Howard W. Hunter

Howard W. Hunter was born November 14, 1907 in Boise, Idaho and died March 3, 1995 in Salt Lake City Utah. He was the Fourteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1994-1995, and served the shortest amount of time of any president to date (nine months).

Hunter was sustained as an Apostle at the age of 51, and served a little over 35 years as a General Authority for the Church.

After his first wife, Clara May Jeffs died, Hunter remarried Inis Stanton, while president of the Quorum of the Twelve.

Hunter’s father was not a Latter-day Saint and would not let him get baptized until he was twelve years old. He was the second person to become an Eagle Scout in the state of Idaho. Hunter had a love for music and played the piano, violin, drums, saxophone, clarinet and trumpet, and formed a band called Hunter’s Croonaders, which played on cruise ships.

Some of his major contributions include the creation of the Church’s 2000th stake and his negotiations to build land in Jerusalem for the BYU Jerusalem Center (which he later dedicated). Other significant activities he was allegedly involved with include the creation of the Proclamation on the Family, and the building of smaller, more local temples.

Hunter became sick while president of the Quorum of the Twelve, and had major health problems for the remainder of his life, including, a heart attack, broken ribs (from a fall at General Conference), heart bypass surgery, bleeding ulcers and a kidney failure that revived.

Although he encouraged and emphasized temple attendance, he only dedicated one temple during his administration: the Orlando Florida Temple.