William Grant Bangerter

William Grant Bangerter was a General Authority in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having served from 1975 until his death on April 18, 2010.

Bangerter was called to serve as an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1975, and a year later the position was transitioned into the First Quorum of the Seventy.

An important 1835 revelation on priesthood describes the Seventy as the quorum standing next in authority to the Twelve, and under their direction, the Seventy share responsibility for the Church throughout the world (D&C 107:25-26, 33-34). According to President Spencer W. Kimball in 1976, the calling of the Assistants was "similar to that envisioned by the revelations for the First Quorum of Seventy," but "the scope and demands of the work at that time [1941]" did not yet justify the reconstitution of that quorum (p. 9). After accelerating growth in many parts of the world led to the organization of the First Quorum of Seventy in 1975, the nearly two dozen Assistants then serving became members of that quorum in 1976.[1]

Bangerter served twice in the Presidency of the Seventy (1978–1980 and 1985–1989). In 1989 he was designated emeritus general authority and released from active duties. He then served as president of the Jordan River Utah Temple (1990–1993) and patriarch of the Alpine Utah West Stake (2003–2010). He also served in the Church as a full-time missionary to Brazil (1939–1941), bishop, regional representative, and president of the Brazilian Mission (1958–1963). He also opened the Portugal Lisbon Mission.

Bangerter was born in Granger, Utah, on June 8, 1918. He was one of eleven children born to William Henry and Isabelle Bawden Bangerter. (He was the older brother to Utah governor Norman Bangerter). He suffered polio as a child, but sustained no lasting effects. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah and became a building contractor. He also farmed. He did graduate work in history also at the University of Utah. He served four years in the U.S. Army Air Force where he was a pilot and training squadron commander. He served as vice chairman of Pioneer Welfare Region and was a member of the executive committee of the board of trustees at LDS Hospital. He also served as chairman of the Magna and Granger Seminary boards.

He married Mildred Lee Schwantes in 1944 and they had four children. She died of leukemia in 1952. He then married Geraldine Hamblin in 1953 and they were the parents of seven children, one of whom is Julie B. Beck, who served as Relief Society general president from 2007 to 2012.