“Ezra Taft Benson Highlights,” Tambuli, July 1994 (Special Edition), 22
Special Edition
Ezra Taft Benson Highlights
(1899–1994)
Date |
Event |
1899 |
August 4: Is born at Whitney, Idaho. |
1914–18 |
Attends Oneida Stake Academy at Preston, Idaho. |
1918 |
Begins attending Utah State Agricultural College, Logan, Utah. |
1918–21 |
Serves as assistant Scoutmaster, then Scoutmaster in the Whitney Ward. |
1921–23 |
Is ordained an elder by his father and serves as a missionary in Britain. |
1926 |
Spring: Graduates from Brigham Young University. September 10: Marries Flora Amussen in the Salt Lake Temple. Fall: Begins attending Iowa State College at Ames, Iowa. |
1927 |
Graduates from Iowa State College with an M.S. in agricultural economics. Returns to Idaho. Is ordained a seventy. |
1929–30 |
Works for the extension division of the University of Idaho. |
1931 |
Becomes head of the university’s new Department of Agricultural Economics and Marketing. |
1932 |
Becomes superintendent of the Boise Stake YMMIA. |
1933–38 |
Serves as executive secretary of the Idaho Cooperative Council. |
1935 |
Is ordained a high priest and is set apart as first counselor in the Boise Stake presidency. |
1936 |
Begins graduate studies at University of California at Berkeley. |
1938 |
Becomes stake president in Boise, Idaho. |
1939 |
Becomes executive secretary of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives in Washington, D.C. |
1940 |
Becomes president of the Washington (D.C.) Stake. |
1943 |
October 7: Is ordained an Apostle. |
1946 |
February–December: Serves as president of the European Mission; coordinates distribution of food and supplies to victims of World War II. July: Dedicates Finland for preaching of the gospel. |
1949 |
Is elected a member of the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America, succeeding President George Albert Smith. |
1953–61 |
Serves as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. |
1964–65 |
Serves again as president of the European Mission. |
1966 |
Dedicates Italy for the preaching of the gospel. |
1969 |
Dedicates Singapore and Indonesia for the preaching of the gospel. |
1970 |
Organizes the Tokyo Stake, the first Asian stake. |
1973 |
December 30: Is set apart as President of the Quorum of the Twelve. |
1976 |
September 14: He and Sister Benson celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary. |
1977 |
Organizes the Helsinki Finland Stake, the first in Finland. |
1978 |
Receives American Farm Bureau Federation’s Award for Distinguished and Meritorious Service; receives the George Washington Medal Award from the Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge. Participates in the dedication of the Orson Hyde Memorial Gardens in Jerusalem. |
1985 |
November 10: Becomes President of the Church. |
1986 |
January: Visits U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C. Participates in dedication of the Denver Colorado Temple. |
1987 |
July: Participates in the British Isles Sesquicentennial in London. August: Participates in dedication of the Frankfurt Germany Temple. |
1988 |
February: Participates in groundbreaking for the San Diego California Temple. May: Is honored as Utah State University’s most distinguished alumnus. |
1989 |
August: Participates in the dedication of the Portland Oregon Temple. December: Participates in dedication of the Las Vegas Nevada Temple. |
1990 |
January, March: Attends regional conferences in Utah and Idaho. |
1992 |
May: Participates in groundbreaking for the Bountiful Utah Temple. August 19: Attends funeral services for his wife, Flora. |