Marvin Jeremy Ashton (May 6, 1915 – February 25, 1994) was a

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 ...

politician and a member of the

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles A quorum is the minimum number of members of a group necessary to constitute the group at a meeting. In a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature), a quorum is necessary to conduct the business 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 Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church) from 1971 until his death in 1994.

Early life

Ashton was born to Marvin O. Ashton and Rachel Grace Jeremy 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 ...

."Death: Marvin J. Ashton"
''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is a multi-platform newspaper based in Salt Lake City, published by Deseret News Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS ...

'', 27 February 1994. Retrieved on 17 March 2020. His father was a local LDS leader and later became a church general authority. Ashton worked in the lumber business as a youth. 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 ...

. He worked as managing director of

LDS Social Services Family Services (formerly LDS Family Services) is a private nonprofit corporation owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It offers members of the church and others marital and family counseling, addiction and drug ...

. Ashton served as a member of the

Utah State Senate The Utah State Senate is the upper house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature (US), state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The Utah Senate is composed of 29 elected members, each representing one senate district. Each senate ...

from 1957 to 1961 as a Republican. He was also president of

Deseret Book Deseret Book () is an American publishing company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, that also operates a chain of bookstores throughout the western United States. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation (DMC), th ...

and involved in other business ventures including a lumber company.

LDS Church service

Ashton served a

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 * ...

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 ...

from 1937 to 1939 during which time he edited the ''

Millennial Star ''The Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star'' (usually shortened to ''Millennial Star'') was the longest continuously published periodical of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and was printed in England from 1840 unti ...

''. His

mission president Mission president is a Priesthood (LDS Church), priesthood leadership position in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). A mission president presides over a geographic area known as a Mission (LDS Church), mission and the M ...

was

Hugh B. Brown Hugh Brown Brown (October 24, 1883 – December 2, 1975) was an American attorney, educator, author and leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and First Presidency ...

. From 1958 to 1969, Ashton was an assistant to the general superintendent of the 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 ...

. He served as an assistant to superintendents Joseph T. Bentley and G. Carlos Smith. He was named managing director of the then-newly formed Church Social Services Department in September 1969.Avant, Gerry
"How Elder Marvin J. Ashton faced his ‘battle with time’"
''

Church News The ''Church News'' (formerly ''LDS Church News'') is a multi-platform supplement and subdivision of the ''Deseret News'', a Salt Lake City, Utah newspaper owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (informally, the LDS Church). ...

'', 23 August 2019. Retrieved on 17 March 2020. A month later he was named an

Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, commonly shortened to Assistant to the Twelve or Assistant to the Twelve Apostles, was a priesthood calling in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1941 to 1976. As the title suggest ...

. Ashton was ordained an

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

on December 2, 1971, after the death of Richard L. Evans. Among his assignments, he was president of the

Polynesian Cultural Center The Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) is a family-centered cultural tourist attraction and living museum in Laie on the northern shore of Oahu, Hawaii. The PCC is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), was dedic ...

and a member of the board of trustees of

Brigham Young University–Hawaii Brigham Young University–Hawaii (BYU–Hawaii) is a private college in Laie, Hawaii, United States. It is owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). BYU–Hawaii was founded in 1955 and it became a sate ...

. Ashton died on February 25, 1994, and at the time of his death was serving as chairman of the church's Leadership Training Committee and was also a member of both the Correlation Executive and the General Welfare Services committees."Marvin J. Ashton"
''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...

'', 27 February 1994. Retrieved on 17 March 2020. The vacancy created in the Quorum of the Twelve was filled by

Robert D. Hales Robert Dean Hales (August 24, 1932 – October 1, 2017) was an American businessman and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1994 until his death. As a member of the Quoru ...

.Flake, Lawrence R
"Prophets and Apostles of the Last Dispensation"
''BYU Religious Studies Center'', Retrieved on 14 March 2020.

Personal life

Ashton married Norma Berntson in the

Salt Lake Temple The Salt Lake Temple is a Temple (LDS Church), 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 Comparison of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Sa ...

on August 22, 1940, and they were the parents of four children. They won the mixed doubles championship in the all-church tennis tournament in 1954. Ashton was involved with the

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

most of his life and earned

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of Scouting America. Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Scout rank has been earned by over ...

as an adult in 1963. As an adult he was a recipient of the

Distinguished Eagle Scout Award The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (DESA) is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). It is awarded to an Eagle Scout who has achieved extraordinary national-level recognition, fame, or eminence within their profession ...

, the

Silver Beaver Award The Silver Beaver Award is the council-level distinguished service award of Scouting America. Recipients of the award are registered adult leaders who have made an impact on the lives of youth through service given to the council. Those deemed ...

, and the

Silver Antelope Award The Silver Antelope Award is a distinguished service award presented by Scouting America for outstanding service to young people within one of the organization’s divisions. Since 2022 award has been presented for service to a Council Service T ...

. Image:MJAgrave.jpg, Marvin J. Ashton's grave marker

Bibliography

* * * * * *

References

External links