Spencer W Kimball

• Spencer Woolley Kimball was born on March 28, 1895 to Andrew Kimball and Olive Woolley Kimball. Spencer was the sixth of eleven children, and the third son.
  

• Spencer was the grandson of Heber C. Kimball, one of the original Twelve Apostles and a counselor to Brigham Young in the First Presidency. Andrew Kimball, Spencer's father, served as the stake president of the St. Joseph Stake for 26 years.
  

• He was baptized on his eighth birthday by his father. He was baptized in a hog-scalding tub that the family also used as a bathtub. He was rebaptized in a canal at age 12 due to questions about the propiety of the tub baptism. Spencer's father was not in the water with him when he was baptized in the tub.
  

• His mother died when he was just eleven years old (1906).
  

• Spencer was raised on a small farm in the Gila Valley of eastern Arizona.
  

•  at the school, he was the student body president and a star forward on the basketball team (despite his diminutive size).
  

• From 1914 to 1916 (age 19-21), he served as a missionary in the Central United States mission. His mission call was originally to the Swiss-Austrian Mission, but the call was changed due to the unstable situation in Europe surrounding World War I.
  

• After his mission, he attended and graduated from the University of Arizona, studying banking, real estate, and insurance. He eventually became the manager-president of Kimball-Greenhalgh Realty and Insurance Company.
  

• He married Camilla Eyring on November 16, 1917 (age 22).
  

• He was called to serve as the 2nd Counselor in the St. Joseph Stake Presidency on September 8, 1924 (age 29). It was his own father's death which necessitated a change in this stake presidency.
  

• He was then called to serve as the Stake President of the Mt. Graham Stake on February 20, 1938 (age 43).
  

• He was ordained an apostle by Heber J. Grant on October 7, 1943 (age 48).
  

• In 1946 (age 51) he received a special assignment from President George Albert Smith to work with the American Indians. He was named chairman of the Church Indian Committee.
  

• In 1948, he suffered and recovered from a serious heart ailment.
  

• In 1951, he lost his voice through a serious throat ailment. His voice was restored following a priesthood administration.
  

• In 1957, he was operated on for cancer of the throat. One and one-half vocal cords were removed. This operation saved his life but left him with a soft, raspy voice.
  

• From 1964 until 1967 he supervised the missionary work in South America.
  

• He was named Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve in 1970.
  

• He was set-apart as President of the Quorum of the Twelve in 1972.
  

• He was ordained as President of the Church on December 30, 1973 and was sustained by the membership of the Church on April 6, 1974. He chose as his counselors in the First Presidency N. Eldon Tanner and Marion G. Romney.
  

• He dedicated the Washington, D.C. Temple on November 19, 1974.
  

• During his administration, temple building and temple work greatly expanded.
  

• Under his direction, the First Quorum of the Seventy was reconstituted in 1975.
  

• Under his direction, two new sections were added to the Doctrine and Covenants in 1976.

• In 1978 (age 83) he received a revelation to extend the priesthood to all worthy males, regardless of race.
  

• From 1979 to 1981, the new LDS edition of the standard works was published.
  

• President Kimball passed away on November 5, 1985. He was 90 years old.
  

• President Kimball's legacy as an indefatigable worker is well documented. Two of his favorite expressions were "DO IT!" and "Lengthen your stride!".