Harold B. Lee

Family Background

1899. March 28: Born Harold Bingham Lee in Clifton, Idaho. In 1923 he married Fern Lucinda Tanner; they had two children. She died in 1961, and a year later he married Freda Joan Jensen.

"There came some tests when a loved one was taken from me and my life was crushed. A part of my life was buried in the cemetery, and I wondered, Here I was struggling to help others. Why? Then I theorized that maybe this was a great test, and if I could survive it, maybe there would be no other test that I wouldn't be able to meet. Just as I was recovering from that sorrow a daughter died suddenly, leaving four little children motherless. That was difficult. It is still difficult to understand. But the ways of the Lord are righteous, and sometimes we have to go through experiences like these in order for us to be prepared to face the issues of today's world."

Educator

1916. At seventeen, he taught at Silver Star School near Weston, Idaho. In 1917 he became the principal of a four-room school at Oxford, Idaho.

1920. Following a mission in Denver, Colorado, he worked as a school principal in Salt Lake City.

Stake President

1929. Called at the age of thirty to serve as president of Salt Lake City's Pioneer Stake—the youngest stake president in the Church at the time.

Father of the Church Welfare Program

1932. With nearly half the adult members of his stake unemployed, President Lee instituted programs to provide fuel, bedding, clothes, and food for approximately 2,500 people hardest hit by the Depression. The stake also helped its members find jobs in private enterprise; others were put to work renovating chapels and cutting wood for church stoves.

Goods donated to the stake were stored in the old Bamberger electric train warehouse and then given to the needy or sold to purchase other necessities

Lee's self-sufficiency programs were so successful that the Church allowed tithing revenues to remain within Pioneer Stake. His stake programs provided the first step in the creation of a worldwide Church welfare program.

1935. While serving as a Salt Lake City commissioner, he was called to the first Church Security (Welfare) Committee. In 1937 he became its managing director, traveling with Melvin J. Ballard to institute the new Church welfare program worldwide.

"There I was, just a young man in my thirties. My experience had been limited. I was born in a little country town in Idaho. I had hardly been outside the boundaries of the states of Utah and Idaho. And now to put me in a position where I was to reach out to the entire membership of the Church, worldwide, was one of the most staggering contemplations that I could imagine."

General Authority

1941. Called to the Quorum of the Twelve by Heber J. Grant after the death of Reed Smoot. An excellent pianist, he often played for Quorum of the Twelve meetings.

In 1960 the First Presidency directed the General Priesthood Committee, which Elder Lee chaired, to provide "more coordination and correlation between the activities and programs of the various priesthood quorums and auxiliary organizations and the educational system of the Church [and] … to formulate policy which will govern the planning, the writing, co-ordination, and implementation of the entire Church curriculum." Lee became chairman of the Church Correlation Committee in 1961.

In 1970 he became president of the Quorum of the Twelve and first counselor to President Joseph Fielding Smith.

Eleventh President of the Church

1972. On the death of President Joseph Fielding Smith, Harold B. Lee became, at age seventy-one, the youngest president of the Church in more than forty years. He selected as counselors N. Eldon Tanner and Marion G. Romney, both cousins of his first wife. He was the only Church president except Heber J. Grant to have served as stake president.

As Church president, he also became chairman of the board for such businesses as Zion's First National Bank, Hotel Utah Corporation, Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, ZCMI, and Bonneville International.

He counseled men against becoming workaholics in their Church assignments: "I find some of our brethren who are engaged in leadership positions justifying their neglect of their families because they say that they are engaged in the Lord's work. I say to them, 'My dear brother, do you realize that the most important part of the Lord's work that you will do is the work that you do within the walls of your own home? That is the most important work of the Lord. Don't get your sense of values mixed up."

His presidency was noted for dramatic changes in Church administration. He emphasized priesthood in youth programs, restructured auxiliary general boards, and created internal and external communication committees for improving the Church's public relations. He is perhaps best remembered for stressing Church programs for the single adult members of the Church: "We are endeavoring to reach those for whom we have had no adequate programs. Man wasn't made for the Church, to paraphrase what the Master said, but the Church was made for man."

Regarding changes in Church policy, he said, "Now brethren of the priesthood, if you knew the processes by which these new programs came into being, you would know that this just didn't come out of a brainstorm, the figment of somebody's imagination; this was done after some of the most soulful praying and discussing that I believe I have ever experienced. We know, and we have announced when it was given that this came from the Lord."

Death

1973. December 26: His death from a heart ailment at age seventy-four cut short Harold B. Lee's administration to only seventeen months—shortest term of all Church presidents. Buried in the Salt Lake Cemetery.

Sources
Deseret News, 27 December 1973.
Conference Reports, October 1961, October 1973.
Improvement Era, July 1953.
Lee, Harold B. From the Valley of Despair to the Mountain Peaks of Hope. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1971.
_____. My Kingdom Shall Roll Forth. Salt Lake City: Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1980.

