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Show Volume XIX Issue XXIV The Ogden Valley news Page 9 January 15, 2012 David O. McKay: Church Leader, Patriot From the Past . . . January 19, 2012 marks the 42nd year since the death of Huntsville-born LDS prophet David Oman McKay. The following is from a front-page article that ran in the Ogden Standard-Examiner on the day of his death. ********************* Weber County has lost its most illustrious son in the death, at 96, of David Oman McKay, ninth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. President McKay’s long and exemplary life was entwined with our region from the time of his birth in Huntsville nearly a century ago. In early manhood—before he was called to fulltime church service in 1906 as a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles— President McKay was an educator at the Weber Stake Academy, now Weber State College. He became a member of the academy faculty in 1899, after returning from a mission to Scotland, and was elevated to the principalship of the Ogden school in 1902. While teaching at Weber, he frequently arose early in the morning at the family home in Huntsville and rode his horse down Ogden Canyon for his classwork. He also was fond of recalling that his first “paid job,” while in his teens, was riding to the silver mines at LaPlatta, in the Wasatch Mountains north of Monte Cristo, to deliver the mail. Whenever possible over most of his life MORMON HISTORY cont. from page 1 generation,” said Terryl Givens, an LDS writer and professor of literature and religion at the University of Richmond in Virginia. “He will be missed as much for the quality of his character as for his contributions. His unflinching honesty and his confidence that church history needed no whitewashing or sanitizing set the tone for a whole new generation of LDS academics.” Jensen “pulled all the church’s resources together and put them all on the Web as fast as he could,” said Jan Shipps, a Methodist and a leading expert on Mormon history. “This is a change that is so epochal it would be very hard to turn it back.” As Mormonism moves into the mainstream, Shipps said, “it has to answer questions about its past. The effort to have those papers out there … is just amazing. … I have access to virtually everything I asked for.” But it was Jensen’s ability to reach out to diverse communities with empathy that many will take away from his tenure. “One reason that he has been so influential as the church historian and as a leader in the Mormon faith is that he wears his authority so lightly,” said Philip Barlow, chairman of Mormon history and culture at Utah State University. “To a degree that I have not seen exceeded, his policies, his mind, his spirit and his winsome personal ways have inspired trust—the essence of faith—among wildly diverse constituencies.” Jensen became the church’s point man on being a Mormon Democrat, assuring church members and the public in a probing interview with The Salt Lake Tribune that the two were not incompatible. He urged the Legislature to be “compassionate” in its approach to immigra- he returned to Huntsville for national and three million members of the Mormon faith family holidays, including an annual bobsled as a brother, as an apostle and, since April ride for all of his children and grandchil- 9, 1951, as their president. The ranks of his dren. Until forced to quit because of health, admirers also included thousands of persons his favorite recreation was riding his horse throughout the world who belonged to other around the beautiful Ogden Valley country- churches but recognized President McKay’s qualities as a leader of men and a true patriot. side. He was visited, in his Salt Lake City He was obviously proud when, last July, offices or apartment, by four he came to Ogden for—in presidents of the United what turned out to be his last States and numerous other public appearance—the forinternational dignitaries. mal opening of the McKayWhen speaking of his counDee Hospital Center. A son try, in private or in pubspoke for him but President lic, President McKay freMcKay, seated in an autoquently referred to the U.S. mobile in the driveway, Declaration of Independence was “here—as I promised I and Constitution as “immorwould” as the newest hostal papers” that protected pital in the LDS Church our individual freedoms. Hospital System was named He stoutly fought commuin his honor. nism on the grounds that At his side that day, as Communists were not only she had been since their anti-American but antimarriage on July 2, 1901, Christian, “inculcating was his wife, Emma Ray hatred among the youth of Riggs McKay, whom he the world” and promoting once described as the “quiet selfishness and distrust. little woman who has made David O. McKay During his nearly 19 possible whatever success years as president, the