Marion D. Hanks was called as a general authority in 1953 at the age of 31. During his 40 years of service, he cleaned up the mess of “baseball baptisms,” worked with the youth, and trained general authorities like Russell M. Nelson and Jeffrey R. Holland. Hanks also developed a reputation as someone who advocated for Christlike service over institutional statistics. His son, Richard D. Hanks, talks about the first biography of his father in this interview.
Learn more about Marion D. Hanks in the new biography, To Be a Friend of Christ.
How would you summarize Marion D. Hanks for today’s generation?
Marion Duff Hanks (often called “Duff”) served for almost 40 years as a General Authority and was one of the most beloved and influential leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the twentieth century. His impact in today’s church is found far and wide.
He was instrumental in changing the church’s approach to missionary work to include Christ-like service, advocated institutional humanitarian work, focused on the Savior, led the creation and improvement of both the young adult and young men/women programs of the church, instituted refugee relief services and on and on.
He was a guiding light for those who didn’t fit the mold.
Maybe of even more interest for today’s generation would be his support (half a century ago) for causes that have come to the forefront today—how the church should approach the marginalized, those on the fringes of belief, those with progressive leanings, and those suffering with doubt.
Because of his willingness to listen and care for the individual, he became a guiding light to many who didn’t fit exactly into the mold of some of the church’s doctrines and ideologies. Those who have what are now called “faith crises” flocked to him in droves. Those seeking mercy and some degree of hope for a future that included God’s forgiveness sought him out. Those who believed that the church should take a more progressive stance on some issues hoped he would take their positions forward. Those who disagreed with the “we’re right, you’re wrong” approach to the Restoration of the gospel found a sympathetic ear for their concerns.
His message was one of encouragement and mercy, and the cultivation of faith. A friend once told him, “Yours is a ministry to the turbulent of soul.” In thousands of letters, cards, and expressions of love received during his life, the overwhelming single sentiment repeated over and over was, “You will never know the difference you made in my life.”
How did his interview as a potential chaplain during the war help him understand the importance of talking of Christ?
At 22 years old, Marion D. Hanks was appointed Latter-day Saint group leader of about 600 men stationed in San Diego at the United States Naval Training Center. Duff was responsible for organizing the church meetings and activities. He conducted Latter-day Saint services on Sunday mornings, divided the group into classes, then followed it up with an afternoon meeting of returned missionaries.
One Sunday, Chaplain Hamilton, the senior chaplain of the huge naval base, complimented Duff on the church service and invited Duff to meet with him in his office to discuss the possibility of his becoming a chaplain. He said, “Before I recommend you to the Chief of Chaplains, talk to me about your experience in your Church, about what you think may help me recommend you.”
And so, Duff began to try to tell Chaplain Hamilton what might qualify him to serve in that role. “I mentioned growing up in the Church, including family home evenings, prayer, etc.” Hamilton began to fidget, and Duff knew that he was losing him. Becoming a little more anxious, he tried telling him “All about the Church and its programs, the early two-and-a-half-minute talks, Scouting, the deacon opportunity, the Sunday School teaching, and the mission.”
I haven’t made that mistake again.
After a time, Chaplain Hamilton’s demeanor completely changed, and he finally interrupted Duff. “Say Hanks, do you believe in Jesus Christ?”
“Yes, sir,” Duff replied. “Everything I believe relates to Jesus Christ. The name of the Church that I belong to is his name. My faith revolves around him as my Savior.”
Hamilton, looking at his watch, said, “Well, you have been talking for seven minutes and you haven’t said so.”
It was an unforgettable lesson for Duff. Years later, he said, “I haven’t made that mistake again.”
How was the organizational church different from today when he was first called as a general authority?
Marion D. Hanks was called to be a general authority in 1953, at age thirty-one. At that time the population of the church was only 1.2 million, and there were only 33 general authorities, including the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. There were no quorums of the Seventy, no area presidencies, and only 42 mission presidents.
