David Sjodahl King (June 20, 1917 – May 5, 2009) was a representative from

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. He served three terms between 1959 and 1967. He was a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life and education

King was born in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, in 1917. He graduated from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

in 1937. From 1937 to 1939, he served as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

for

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 Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church) in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. After his mission, King attended and graduated from

Georgetown University Law School Georgetown University Law Center is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment, with over ...

. After serving as a clerk for Justice Howard M. Stephens of the

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. courts of appeals, ...

in 1943, King returned to Utah.

Legal and political career

King served as counsel to the Utah Tax Commission from 1944 to 1946. He also was involved in private practice from 1945. From 1946 to 1958, he taught commercial law at Intermountain Business College. From 1948 to 1958, King was the second assistant to

Elbert R. Curtis Elbert Raine Curtis (24 April 1901 – 20 May 1975) was the ninth general superintendent of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1948 to 1958. He was succeeded in the le ...

, who was the ninth General Superintendent of the LDS Church's

Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association The Young Men (often referred to as Young Men's) is a youth organization and official program of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Its purpose is to assist the church's Aaronic priesthood-aged young men in their growt ...

. King was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

to the 86th and 87th

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

es between January 3, 1959 and January 3, 1963. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1962, choosing instead to run for a seat in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. His senatorial campaign was unsuccessful. King was elected to the 89th Congress in 1964, but was defeated in his bid for reelection in 1966. He was appointed

United States Ambassador to Madagascar This is a list of United States ambassadors to Madagascar. The United States has maintained diplomatic relations since June 1960. The embassy in Tananarive (now Antananarivo) was established on June 26, 1960. Currently, the ambassador also serves ...

and to

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

in January 1967 and in May 1968, respectively, serving in those two positions concurrently until August 1969. During the 1970s and 1980s, King practiced law in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and served as an alternate director at the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

. He retired in 1986 to devote his time to serving the LDS Church.

LDS Church service

From July 1986 to June 1989, he served as

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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the church's

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

Mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

. From September 1990 to 1993 he was

of the Washington D.C. Temple in

Kensington, Maryland Kensington is a town in Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,122 at the 2020 United States census. Greater Kensington encompasses the entire 20895 ZIP Code, ZIP code, with a population of 1 ...

. In 1994, he was called as

patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

of the Washington D.C.

Stake A stake is a large wooden or metal implement designed to be driven into the ground and may refer to: Tools * Archer's stake, a defensive stake carried by medieval longbowmen * Survey stakes, markers used by surveyors * Sudis (stake) (Latin for ...

and the church's

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

for the District of Columbia.

Family life

King was a resident of

where he lived with his wife of 61 years, Rosalie King. They were the parents of eight children, including Josephine "Jody" Olsen who became Director of the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

in 2018. His father, William H. King, was a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

from

. He was preceded in death by his sons David King, Jr., and Elliott West King. David King died on May 5, 2009.

Genealogy

King was a direct patrilineal descendant of

Edmund Rice Edmund is a masculine given name in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and nobles *Ed ...

, an English immigrant to

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

, as follows: :*David Sjodahl King, son of ::*

William Henry King William Henry King (June 3, 1863November 27, 1949) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist from Salt Lake City, Utah. As a Democrat, King represented Utah in the United States Senate from 1917 until 1941. Life King was born in Fillmore, ...

, (1863 – 1949), son of ::* William King (1834 – 1892), son of ::* Thomas Rice King (1813 – 1879), son of :* Thomas King (1770 – 1845), son of :* William King (1724 – 1793), son of ::* Ezra Rice King (1697 – 1746), son of :::* Samuel Rice King (1667 – 1713), son of ::::* Samuel Rice (1634 – 1684), son of :::::*

(1594 – 1663)

Published works

References

External links

Materials relating to David S. King
at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library,

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, David S. 1917 births 2009 deaths Politicians from Salt Lake City American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 20th-century Mormon missionaries Mormon missionaries in Haiti American Mormon missionaries in England University of Utah alumni Georgetown University Law Center alumni Counselors in the General Presidency of the Young Men (organization) Mission presidents (LDS Church) Patriarchs (LDS Church) People from Kensington, Maryland Temple presidents and matrons (LDS Church) Ambassadors of the United States to the Comoros Ambassadors of the United States to Madagascar Ambassadors of the United States to Mauritius American people of Swedish descent Burials at Parklawn Memorial Park Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Utah Latter Day Saints from Utah Latter Day Saints from Washington, D.C. 20th-century American diplomats 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives