Frank B. Woodbury

Frank Bartlett Woodbury served as Acting Patriarch to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His service, according to Grampa Bill’s General Authority Pages, is “somewhat shrouded in mystery. The Encyclopedia of Mormonism so lists him, showing his term of service as [June] 1935 to [October] 1937. However, the Church Almanac omits him from the listing of Presiding Patriarchs and in fact specifically states, 'From 1932 to 1937, no Patriarch to the Church was sustained.' Grampa Bill believes but has not yet proven that Brother Woodbury was a Stake Patriarch to one of the Salt Lake stakes, probably the Salt Lake Stake or possibly the Pioneer Stake and had additional assigned duties to serve the transient needs of visitors to the Salt Lake area. Since this became the primary responsibility of the Patriarch to the Church, he is listed as having functioned as the acting Patriarch to the Church even though he was neither sustained nor set apart to the office.”[1]

Another source states that “He was ordained a Patriarch of the Pioneer Stake in 1924 and after he moved to the Salt Lake Stake was sustained again in 1945. In the spring of 1935, he was asked by Heber J. Grant to give patriarchal blessings to members visiting Salt Lake from areas without a Patriarch. After two years he was released from this call. During that time he gave 823 blessings.”[2]

Woodbury was born on December 27, 1867, in St. George, Utah. His mother, Ann Cannon Woodbury, was a sister to John Taylor’s wife Lenora and used this connection to help Frank get an apprenticeship as a typesetter at the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, where he spent 50 years of his life. He and his wife, Lilly, had six children. He passed away on December 21, 1962.