By comparison, in 2024 there are approximately 125 general authorities and 22 area presidencies around the world, with an additional 335 area authority seventies who live in each area and can respond directly to the needs of the local people. In addition, there are 415 mission presidencies worldwide. Church membership has grown to 17 million.
The mid-twentieth-century church was significantly more centralized, with authority and responsibility consolidated in a few dozen men in Utah. Every missionary, every bishop, and every stake president was required to be interviewed and ordained or set apart by a general authority. Added to those responsibilities was the ongoing crush of touring missions and presiding at stake conferences. The responsibilities took a large toll on general authorities’ physical and mental health.
What role did Marion D. Hanks play in originating the Christus statue for Temple Square?
Marion D. Hanks served for many years on Temple Square—first as a tour guide, then as a member of the Temple Square presidency with Richard L. Evans. In the mid-1950s, they spent considerable time investigating different methods for increasing the appeal of Temple Square, including multiple trips back east to see how other organizations were presenting themselves to the public.
Duff kept pushing.
Both men felt that the church needed a way to clearly demonstrate to the public that Mormons were Christian. Duff had been pushing for some representation of Christ on Temple Square. Elder J. Reuben Clark opposed the idea, and Elder Evans declined to propose it again. Duff kept pushing, and in June of 1957, Richard L. Evans, Robert McKay, and Duff met with the First Presidency to present the proposed changes to Temple Square.
As they were entering the council room, Elder Evans turned to Duff and said, “How would you like to go down in history as the guy who messed up Temple Square?”
Duff remembered, “We went in, and I made the proposal for the two new visitors centers we wanted to build on the Square, one over on the northwest corner and one to be built where the old Bureau of Information was.”
Duff then expressed their feeling that the church needed a representation of the Savior that would leave little doubt that Latter-day Saints were Christians. They wanted something that would be well known and be received without controversy.
Duff suggested Thorvaldsen’s Christus in Copenhagen, Denmark. He said: What we would like is to get your authority to acquire a copy of that statue. President McKay listened to my idea, slapped his thigh, and said, “Why not!” before President Clark had a chance to deliver his “we don’t believe in icons” response again.
How did Marion D. Hanks respond to President McKay’s request to clean up the mess of baseball baptisms?
Near the end of the 1950s and early 1960s, baptism euphoria had gotten out of hand in several missions of the world. Marion D. Hanks was called to President David O. McKay’s office, where he was asked to move to London, take over the mission there, and “clean up the mess” of baseball baptisms that had been occurring there.
(The name comes from one of the programs, where Latter-day Saint missionaries would invite boys to join sports leagues and would baptize them as a prerequisite to playing on the team.)
When asked when he would be available to move to London, Duff responded that he was ready as needed.
The Hanks family arrived in London amid what Duff called a “maelstrom of baptizing that had gotten out of hand, with contests, and competition, and unholy pressure.”
Duff immediately ended baptism quotas and stopped all the competitions and award systems that were driving the excesses. He also interviewed each missionary and explained the procedures that would be in place going forward. The previous administration’s definition of a “family baptism” was any two individuals living under the same roof. This was changed to include at least one parent. As a result, the number of baptisms dropped precipitously, and Duff was soon criticized by President Henry D. Moyle, as well as by the presidents of some of the other British missions and a few local church leaders. But he continued pushing the necessary changes and after the mission was turned around, Duff was able to focus less on what needed changing and more on the missionaries, their testimonies, and the program going forward. His impact was profound.
A recurring theme written by his missionaries was the way he had changed the course of the mission, helped them regain their integrity, and yet, still strengthened their testimonies of the church and its leadership.
How did Marion D. Hanks view the difference between aggressive proselytizing and Christianity?
Marion D. Hanks loved missionary work because he loved the gospel—it was a part of his makeup. But his vision of the future of missionary work entailed the joining together of Matthew 25 with Matthew 28.
