Earlier today, the Maxwell Institute noted the passing of William G. Hartley, past president of the Mormon History Association, founding president of the Mormon Trails Association, noted scholar of the history of Mormon priesthood, and award-winning historical biographer.

Bill wrote extensive and well-researched biographies and family histories including My Best For the Kingdom: John Lowe Butler, Mormon Frontiersman, which won an award from Association of Mormon Letters, and Anson Bowen Call: Bishop of Colonia Dublán, with Lorna Call Alder and H. Lane Johnson, which won a Mormon History Association award for best international Mormon history. Continue reading William G. Hartley (1942-2018) →

Although I am not prepared at the moment to say anything beyond her obituary, I draw your attention to the passing of Lorna Call Alder. She takes with her a keen mind and memory that reached back longer than virtually any other Latter-day Saint of our day, and she leaves behind the record of a noble personal life and a legacy that has influenced the Church itself.

Rest in Peace, Sister Alder.

Since we have so recently enjoyed the 1958 account of her conversion, you may want to know that Sister Cuthbert has passed away; her funeral will be held today.

Her obituary is online.

Thanks to Alison for bringing this to our attention.

Dale Kilbourn, the artist whose images of Joseph Smith are some of the most familiar in our culture, and who illustrated so many of the Be Honest With Yourself cards posted at Keepa, has died. His daughter Diana Kilbourn Yates writes:

Just thought I’d drop you a line to let you know that my dad passed away today [Monday, May 7]. He had some surgery in December, but never fully recovered. He died quietly at home, surrounded by people who loved him. I want to thank you for the opportunity you gave me to write about him for your blog. He was so pleased with the comments from your readers.

We will miss him, but we know he is reunited with our mom, our sister, and with other family members.

I’ll link here to obituaries as they become available.

Thank you for sharing your father with us, Diana.

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— from the Relief Society Magazine,
May 1934

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My mother went away on February 15, 2000.

I think that no matter how old we are, no matter how long it has been since we depended on our mothers for support and advice, or how long they have been ill or feeble or old, probably even if yours was a difficult relationship, having our mothers go away changes us. In my case, I wasn’t even aware that I had thought of her as a shield between me and the Void Out There, but once she went away, I felt — still feel — exposed and vulnerable; to what, I don’t know, but she had stood between me and It.

Sympathy to all of you whose mothers have gone away. May we have more of faith and less of fear, and be all that they wished for us.

There is no particular Mormon history connection to this post. I simply want to acknowledge the 25th anniversary of the explosion of the shuttle Challenger, and to say again the names of the seven astronauts who were aboard. My memories of that day are as vivid as my memories of 9/11 — there aren’t many days in a lifetime that shock and grieve the way January 28, 1986 did.

This is the speech to the nation made by Ronald Reagan later that day:

Ladies and gentlemen, I planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the union. But the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day of mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core over this tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.

Nineteen years ago almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But we’ve never lost an astronaut in flight. We’d never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we’ve forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle. But they, the Challenger 7, were aware of the dangers and overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly.

Continue reading “To Touch the Face of God” →

Brig Madsen, Western historian, professor of history and one-time vice president of the University of Utah, author of at least eight books and editor of several more, passed away on Christmas Eve, 2010.

His award-winning books include Glory Hunter: A Biography of Patrick Edward Connor, North to Montana! Jehus, Bullwhackers, and Mule Skinners on the Montana Trail, The Shoshoni Frontier and the Bear River Massacre, Studies of the Book of Mormon, and his autobiography, Against the Grain: Memoirs of a Western Historian.

Best known among Bloggernaclers as one of the so-called Swearing Elders, Madsen served a mission in the Eastern States in 1934-36, later becoming a religious skeptic if not an outright disbeliever, but retaining a lively interest in Mormon theology and practices. “Some people are able to compartmentalize logic and reason from supernatural and spiritual beliefs. I do not have that facility,” he wrote. “I do not criticize the compartmentalizers. Many of them are highly intelligent and, in other respects, have high criteria for truth; I, however, … cannot surrender my independence and rationality to such a process but must follow the road where reason and evidence take me. I have only my mind and its tools to reveal reality to me. … I cannot deny myself the opportunity of venturing into the unknown where there may be a God with ‘body, parts, and passions’ or, more likely, nothing but this temporal life where all of us should be helping each other in the ‘pursuit of happiness’ toward a good life in the present.”

Continue reading Brigham D. Madsen (1914-2010) →