Joseph Fielding Smith (presiding patriarch)

Joseph Fielding Smith
Photograph of Joseph Fielding Smith
Patriarch to the Church
September 17, 1942(1942-09-17) (aged 43) – October 6, 1946(1946-10-06) (aged 47)
Called by Heber J. Grant
End reason Released for reasons of ill health
Personal details
Born (1899-01-30)January 30, 1899
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Died August 29, 1964(1964-08-29) (aged 65)
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

Joseph Fielding Smith (January 30, 1899 – August 29, 1964) was presiding patriarch and a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1942 until 1946.

Smith was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, the son of LDS Church apostle Hyrum M. Smith and Ida Elizabeth Bowman. He went to school at the University of Utah, where he majored in Theater. In 1929, he married Ruth Pingree.[1] Together they had seven children, Ruth, Ida, R.P. "Joe", Denis, Lynne, Hyrum, and Pauline.[2]

At the age of 43, Smith was ordained a high priest and Patriarch to the Church on October 8, 1942, by church president Heber J. Grant. He served only four years before it was reported by the church that he had requested to be released from his position. His request was granted by church president George Albert Smith on October 6, 1946, with the church announcing that Smith was released for reasons of "ill health."[3] After Smith's death it was discovered that the patriarch had been involved in a homosexual affair with a 21-year-old U.S. Navy sailor, who was also a Latter-day Saint.[4]

After being released, Smith took his family to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he continued to raise his family. For a time, Smith was not allowed to hold any position in the church, but reportedly was "treated with compassion."[5] In 1957, Smith was again allowed to serve in the church after he had forsaken his homosexual behavior.[6] Shortly thereafter, Smith's wife Ruth wrote a letter to church president David O. McKay expressing her gratitude for the church's help, stating, "I know, better than anyone else, the trial our family has been to you and to the authorities."[6] In 1957 and after, Smith served as a member of his stake's high council.

Smith died and was buried in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Smith's grandson Jefferson Smith served in the Oregon House of Representatives from 2008 to 2012.

Smith shares a name with his grandfather, Joseph F. Smith, and his uncle, Joseph Fielding Smith, both of whom served as apostles and later as church presidents.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Family: Joseph Fielding Smith/Ruth Pingree. OurFamilyHistories.org
  2. ↑ Lynne Esther Smith Partridge, Cody Enterprise (Cody, Wyoming)
  3. ↑ "Patriarch to the Church: Released from Duties", Improvement Era 49 (November 1946) pp. 685, 708.
  4. ↑ Quinn, D. Michael (2001). Same-Sex Dynamics among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. p. 370. ISBN 978-0-252-06958-1.
  5. ↑ James, Rhett S.; Mitton, George L. (1998), "A Response to D. Michael Quinn's Homosexual Distortion of Latter-day Saint History", FARMS Review of Books 10 (1), pp. 141–263
  6. 1 2 O'Donovan, Connell. "Chronology of Events on Patriarch Joseph Fielding Smith’s Homosexuality". connellodonovan.com.

References

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints titles
Preceded by
George F. Richards		 Presiding Patriarch
September 17, 1942–October 6, 1946 		Succeeded by
Eldred G. Smith
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