Elder Keith Crockett

Of the Seventy

“I’m just a plain old farm boy who grew up milking cows and driving tractors,” Elder Crockett says of himself, but his lifetime of teaching the gospel and serving in the priesthood reveals a man who is deeply dedicated to the kingdom of God.

Elder Crockett was born on 15 January 1934 and grew up in Pima, Arizona, a rural community founded by LDS pioneers. His parents, Wilford W. Crockett III and Jacy Boggs Crockett, were strong in the gospel and taught him righteous principles. One time when he wanted to go to a dance instead of fulfilling a Church responsibility, his father said, “A man who can’t be depended on isn’t worth anything.” From then on Elder Crockett determined to do whatever he was assigned in the Church, from Primary teacher to stake president to mission president.

Following his mission to Uruguay he attended Eastern Arizona College. After graduating from the University of Arizona, his first job was teaching high school music. When he saw that the football coach needed help, he offered to help teach the players some football fundamentals if the coach would send all the boys to chorus. The deal worked, and the football team and chorus enjoyed much success. “I loved working with those kids,” Elder Crockett says. One of them later became his medical doctor.

After a career of 34 years with the Church Educational System in Mesa, Tempe, Flagstaff, and Thatcher, Arizona, he retired four years ago and resides in Pima, just a quarter-mile from his birthplace.

Elder Crockett married Kathleen McBride, the daughter of Herald and Fay Nelson McBride, in the Mesa Arizona Temple on 5 September 1957. They have 6 children and 22 grandchildren. He particularly enjoys and looks forward to the family reunions he and his wife host every other year.

“I have always had a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Elder Crockett says. “As I have listened to the Brethren, I have said to myself, ‘I know that is true. I want to share it with others so they can feel the way I feel.’” As a new member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy, he is looking forward to the many opportunities he will have to do that.