Marion G. Romney

Marion George Romney (September 19,1897-May 20,1988) was a high-ranking official of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Related Topics:
September 19 - 1897 - May 20 - 1988 - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

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Born in Colonia Juarez, Mexico to parents who had come from the United States to spread the Church, he was a cousin of Michigan governor George W. Romney, who was also born in Colonia Juarez. Marion G. Romney's 47 years as a General Authority of the Church began when he was the first person ever ordained an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles when that position was created in 1941 (it was abolished in 1976). In 1951 he was advanced to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles himself,and served on that body until he became Second Counselor in the First Presidency when Harold B. Lee, with whom he had worked on the Church Welfare program, became Church President in 1972.

Related Topics:
Michigan - George W. Romney - General Authority - 1941 - 1976 - 1951 - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles - First Presidency - Harold B. Lee - Church President - 1972

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Lee's death the following year brought Spencer W. Kimball to the Church Presidency, but Kimball retained Romney and First Counselor Nathan Eldon Tanner in their positions. As Kimball, Tanner, and Romney all became octogenarians and developed health problems, it was decided to add an additional counselor in 1981 and Gordon B. Hinckley was chosen. Later that year Romney dedicated a temple deputizing for Kimball, but thereafter it was Hinckley who increasingly shouldered the burdens of the First Presidency. On Tanner's death in 1982 Romney was named First Counselor and Hinckley Second Counselor, but Romney was fairly inactive in this position; when Kimball died in 1985 press reports indicated Romney had not been seen in public for many months.

Related Topics:
Spencer W. Kimball - Nathan Eldon Tanner - Octogenarian - 1981 - Gordon B. Hinckley - 1982 - 1985

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Ezra Taft Benson,who had been President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and thus heir apparent to Kimball, named Hinckley his First Counselor, while Romney, as the surviving Apostle ordained next after Benson, succeeded as of right to the position of President of the Twelve. However, in recognition of Romney's continuing ill health, Howard W. Hunter, who ranked next in seniority, was made Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve, and Romney was never formally set apart to his new position.

Related Topics:
Ezra Taft Benson - President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles - Howard W. Hunter

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On Romney's death at age 90, the Church Almanac remembered him as a "renowned Church Welfare pioneer and Book of Mormon scholar".

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