Elder Victor Lee Brown, presiding bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 13 years and later a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, died early Tuesday at his Salt Lake home following a lengthy illness. He was 81.
Elder Brown served from 1961 to 1972 as second counselor to Bishop John H. Vandenberg in the Presiding Bishopric and was sustained on April 6, 1972, as the 10th presiding bishop of the church.He served as presiding bishop until being called to the First Quorum of the Seventy April 6, 1985. He was president of the Salt Lake Temple from June 1985 to August 1987 and was named an emeritus general authority Oct. 1, 1989.
During his service in the Presiding Bishopric, Bishop Brown organized the translation, printing and distribution facilities of the church that involved nearly every continent and numerous languages. The organization later became part of the church's Internal Communications Department, now Materials Management.
He was appointed to the Deseret News board of directors in 1965, then again in 1970 - an appointment he held at the time of his death. He also was a member of the board's executive committee. On recent occasions, some meetings were held at his home.
In being called as presiding bishop of the church, Bishop Brown said he felt almost overwhelmed with the "immensity of the responsibility having to do with the youth of the church throughout the world."
It wasn't long before he had set one of his goals: "To further the feeling of brotherhood among the young people all over the world, because it is through the gospel of Jesus Christ that they will be able to achieve the ultimate lesson, which is eternal life."
At the time he was presiding bishop, that office had responsibility for the Aaronic Priesthood and the Scouting programs. He was also chairman of the Welfare Department and Church Health Services Corp.
Elder Brown was born July 31, 1914, in Cardston, Alberta, Canada, to Gerald Stephen and Maggie Calder Lee Brown. He attended school in Cardston from 1921 to 1930. After school, he ran errands and waited on customers in his father's hardware store."One of the things my father taught me was the importance of integrity," Elder Brown once said.
In the mid-1930s, while Elder Brown was still in his teens, the family moved to Salt Lake City, where he attended South High School. Although he had been an average student in Cardston, he was valedictorian when he graduated from South High in 1932. He then attended LDS Business College and the University of Utah.
He married Lois Ashton Kjar in the Salt Lake Temple Nov. 13, 1936. They are parents of five children. His family, with their spouses listed in parentheses, are: Victor L. Brown Jr. (Mareen); Gerald E. Brown (Janice); Joanne K. Soderborg (Steven); Patricia L. Glade (Larry); and Stephen M. Brown (Peggy). Sister Brown died Sept. 17, 1989. Two brothers, Emmett Lee Brown and Ross Lee Brown, are also deceased. Elder Brown has 26 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
Elder Brown was hired by Uni-ted Airlines in 1940, beginning work as a reservations agent in Salt Lake City. That work was the beginning of a successful business career with the airlines industry before Elder Brown was called as a general authority.
In 1943 the Brown family moved to Washington, D.C., where Elder Brown became reservations manager for United Airlines. His work with the airline in Washington was followed by a year with the company in Chicago.
In 1948, he became chief of payload control at Denver and manager of space control in 1956. He held this position for five years before being transferred to Chicago as assistant to the director of reservations for United Airlines.
Elder Brown is known for his many accomplishments and service in the airline industry and for efforts that resulted in greater aviation services at the Salt Lake International Airport and other ar-eas.
He was honored last month as a "Utah Pioneer of Flight" for contributions to the state's aviation industry and the Salt Lake Airport. Elder Brown had 21 years service with United Airlines and 11 years (1974 to 1985) as a member of the Western Airlines board of directors. He was elected a director emeritus in May 1985.
Elder Brown was instrumental in creating the Western Airlines hub at the airport and keeping the struggling airline afloat during rough times. At a Feb. 28 luncheon honoring Elder Brown and others, Elder Brown was praised for his "diplomacy and expertise" in helping to ease the transition when Delta Air Lines purchased Western Airlines and took over the Salt Lake hub.
When he was elected a director emeritus of Western, the board issued a resolution, which in part read: "Victor L. Brown has brought to the board enormous measures of dignity and wisdom and has been a fortress of stability and optimism through the most challenging and precarious days in the company's history."
Without the contributions of Elder Brown, the "success of the aviation industry of Salt Lake City would not be what it is today," said Louis E. Miller, director of the Salt Lake City Airport Authority.
"Prior to the establishment of the hub in 1981, Salt Lake City only had 140 daily departures of commercial airlines, providing nonstop service to 29 cities. In 1996 the airlines serving Salt Lake City provide 364 daily departures to 67 destinations," Miller said.
Before the hub was established, he said, airport tenants employed approximately 2,700 people. Today, 11,000 people work at the airport.
After moving back to Salt Lake City in 1961, Elder Brown was named to other positions in the community. He was appointed to the Utah Symphony Board in 1962, the state Water and Power Board in 1964 and the Deseret News board. Also, he was asked to serve on the national executive board of the Boy Scouts of America in 1974, and the boards of Beneficial Life Insurance Co. and Murdock Travel. He was also president and later chairman of the Utah Hotel Co. At the time of his death he was a member of the executive committee of the Thrasher Research Fund.
Elder Brown's other assignments in the church included bishop of the Denver 4th Ward, counselor in the Denver Stake presidency from 1954-60 and second and first counselor in the Utah North Area presidency while a member of the Seventy.
Elder Brown enjoyed leisure activities that included work in his garden and horseback riding.