Marion Duff Hanks (October 13, 1921 – August 5, 2011) was a general authority of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

(LDS Church) from 1953 until his death.

Early life

Hanks was born in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

.''2006 Deseret News Church Almanac''. p. 76 As a young man he served in the Northern States Mission of the LDS Church, which was headquartered in Chicago. He was in the United States Navy during World War II and received a J.D. from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

. Leon R. Hartshorn. ''Outstanding Stories by General Authorities''. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 1970) vol. 1, p. 79. Prior to his call as a general authority, Hanks worked as an instructor in the Church Educational System. Hanks married Maxine Christensen and became the father of five children.

General authority

Hanks served in the

Presidency of the Seventy A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by a ...

twice following the 1976 reconstitution of the First Quorum of the Seventy. Previously, he also served on the First Council of the Seventy from 1953 to 1968 and as an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from 1968 to 1976. During a three-year period in the early 1960s, Hanks was the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the LDS Church

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

; among the missionaries in his mission were

Jeffrey R. Holland Jeffrey Roy Holland (born December 3, 1940) is an American educator and religious leader. He served as the List of presidents of Brigham Young University, ninth President of Brigham Young University (BYU) and is a member of the Quorum of the Twe ...

and Quentin L. Cook, who both later became apostles of the church. In the mid-1970s, Hanks served as managing director of the church's Melchizedek Priesthood MIA. From 1982 to 1985, he was the

of the

Salt Lake Temple The Salt Lake Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. At , it is the largest Latter-day Saint temple by floor area. Dedicated in 1893, it is the sixth templ ...

. In the 1970s, Hanks was also a member of the Church Board of Education. In October 1992, Hanks was given general authority emeritus status. Outside of his formal church responsibilities, Hanks preferred to be referred to as "Duff,” his middle name.

Other activities

Hanks was a member of the

President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports The President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition (PCSFN) is an American government organization that aims to "promote, encourage and motivate Americans of all ages to become Physical activity, physically active and participate in sports". ...

(for which he received its Distinguished Service Award) and the President's Citizens Advisory Committee on Children and Youth. In 1988, Hanks was awarded the

Silver Buffalo Award The Silver Buffalo Award is the national-level distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America. It is presented for noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth on a national basis, either as part of, or independent of the Scouting pro ...

by the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...

(BSA). Hanks served for a time as a member of the National Council of the BSA. He also served as a member of the boards of

Weber State University Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. History Weber State University was founded ...

and

Southern Utah University Southern Utah University (SUU) is a public university in Cedar City, Utah. Founded in 1897 as a normal school, Southern Utah University now graduates over 1,800 students each year with baccalaureate and graduate degrees from its six colleges. ...

. Hanks wrote the words to "That Easter Morn", which is hymn number 198 in the LDS Church's 1985 hymnal.

Death

Hanks died at the age of 89. At the time of his death, Hanks was the oldest living former member of the First Quorum of the Seventy and the second-oldest emeritus general authority after Eldred G. Smith."Elder Marion D. Hanks dies at age 89"
''

Church News The ''Church News'' (or ''LDS Church News'') is a weekly tabloid-sized supplement to the ''Deseret News'' and the ''MormonTimes'', a Salt Lake City, Utah newspaper owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It is t ...

'', 2011-08-05.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanks, Marion D. 1921 births 2011 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century Mormon missionaries American Latter Day Saint hymnwriters American Mormon missionaries in England American Mormon missionaries in the United States American general authorities (LDS Church) Assistants to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Church Educational System instructors Latter Day Saints from Utah Lawyers from Salt Lake City Members of the First Quorum of the Seventy (LDS Church) Mission presidents (LDS Church) People from Salt Lake City Presidents of the Seventy (LDS Church) S.J. Quinney College of Law alumni Songwriters from Utah Temple presidents and matrons (LDS Church)