SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Oct. 3, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — The funeral for one of the top leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Robert D. Hales, has been announced.
Funeral services for Hales will be held in at 11 a.m. Friday at the Tabernacle on Temple Square. The funeral will be open to the public ages 8 and older.
Hales, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, passed away 12:15 p.m. Sunday surrounded by his wife and family, LDS Church spokesman Eric Hawkins announced. Hales, 85, died from causes incident to age, Hawkins said.
The Temple Square gates and the Tabernacle doors will open at 9:30 a.m. Those wishing to attend should be in their seats by 10:30 a.m. Overflow seating will be available in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square. The Church campus buildings will be closed at 10:30 a.m. and will reopen following the funeral at 1 p.m.
A private burial service will take place at the Bountiful Memorial Cemetery in Bountiful, following the funeral.
According to an article posted on ldsnewsroom.org, Hales was born in New York City on August 24, 1932.
He graduated from the University of Utah and held a master of business administration degree from Harvard.
Hales also served as a jet fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force.
He married Mary Crandall, and had two sons.
Hales was sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1994 after receiving his original call as a general authority in 1975.
As a general authority, he first served as an assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and later as a member of the Quorum of the Seventy. He was Presiding Bishop of the Church from April 1985 until his call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1994.
“He lived his testimony,” said President Henry B. Eyring, a member of the First Presidency. “He knew God. He knew the Savior, and he loved the Savior. … And he behaved as if God was close, Heavenly Father was close.”
Prior to serving as a general authority, Hales was president of the England London Mission in the late 1970s and has served as first counselor in the Church’s Sunday School general presidency, according to ldsnewsroom.org.
It is undetermined when the vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will be filled.
The funeral services will be broadcast live via MormonNewsroom.org, LDS.org, KSL, the KSL TV app, BYUtv, BYUtv Global, KBYUtv Eleven, BYUtv International, Mormon Channel, Canal Mormón (Spanish) and on the Church satellite system. In addition, audio broadcasts will air on KSL radio, BYU Classical 89 and BYU Radio.
There will be no public viewing, but expressions of sympathy can be posted on the Elder Robert D. Hales Facebook page or emailed to [email protected].
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Humanitarian Aid Fund or the Church’s General Missionary Fund here.
