Elder Paul Harold Dunn, an emeritus general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died at 1:30 a.m. Friday at LDS Hospital of cardiac arrest.
He was 73.Elder Dunn, a former professional baseball player and career church educator, was called to the First Council of the Seventy in April 1964 and served in the presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy from Oct. 1, 1976, to Feb. 22, 1980. He was named an emeritus general authority on Oct. 1, 1989.
He was granted emeritus status because of "age and health" factors.
The First Presidency of the LDS Church issued this statement Friday morning:
"We have learned with regret of the passing of Elder Paul H. Dunn, an emeritus general authority of the church. He was a long-time teacher and advocate of youth and served as a mission president and general authority of the church over a period of 34 years.
"We extend our sympathy and love to his wife, Jeanne, and family."
Elder Dunn had scheduled back surgery on Tuesday. He was recuperating from that surgery when he suffered a cardiac arrest early Friday, said church spokesman Don LeFevre.
Elder Dunn's assignments as a church leader included executive administrator in the British Isles and the Salt Lake area, a member of the area presidency in the Western United States and as president of the New England Mission.
He also was a counselor in the Salt Lake City South, Utah South and North America West area presidencies.
Elder Dunn was born April 24, 1924, in Provo, a son of Joshua Harold and Geneve Roberts Dunn. When he was 2, the family moved to Little Rock, Ark., and later lived in Tulsa, Okla., and Tyler, Texas, before moving to Southern California.
He married his high school sweetheart, Jeanne Alice Cheverton, Feb. 27, 1946; the marriage was later solemnized in the Arizona Temple.
He was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals baseball club out of high school and pitched in the Cardinal farm system before spending three years in the Army during World War II. After his discharge, he resumed his baseball career. After broken collarbone ended his pitching career, he went into education.
He received a bachelor's degree in religion at Chapman College in Orange, Calif., then master's and doctoral degrees in educational administration from the University of Southern California.
He joined the LDS Church Educational System in 1952 as a seminary instructor while he was still in college and ultimately advanced to the point where he coordinated the activities of institutes on 62 college campuses.
Before his general authority call, Elder Dunn had been active in his local ward and stake organizations as a teacher, Sunday School board member and as a member of a stake mission presidency. While a church general authority, he served for a time as international president of the LDS Student Association.
He was a popular speaker and the author of numerous books, including one about the Osmond family. He was featured on a syndicated radio program, "Sunday Evening from Temple Square," for a period in the 1970s.
Elder Dunn was named Utah's 1972 Father of the Year by the Utah Civic Young Men's Association. He underwent open-heart surgery in 1974. In 1975, he was honored by the National Association of College Baseball Coaches as a former player who had "gone on to great heights in another field." In 1978, he threw out the ceremonial "first pitch" in the season home opener for the Atlanta Braves baseball club.
Survivors include his wife, Highland, Utah County; three daughters, Mrs. Gary (Janet) Gough, American Fork; Mrs. Jeril (Marsha) Winget, Murray; Mrs. Michael (Kellie) McIntosh, Sandy; and two brothers, Bob Dunn, American Fork; and Dr. David Dunn, Granada Hills, Calif.; and 10 grandchildren.
He was a tour guide in recent years.
Funeral arrangements for Elder Dunn were being finalized Friday afternoon, according to Larkin Mortuary.