SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Russell M. Nelson, the 17th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has died, Church officials confirmed late Saturday night. He was 101 years old.
Nelson, the oldest president in the history of the church, passed away peacefully shortly after 10 p.m. MDT today at his home in Salt Lake City according to church officials.
In the official release of this news, President Dallin H. Oaks said ,“All of us who have worked with Russell M. Nelson, and the many he has taught and associated with, have marveled at his extraordinary modesty for a man of his great accomplishments.” Oaks was called to serve in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on the same day as President Nelson in 1984 and who served as President Nelson’s First Counselor in the First Presidency.
He continued, “And [we] have marveled at his gentleness. He is just the gentlest and sweetest person you could ever hope to associate with. And he will always be remembered that way.”
Born Sept. 9, 1924, Nelson and his late-wife Dantzel White had 10 children together, 57 grandchildren, and well over 100 great-grandchildren. In December 2020, he became a great-great-grandfather and is survived by his second wife Wendy L. Watson.
Nelson served as president and prophet for the LDS Church since his calling on Jan. 14, 2018, at the age of 93. He succeeded President Thomas S. Monson, who passed away just twelve days prior at the age of 90. Upon his calling to the presidency, Nelson became the second-oldest man to assume leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ.
Prior to his time in the presidency, Nelson was internationally renowned as a surgeon and a medical researcher. He earned his medical degree from the University of Utah and was part of the team that pioneered the development of the heart-lung machine and performed the first open-heart surgery in Utah in 1955.
“He was a part of that history, of what we all today just take for absolute granted,” the Surgical Director of the Cardiac Mechanical Support and Heart Transplant program at the U of U Dr. Craig Selzman once said of Nelson.
His professional work included working as a research professor of surgery and director of the Thoracic Surgery Residency at the U of U. He also served as chairman of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City and completed a two-year medical tour of duty for the U.S. Army during the Korean War.
Nelson capstoned his medical career with numerous publications in medical textbooks, earning several awards including the Heart of Gold from the American Heart Association, the Golden Plate Award by the American Academy of Achievement and the Distinguished Alumni Award from the U of U.
Nelson’s service to the Church was nothing short of devout. He held numerous positions of responsibility in the Church, serving as the stake president of the Bonneville Stake from 1964 to 1971, when he was called as general president of the Sunday School. Nelson was later called to serve on the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in April 1984, a position he held until his call to the presidency.
Throughout his Church service, Nelson regularly encouraged Church members to develop a closer relationship with Christ. In his first year as president, he announced the Church would no longer use the “Mormon” nickname it had embraced for nearly two centuries and more clearly emphasize the name “Jesus Christ.”
President Nelson gave Church members greater access to the Church’s Temples. As President, he announced the construction of over 100 new temples, including multiple in Utah, more than any Church president before him.
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