Difference between revisions of "Franklin D. Richards"

Revision as of 10:18, 11 August 2011

Franklin Dewey Richards was a member of the First Quorum of Seventy, and therefore a General Authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon Church. Richards was born 17 November 1900 in Ogden, Utah, to Charles C. and Louisa Letitia Peery Richards. His paternal grandfather, Franklin Dewey Richards, was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from 1849 to 1899.

Richards graduated from Weber Academy, then served in the Eastern States Mission from 1920-1922. There, he served as president of the Brooklyn, New York, and Boston, Massachusetts, districts. In 1923 he received his LL.B. degree from the University of Utah. That same year he married Helen Kearnes of Salt Lake City in the Salt Lake Temple.

He practiced law in Utah until 1934, when he was named first Utah director of the Federal Housing Administration. He was appointed national commissioner of the FHA, with offices in Washington, D.C., in 1947. After resigning that position in 1952, he engaged in the mortgage banking business in Washington, D.C.; New York City; and Salt Lake City.

Elder Richards served as a General Authority for twenty-seven years, after being called as an Assistant to the Council of the Twelve on 8 October 1960. He was named a member of the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy when it was organized 1 October 1976, and he served in that capacity until 1 October 1983. He served as president of the Washington, D.C.Temple from October 1983 to January 1986.

Elder Richards was implemental in developing the missionary teaching program based on six gospel discussions.

Elder Richards passed away on November 13, 1987, in Salt Lake City, Utah.