- Matthew 25: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (vv.31–46; emphasis added).
- Matthew 28: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them . . . . teaching them to observe” (vv.19–20; emphasis added).
In other words, called to baptize—and called to serve.
Marion D. Hanks viewed both of these directives as being equal in weight and nonnegotiable commands of the Lord for all members of the church, not just missionaries. The Lord described both as prerequisites for gaining eternal life. Duff tirelessly lobbied for more Christian service from missionaries, but his broader hope for the global church was that the entire membership would adopt the Savior’s command toward serving “the least of these.”
Someday the church’s worldwide missionary force would be lifting boxes into U-Hauls.
His vision was that someday the church’s worldwide missionary force would be lifting boxes into U-Hauls, providing meals to the homebound and homeless, helping the Red Cross, volunteering at the local veterans hospital, helping local residents weed, plant, and paint.
But this had not been the church’s historical approach. It seems difficult now, as it was back then, for some leaders of the church to embrace the concepts embodied in Duff ’s hoped-for vision of missionary work. Even while I was serving as a mission president, I heard such interesting criticisms as, “We are sent only to baptize!” and “We aren’t the Peace Corps, you know,” or “Your missionaries are doing too much service.”
One of Duff’s colleagues, wrote:
One of the great things Duff did over the years was to bear his testimony repeatedly asking for the missionaries to be able to do service. Now, all these years later, thousands of missionaries have opportunities every week (even if only for a few hours) to serve others, beyond their proselyting endeavors.
How else did Marion D. Hanks push back on statistics in favor of giving Christian service?
Duff’s opening talk in his first General Conference set the stage for a lifetime of his advocating the importance of “the individual,” “The One.” He believed that the end purpose of the church was the improvement of the individual. The purpose of its teachings is to serve the individual. The worth of souls being the ultimate goal.
As he retired from church service, one of his colleagues wrote, “I was once again touched deeply by your sincere concern for all of our Heavenly Father’s children, individually, not just as aggregate statistics.”
Speaking in an April 1966 general conference session, he said, “The individual, then, is the focal point of all the programs and performance of the Church—not the program itself, not the statistics. Not institutional expansion, but individual exaltation is the purpose of it all.”
This approach can easily be seen in specific areas of church service, by how questions are asked:
- How many baptisms?
- How many endowments?
- How many members in the church?
- How many temples?
As a simple, but concrete example—while he was the president of the Salt Lake Temple, he trained the thousands of workers there that a temple patron’s feeling of the spirit was far more important than the exact location of their feet while walking. He told the brethren in the baptistry that the goal was to enable a sweet experience for those doing the baptisms, rather than seeing how many ordinances they could perform, auctioneer style. And so forth.
What are some of the things Marion D. Hanks advocated for then that are now part of the church?
How much time do you have? There is no way to list them all, but I will provide a smattering of different things that have his fingerprints all over them, from large to small.
Some are so ingrained in the church now that it is hard to remember that things were different once. For example, as late as the 1950’s, the church had no routine teaching of the Book of Mormon. Duff was the first to teach classes solely from the Book of Mormon in seminary and institute and developed many of the original teaching aides still in use.
He created the first early morning seminary classes.
He pushed hard for taking care of the homeless in Salt Lake City.
He was the church’s main point of contact to community and interfaith efforts.
He started non-proselyting Latter-day Saint humanitarian service and initiated the church’s involvement in refugee camps in Southeast Asia and in institutional humanitarian efforts.
He felt strongly that the church’s mission should be “Come unto Christ.”
Four decades ago, Duff taught that the sweet temple experience (and the covenants there) are about Jesus, not a “continual dissection of the endowment ceremony.”
He continually advocated for mercy and the salvation of the individual rather than just the growth of the church.
He championed and wrote the internal proposals for the reconstitution of the Quorums of the Seventy (as outlined in the Doctrine and Covenants), the creation of Emeritus status, the creation of activities committees at all church levels, and the decentralization of church leadership.