Latter-day Saints has been ours.” His attitude toward the home was summed church membership doubled, temples were up to his remark, during an LDS Conference dedicated in Switzerland, Los Angeles, New session that “no other success can compen- Zealand, London and Oakland and started in Ogden and Provo, and the church educational sate for failure in the home.” David O. McKay was worshipped by the system was tremendously expanded. tion. He also wept with gay Mormons in the Bay Area in the wake of the Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage, acknowledging their pain and offering a healing balm. He provided a riveting account of his life and faith as well as thoughtful comments on some of the church’s most difficult historical episodes to documentary filmmaker Helen Whitney in her 2007 PBS film “The Mormons.” With the Joseph Smith Papers, Jensen and his team won the respect of historians in and out of the faith, said noted Mormon scholar Richard Bushman, an emeritus historian at Columbia University in New York. “Marlin set the bar for candor and openness and reliance on historical evidence for the whole church,” Bushman said. “The most we can hope for is someone [as his successor] who is sympathetic to the historical enterprise and can sustain what we have accomplished so far.” Snow is up to the task, according to longtime friend and fellow attorney Jim Jardine. The new historian has been an LDS general authority since 2001, but earlier served in several positions with the church, including bishop and mission president. During Jardine’s time on the University of Utah’s board of trustees, Snow was on the state Board of Regents. “Steve has always had friends and colleagues among non-Mormons,” Jardine said. “He has a generosity of spirit, is so respectful and open, he’ll continue [Jensen’s] wonderful relationships.” Snow is “not a narrow person,” he said. “He will see historical issues in their full context. He is very, very bright and quick to learn.” Sounds like the way Jensen tackled the task. Historians are counting on the same from Snow. pstack@sltrib.com Note: This article, originally published by “The Salt Lake Tribune” January 12, 2012, is being reprinted by permission of “The Salt Lake Tribune.” This growth in educational facilities was in keeping with the spirit of David O. McKay. In education, he felt, rests the hopes for the future. For the residents of his native Weber County, the Standard-Examiner extends to the McKay family its deepest sympathy upon the passing of one of America’s greatest patriots and leaders of the 20th Century. ********************* A side article, also on the front page of the Ogden Standard-Examiner notes thengovernor Calvin L. Rampton’s comments and a request in response to the passing of David O. McKay. “To all of Utah’s 700,000 people who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, David O. McKay was a prophet of God. “To all of Utah’s more than one million people, he was a giant among men, a symbol of moral strength, courage and wisdom. “Therefore, I, Calvin L. Rampton, governor of all the people of Utah of all faiths and creeds, do hereby request that all flags in the State of Utah be flown at half-staff through Thursday, Jan. 22, 1970, and that all public offices and all commercial and industrial establishments wherever practicable close from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 22, 1970, to express our gratitude that David O. McKay has lived among us for almost a century.” From The Past . . . THE LIBERTY, UTAH GRAMMAR SCHOOL THE FIRST AND SECOND GRADE 1928-1929 Front row, Ieft to right: Bernice Chard, Verna Montgomery, Donna Clark, Aileen Holmes, Norma Shaw, Ray Holmes, Tyrus Clark, Mark Montgomery, Lamar Chard. Middle row: Evelean Holmes, Sara Beth Campbell, Selma Clark, Gilbert Shaw, Ronald Rhodes, Marvin Gardner, Harold Whiteley, May Chard. Back row: Zella Smout Chard (teacher). Jose Holmes, LeRoy Lindsay, Geroge Willard, Blair Shaw, Doris Hill, Helen Shaw. Photo courtesy of Marvin Gardner. The Ogden Valley News is looking for Ogden Valley and Ogden Canyon historical biographies, stories, and photos to use in its publication. Please mail, email, or call Shanna at 8 01-745-2688 or Jeannie at 801-745-2879 if you have material you would like to share. Jeffrey D. Shepherd DMD, MSD Specialist in Orthodontics shepherdorthodontics Fast Treatment Times • Children and Adults • Flexible Payment Options Call to schedule your complimentary exam today! Eden Professional Center 2580 North Highway 162, #A EDEN 801.745.2519 South Pointe Plaza 5300 South Adams Ave, #9 OGDEN Saint Joseph Catholic Elementary, Middle School, and High School Providing a challenging, college-focused education in the proven tradition of Catholic schools, for the families of the Ogden Valley. We want to teach your children! 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