Ward of the Temple View Stake. When Bishop Burt, who had been named to the stake presidency, was asked who should replace him as bishop, he recalled, "I was silent for several minutes, and the stake president finally said, `If you can't think of someone to succeed you, you must not have been a very good bishop.'
"I finally told him I was taking my time because I was trying to figure out how to explain to him why I thought a 22-year-old kid should replace me as bishop," Burt recalled.
The same year he became a bishop, President Monson became an advertising executive for the Deseret News.
With a penchant for early leadership established, President Monson became a stake president at 27, and at 32 he was named president of the Canadian Mission. Four years later, he became a member of the Council of the Twelve, and in 1985 he was called to the First Presidency as the youngest man in a century to serve in that capacity.
On Oct. 7, 1948, he married Frances Johnson in the Salt Lake Temple. They had met and courted while college students. President Monson earned a degree in marketing from the University of Utah in 1948 and later earned a master's degree in business administration from Brigham Young University, taking classes while serving full-time as a church representative.
The Monsons have three children, Thomas Lee Monson, Ann Frances Monson Dibb and Clark Spencer Monson.
Among Latter-day Saints, President Monson stands as an example of a man who began life in humble circumstances and rose in the church and in his profession through his own efforts.
Born on the west side of Salt Lake City on Aug. 21, 1927, he was nourished by his parents, G. Spencer and Gladys Condie Monson, in traditions of family unity and service to fellow men. His mother was generous by nature and often gave food to needy people passing through their neighborhood.
President Monson gained an appreciation for the elderly through his association with a grandfather, and as a young bishop, he paid particular attention to the needs of many widows who were on his ward rolls. Many of them continued to receive annual visits long beyond his term in the bishop's office.
"He has always been a special friend of the underdog," said Wendell Ashton, former publisher of the Deseret News, who had both business and church associations with President Monson. "He always went out of his way for the down-and-outers, for those who had some type of tragedy touch their lives."
One of President Monson's most rewarding experiences as a church leader came from his effective efforts to get permission for a temple behind the Iron Curtain. His determined negotiations with officials of the East German Democratic Republic ultimately came to fruition in a temple in Freiberg.
While he was organizing the Dresden Mission in 1969, President Monson was touched by the faith of the members, especially their commitment to genealogical work. "I felt impressed as I stood before them in Dresden to promise them that if they were faithful, they would enjoy every blessing that membership in the church provides in any country of the world," he said.
Though political realities conspired against significant expansion of the church in that area, the way ultimately was opened. As he prepared to dedicate the temple in June 1985, President Monson told local members, "This is the greatest day in my life, a day I have prayed for for 14 years."
President Monson worked in advertising for some time and eventually became general manager of Deseret Press before becoming an apostle in 1963. He is board chairman of the Deseret News Publishing Co. and has guided the newspaper and the church printing service through an era of significant growth.
He also is a past president of Printing Industry of Utah and a former board member of Printing Industry of America. He serves on the boards of several businesses.
He has been a member of the Pioneer State Theater Foundation Advisory Board and a board member and trustee of Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge. He is a former officer of the Alumni Association of the University of Utah and was named a U. distinguished alumnus in 1966. He has served as a member of the executive committee and board of trustees of Brigham Young University and the Church Board of Education and as a member of the Utah Board of Regents.
Since 1970, he's been a member of the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America, and in 1978, the organization awarded him the Bronze Wolf and Silver Buffalo honors for his service to youths. Catholic Community Services of Utah presented him its community service award in 1994. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan named him to a task force to encourage voluntarism.