He felt strongly that the church’s mission should be “Come unto Christ” as outlined in the scriptures, rather than simply three areas of work—proclaim, perfect, redeem.
He pleaded for the church to use its missionary force beyond baptism into reactivation and especially in Christ-like service.
He led the creation of singles wards, the creation of singles programs of the church, the building of the church’s young men and young women’s programs
He also advocated for numerous more tactical changes. For example, merging the Elders and High Priests into one quorum, shortening church services, civil before temple marriages, adapting garments to weather, a greater involvement of women leaders, the delegation and ‘pushing down’ of authority and responsibility.
Were there any other initiatives he pushed for that haven’t yet been instituted?
Sure. Quite a lot of things never were instituted or were actually adopted, but in a more diluted state than he had hoped.
For example, he was the impetus for the creation of the activities committees at every level of the church. (Since then, activities committees have come and gone, and come again). One of the ideas he pushed hard for at that time was the potential for family recreation to become a concept for the Church—an idea that never fully took off.
While he was successful in getting the church to support 10 hours of service by missionaries per week, that was actually a compromise, he always hoped it could be much, much more.
While he was in Southeast Asia and beginning the church’s first involvement with refugees, he also submitted to his brethren the hope that the church could form a kind of ‘clearing house’ of member skills to be matched to those in need. (For example, matching dentists and doctors and their important skills with those members around the world in need of those skills.) He just couldn’t convince President Gordon B. Hinckley of the value this would bring to the members on both sides of the equation.
He didn’t live to see the church move away from the Boy Scouts, but he would have wept if he had been alive. He fought over and over again to keep scouting alive in the church and away from those who thought it was ‘too expensive’ or that ‘we should have our own program.
He believed strongly that Bishops and other church leaders could/should obtain training from outside professionals, and couldn’t understand why some leaders felt that such a thing was contrary to listening to the Holy Ghost. Why can’t both be employed in the quest of helping our Father in Heaven’s children?
There are many other examples, but that is a selection out of such a list. And as mentioned earlier, there were many of his ideas and hopes that percolated for years, and sometimes decades before eventually occurring.
Why did Marion D. Hanks wear a gray suit when most other general authorities wore black?
Well, Marion D. Hanks didn’t always wear gray—but it did cause an eyebrow raise or two when he did. Let me just quote directly from the book:
He was both a leader and a follower, but he was not a blind follower. His light gray suits in a sea of black ones among church leaders at general conferences were not so much a rebel stance as they were an invitation and a beacon to others who didn’t see the gospel “just so.” He always spoke up. He was not afraid to champion the unpopular cause or the unpopular person. He also fought many a quiet battle to bring peace to his fellowman and to ensure fair judgment of a person or a problem.
Richard D. Hanks, To Be A Friend of Christ: The Life of Marion D. Hanks.
Did he deliberately try to be a rebel?
No, I don’t think he purposely chose to rebel, but he did take his authority from the scriptures, and he had been told by President McKay to “Let his voice be heard.” So, he did.
In so doing, Marion D. Hanks surely stepped on a few toes of other church leaders who expected him to fall in line.
What did Marion D. Hanks think about the priesthood ban prior to 1978?
The opening line of the book is “Marion D. Hanks was a believer.” And he was—including the belief that the president of the church leads the church by inspiration. This caused some difficult issues for him. One was certainly the priesthood ban. He never believed in it, and he never accepted any of the cultural justifications that many others promulgated over the years.
It bothered Duff to have to adopt an attitude of suspended judgment on this issue and rely on (and wait for) the prophet to receive revelation that would remove the priesthood ban. But he always believed that the ban would be reversed in his lifetime.
Even so, he wasn’t content to just sit back and wait.
Marion D. Hanks was in a difficult position, because he had a rock-solid testimony of the restoration of the gospel and its leaders and authority. But ironically, he spent much of his life struggling to explain a policy he didn’t believe in.
