Historical Summary

The following chronology provides a brief historical framework for the teachings of President Howard W. Hunter in this book.

November 14, 1907	Born to John William (Will) Hunter and Nellie Marie Rasmussen Hunter in Boise, Idaho.
April 4, 1920	Baptized and confirmed in Boise.
May 1923	Receives the Eagle Scout Award—the second Eagle Scout in Boise.
January and February 1927	With his band, Hunter’s Croonaders, provides music during a two-month cruise to Asia.
March 1928	Moves to Southern California.
April 1928	Begins working at a bank in California.
June 10, 1931	Marries Clara May (Claire) Jeffs in the Salt Lake Temple.
January 1932	Loses his banking job due to bank closures brought on by the Depression; begins working a series of odd jobs.
January 1934	Begins working in the title department of the Los Angeles County Flood Control District.
March 20, 1934	Son Howard William (Billy) Hunter Jr. is born.
October 11, 1934	Son Howard William (Billy) Hunter Jr. dies.
September 1935	Enters the Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles (now Southwestern Law School).
May 4, 1936	Son John Jacob Hunter is born.
June 29, 1938	Son Richard Allen Hunter is born.
June 8, 1939	Graduates from law school, third in his class.
April 1940	Begins private law practice, working part-time and then full-time by 1945; continues practicing law until his call as an Apostle in 1959.
September 1940 to November 1946	Serves as bishop of the El Sereno Ward in California.
February 1950 to November 1959	Serves as president of the Pasadena Stake in California.
November 14, 1953	Sealed to his parents on his 46th birthday in the Mesa Arizona Temple.
October 9, 1959	Called by President David O. McKay to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
October 15, 1959	Ordained an Apostle and set apart as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve by President David O. McKay.
1964 to 1972	Serves as president of the Church’s Genealogical Society.
1965 to 1976	Serves as president of the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie, Hawaii.
1970 to 1972	Serves as Church Historian.
1974 to 1979	Helps oversee the planning, funding, and building of the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden in Jerusalem.
November 1975	Directs the organization of 15 stakes in one weekend from what were 5 stakes in Mexico City.
1979 to 1989	Oversees the planning and construction of the Brigham Young University (BYU) Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies.
October 24, 1979	Conducts dedicatory services for the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden in Jerusalem.
October 9, 1983	Claire Hunter dies after an illness of more than 10 years.
November 10, 1985	Set apart as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles due to the poor health of the quorum president, Marion G. Romney.
June 2, 1988	Set apart as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles after the death of President Marion G. Romney.
May 16, 1989	Dedicates the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies.
April 12, 1990	Marries Inis Bernice Egan Stanton in the Salt Lake Temple.
June 5, 1994	Set apart as the 14th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
October 1, 1994	Sustained as President of the Church in general conference.
October 9, 1994	Dedicates the Orlando Florida Temple.
December 11, 1994	Presides over the creation of the Church’s 2,000th stake (Mexico City Mexico Contreras Stake).
January 8, 1995	Dedicates the Bountiful Utah Temple.
March 3, 1995	Dies at his home in Salt Lake City, Utah, at age 87.