	A Book of Mormons Richard S. Van Wagoner and Steven C. Walker Copyright 1982, Signature Books Salt Lake City, Utah Contents


	Harold B. Lee (1899-1973)

			Harold B. Lee was the originator of the Church Welfare Program and eleventh president of the Church. Photograph courtesy LDS Church Archives.

	Family Background 1899. March 28: Born Harold Bingham Lee in Clifton, Idaho. In 1923 he married Fern Lucinda Tanner; they had two children. She died in 1961, and a year later he married Freda Joan Jensen. "There came some tests when a loved one was taken from me and my life was crushed. A part of my life was buried in the cemetery, and I wondered, Here I was struggling to help others. Why? Then I theorized that maybe this was a great test, and if I could survive it, maybe there would be no other test that I wouldn't be able to meet. Just as I was recovering from that sorrow a daughter died suddenly, leaving four little children motherless. That was difficult. It is still difficult to understand. But the ways of the Lord are righteous, and sometimes we have to go through experiences like these in order for us to be prepared to face the issues of today's world." Educator 1916. At seventeen, he taught at Silver Star School near Weston, Idaho. In 1917 he became the principal of a four-room school at Oxford, Idaho. 1920. Following a mission in Denver, Colorado, he worked as a school principal in Salt Lake City. Stake President 1929. Called at the age of thirty to serve as president of Salt Lake City's Pioneer Stake—the youngest stake president in the Church at the time. Father of the Church Welfare Program 1932. With nearly half the adult members of his stake unemployed, President Lee instituted programs to provide fuel, bedding, clothes, and food for approximately 2,500 people hardest hit by the Depression. The stake also helped its members find jobs in private enterprise; others were put to work renovating chapels and cutting wood for church stoves. Goods donated to the stake were stored in the old Bamberger electric train warehouse and then given to the needy or sold to purchase other necessities Lee's self-sufficiency programs were so successful that the Church allowed tithing revenues to remain within Pioneer Stake. His stake programs provided the first step in the creation of a worldwide Church welfare program. 1935. While serving as a Salt Lake City commissioner, he was called to the first Church Security (Welfare) Committee. In 1937 he became its managing director, traveling with Melvin J. Ballard to institute the new Church welfare program worldwide. "There I was, just a young man in my thirties. My experience had been limited. I was born in a little country town in Idaho. I had hardly been outside the boundaries of the states of Utah and Idaho. And now to put me in a position where I was to reach out to the entire membership of the Church, worldwide, was one of the most staggering contemplations that I could imagine." General Authority 1941. Called to the Quorum of the Twelve by Heber J. Grant after the death of Reed Smoot. An excellent pianist, he often played for Quorum of the Twelve meetings. In 1960 the First Presidency directed the General Priesthood Committee, which Elder Lee chaired, to provide "more coordination and correlation between the activities and programs of the various priesthood quorums and auxiliary organizations and the educational system of the Church [and] … to formulate policy which will govern the planning, the writing, co-ordination, and implementation of the entire Church curriculum." Lee became chairman of the Church Correlation Committee in 1961. In 1970 he became president of the Quorum of the Twelve and first counselor to President Joseph Fielding Smith. Eleventh President of the Church 1972. On the death of President Joseph Fielding Smith, Harold B. Lee became, at age seventy-one, the youngest president of the Church in more than forty years. He selected as counselors N. Eldon Tanner and Marion G. Romney, both cousins of his first wife. He was the only Church president except Heber J. Grant to have served as stake president. As Church president, he also became chairman of the board for such businesses as Zion's First National Bank, Hotel Utah Corporation, Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, ZCMI, and Bonneville International. He counseled men against becoming workaholics in their Church assignments: "I find some of our brethren who are engaged in leadership positions justifying their neglect of their families because they say that they are engaged in the Lord's work. I say to them, 'My dear brother, do you realize that the most important part of the Lord's work that you will do is the work that you do within the walls of your own home? That is the most important work of the Lord. Don't get your sense of values mixed up." His presidency was noted for dramatic changes in Church administration. He emphasized priesthood in youth programs, restructured auxiliary general boards, and created internal and external communication committees for improving the Church's public relations. He is perhaps best remembered for stressing Church programs for the single adult members of the Church: "We are endeavoring to reach those for whom we have had no adequate programs. Man wasn't made for the Church, to paraphrase what the Master said, but the Church was made for man." Regarding changes in Church policy, he said, "Now brethren of the priesthood, if you knew the processes by which these new programs came into being, you would know that this just didn't come out of a brainstorm, the figment of somebody's imagination; this was done after some of the most soulful praying and discussing that I believe I have ever experienced. We know, and we have announced when it was given that this came from the Lord." Death 1973. December 26: His death from a heart ailment at age seventy-four cut short Harold B. Lee's administration to only seventeen months—shortest term of all Church presidents. Buried in the Salt Lake Cemetery. Sources Deseret News, 27 December 1973. Conference Reports, October 1961, October 1973. Improvement Era, July 1953. Lee, Harold B. From the Valley of Despair to the Mountain Peaks of Hope. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1971. _____. My Kingdom Shall Roll Forth. Salt Lake City: Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1980.