He said:
All my life this has been a big sorrow for me, but I did my best to sustain the policy since I knew enough about the scriptures to understand that God has always selected certain people to do the things he needed to have done.
Marion D. Hanks
For example, the taking of the gospel to the Jews before the gentiles.
In 1993, he wrote:
For all the years I was a general authority, and for years before that, I answered thousands of questions on tours at Temple Square. I had to find ways to respond to what was a troubling reality that there were worthy and wonderful people who were not yet permitted to hold the priesthood. One can’t respond to questions about this for so many years and know that the Lord tells us that He ‘esteemeth all flesh in one’ (1 Nephi 17:35), and not look forward to a change.
Marion D. Hanks
How did Marion D. Hanks approach hard questions in church history?
I would rather have him here to answer this question, but I’ll give it my best shot. A couple of things come to mind. My sister Nancy once said about him, “You could ask him the really tough questions, because you knew he had asked them himself.”
I find that statement incredibly accurate about his general approach to things he couldn’t explain or didn’t know the answers to. He didn’t shrink from difficult questions, but he also didn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater when he discovered some difficult historical issue. He loved quoting from David O. McKay who was once asked to opine on a difficult subject and began his answer with “It would do no violence to my faith if…”.
It didn’t bother him to say, “I don’t know.”
It didn’t bother Marion D. Hanks in the slightest to say, “I don’t know. But he also wasn’t swayed one way or the other by either detractors or apologists.
For example, he preferred to talk about what the Book of Mormon says, rather than how it got here, and how it was translated, etc. He was aware of Bible anachronisms in the Book of Mormon, but he also knew about chiasmus in the Book of Mormon. Both were interesting intellectually to him, but nowhere near as important as the actual teachings within its pages.
Duff felt strongly that a knowledge and testimony of the gospel required deep and concerted effort. At the young age of twenty-two, he wrote to a friend from his mission:
Are there things I’m not sure about? Yes, lots of them! I still question and doubt and worry. But my attitude is that I will someday be capable of understanding things that are now beyond my ken.
Some might call that type of thinking blind faith—or perhaps intellectual dishonesty. Not so! I felt the same when I started to learn to read. I feel it now when I think of studying law or medicine.
If I can school my mind to comprehend the things of science and art, why can I not look forward to a time of greater knowledge of things spiritual? If I want . . . the assurance of knowledge, then I must go to the source of such knowledge and be willing to pay the price for obtaining it.
Marion D. Hanks
Relating to imperfect men and their foibles he once wrote “. ..my faith will never be disturbed by the default of men. It might reasonably be shaken, since I am a lad of doubts and incertitude, but no dereliction of duty by men will ever convince me that principles I have espoused are wrong.”
What did he teach about the relationship between temple covenants and the life of Christ?
Marion D. Hanks’s somewhat unique teachings about the temple are explored in detail in the book, but in short, he taught that the experience of the temple is really all about Jesus (as has been recently emphasized in changes in the temple ceremonies)
He said, “As the mission of the church is to ‘invite all to Come unto Christ,’ so I believe, in its clearest and loveliest sense, that this is also the mission of temples.”
Duff felt that the temple was all about Christ, from the moment we enter until the moment we leave. He taught that the endowment was our involvement in the path Christ followed on the earth. He believed that the Savior lived a life that demonstrated each of the covenants that we personally make in the temple, and that we should be willing to walk that same path.
For example, in teaching about the covenants of the temple, he would ask:
- Who was more obedient than the Savior?
- Who sacrificed more than the Savior?
- Who defined love and lived the law of the gospel more than the Savior?
- Who exhibited discipline, purity, and loyalty more than the Savior?
- And finally, who demonstrated unselfishness and commitment more than the Savior who consecrated His life for us?
What was his relationship like with prominent Latter-day Saints of his time?
