Gordon B. Hinckley

Hinckley married Marjorie Pay in 1937 and had five children. His sons Richard and Clark have served the church in leadership positions, while daughter Virginia was a member of the church's Young Women organization.

Hinckley died at the age of 97 on January 27, 2008, in his Salt Lake City apartment. He is buried next to his wife, Marjorie Pay in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. The grave is located just south of 10th Avenue, between the cemetery's Main and Hillside streets.

Hinckley was born on June 23, 1910, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Ada Bitner and Bryant Hinckley, prominent LDS writer-educator. He graduated from LDS High School in 1928 and attended the University of Utah for his undergraduate degree.

Hinckley became a missionary for the LDS Church and served in the London-based British Mission from 1933 to 1935 and returned to the United States after preaching in both Berlin and Paris.

In 1935, he became the executive secretary of the church's Radio, Publicity and Missionary Literature Committee and was responsible for developing the church's fledgling radio broadcasts and using new communication technologies.

Starting in 1937, he served on the Sunday School General Board. After WWII, he served as executive secretary to the church's Missionary Committee, the church's liaison to Deseret Book, the largest LDS book publisher.

In the early 1950s, it was decided to use the media to present the ordinances at the Swiss Temple in ten languages and Hinckley’s background in journalism and public relations came to the fore.

He became an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the church general authority, and in 1961, ordained an apostle in the Quorum, one of the governing bodies in the church hierarchy.

In September 1995, Hinckley released ‘The Family: A Proclamation to the World’, a statement of belief regarding the sanctity of the family and marriage and declaring that the family is central to the Creator's plan.

In 2001, he announced the Perpetual Education Fund, a large endowment that provides loans to students in developing nations. The funds for this program are mostly derived from donations from members of the Church.