Here’s a sampling of Marion D. Hanks’s relationship with an unusual set of bedfellows from his time, such as Eugene England, Bruce R. McConkie, Lowell Bennion, and Truman Madsen.
Marion D. Hanks and Eugene England
Marion D. Hanks was Eugene England‘s mentor. They had a hot and cold relationship over many years. Gene was a Latter-day Saint professor, essayist, scholar, and sometimes burr under the saddle of the church. But then, Duff was a bit of a burr himself.
Duff and Gene had a prolonged relationship, sometimes conflicted, but predominantly solid. They agreed on many things, such as mercy, compassion, etc. They also disagreed vehemently on the war in Vietnam, on appropriate ways to voice that disagreement, and on other subjects.
But they had mutual respect, friendship, and admiration for each other. Duff ‘saved’ Gene’s job at BYU on multiple occasions. Charlotte England asked Duff to speak at a memorial service for him.
Marion D. Hanks and Bruce R. McConkie
When Marion D. Hanks was called into the First Council of the Seventy, he was thirty-one. Bruce R. McConkie, thirty-eight, was the closest in age to Duff. They served together in that quorum for nineteen years, until Duff was called as an Assistant to the Twelve.
Despite their long and enduring friendship, Duff spoke openly about his dissatisfaction and disagreement with many of Bruce McConkie’s pronouncements and writings.
Duff said:
If there is a better man, I have not known him. He has been kind to me in speaking of my ability and effort and so forth. It is only that he is unguided by good counsel which surely would correct his tendency to speak unequivocally about equivocal things.
Marion D. Hanks on Bruce R. McConkie
Over the next forty years, the two men vigorously disagreed multiple times over some of the declarative doctrines McConkie pronounced in speaking and writing.
Marion D. Hanks and Lowell Bennion
As a freshman at the University of Utah, Marion D. Hanks met Lowell Bennion at the institute and was hooked. Bennion was already famous for his writings and for his tactical and practical expressions of true charity, a sterling example of “pure religion . . . before God” (James 1:27). Bennion had also written many church teaching manuals. Duff felt that no one exceeded him in his capacity to influence naturally, persistently, and honestly.
Lowell spoke at Duff’s missionary farewell in Feb. 1942. Eight years later, Lowell invited him to teach institute with him. They taught together for decades.
At a memorial for Lowell, Duff wrote, “There is a scripture which for me fits Lowell Bennion in principle: ‘So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.’ (Psalm 78:72).”
Marion D. Hanks and Truman Madsen
Truman G. Madsen and Marion D. Hanks were friends growing up. They exchanged thoughts and ideas over the years and remained friends. The two men also worked together on Temple Square.
At Duff’s retirement, Truman commented, “Yours is a ministry to the turbulent of soul.”
Who are some of the general authorities mentored by Marion D. Hanks?
Marion D. Hanks ended up teaching virtually all of the general authorities that were called to the ministry after him, including Russell M. Nelson, Dallin H. Oaks, Neal A. Maxwell, and many others.
Here are just a few examples.
In a letter in 2007, President Thomas S. Monson wrote, “No message to teachers of the church should be without reference to my dear friend Duff Hanks, one of the most effective and most loved teachers in the church.”
At Maxine’s funeral in 2018, President Russell M. Nelson, newly called president of the church, told the congregation that in his temple locker he still keeps the notecard from when Duff trained him as a new general authority.
In the scrapbooks that his secretary, Phyllis, prepared are many sweet expressions of gratitude from other church leaders that Duff was privileged to mentor or train in various aspects of their responsibilities. Included are letters from:
- Russell M. Nelson
- Dallin H. Oaks
- Jeffrey R. Holland
- Quentin L. Cook
- Elaine Cannon
- Richard G. Scott
- David B. Haight
- L. Tom Perry
- Elaine Jack
- Neal A. Maxwell
- Chieko N. Okazaki
- Marlin K. Jensen
- Ardeth G. Kapp
- Most of his colleagues in the Seven Presidents of Seventy
- and scores of others.
Particularly interesting are the letters to him from new general authorities who had been assigned to go out with him as a ‘junior companion’ to call a new stake president.
Was it ever hard for him to see so many people he trained become his ecclesiastical superiors?
Marion D. Hanks didn’t talk about it much. He just moved forward and fulfilled his duty. When asked in person about the subject, Duff would usually respond to such questions by smiling and saying something like, “One serves in the Lord’s church where and when one is called and for as long as one is called.”
Why aren’t you an apostle?
In later years, with a more philosophical bent and with many years of watching the unanimity expressed by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in its decision-making, Duff gave a different, if slightly irreverent, answer to the genuine queries of well-meaning people:
- Question: Why aren’t you an apostle?
- Answer: “Because God knows me too well and He loves me too much.”
While serving as president of the Salt Lake Temple, Duff wrote in his journal about
an interesting staff meeting at the temple, wherein certain dissatisfactions became expressed. One leader is downcast because he was not called to be my replacement counselor. I smiled and noted that I had been passed over more than the Israelites and had trained more apostles than any living man, and that I was content that it be so. He was not mollified, although he and his wife are faithful and unselfish.
Marion D. Hanks
Who were some general authorities he worked with that he looked up to?
Marion D. Hanks loved David O. McKay. Of course, it is natural for one to hold in special regard the man whom God uses to call one to church leadership. But Duff’s appreciation for the prophet went beyond that specific shared history to one of genuine regard, admiration, and almost reverence.
To honor President McKay on his ninety-fifth birthday, Duff wrote a piece published in the Improvement Era in September 1968 titled “The Soul of a Prophet,” in which he praised President McKay’s Christlike character and genuine sincerity, his wholesome gentility, courteous demeanor, and love.
On one occasion in the temple, President McKay addressed all the brethren who had gathered, fasting and praying to prepare for general conference. The words he spoke deeply affected Duff, and he repeated them often. President McKay began by saying, “We have met this morning, with our bodies cleansed and clothed in clean linen, our minds prepared, and our spirits subdued, to await the direction of the Lord.”
Duff believed this would be a good pattern for living every day.
When Marion D. Hanks was called as a general authority he was serving as a councilor of the Temple Square presidency with Richard L. Evans. One day in 1971, Duff received word that Elder Evans was in the hospital, unconscious and critically ill. Duff visited his mentor and friend each morning and night.
He wrote:
Posterity will neither read, nor if it did, would not understand the depth of my love for Richard Evans. The opportunities I have enjoyed trace primarily back to him. There is nothing I could say but good about the man.
Marion D. Hanks on Richard L. Evans
Because of Music and the Spoken Word, which Evans wrote and presented for over forty years, Duff felt that no one person ever had, or ever would reach so many people inside and outside the church with such effectiveness. Duff said, “For many years on Temple Square, I believe I was his closest friend and confidant. To have been his friend was one of my greatest blessings.”
Duff spoke at his funeral. And I was named Richard.
Unfortunately, John A. Widtsoe died just the year before Duff was called, but he so looked up to him and especially his scholarship. Marion D. Hanks quoted him often on various subjects.
He chose souls over statistics.
He came to love and admire each of the men in the First Council of the Seventy when he joined:
- Bruce R. McConkie
- Milton R. Hunter
- S. Dilworth Young
- Oscar A. Kirkham
- Antoine R. Ivins
- Levi Edgar Young.
They were much older, but he learned all he could from them.
During his ministry, Marion D. Hanks came to love hundreds of men and women who he was blessed to work with in testifying of Christ and leading the church. It would be unwise of me to start listing, but perhaps his two missionary Apostles, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and Quentin L. Cook can serve as examples representing the others.
How did he balance ministering and administration in a growing church?
Marion D. Hanks never got caught up in “the thick of thin things.” He loved the quotation, “Never let the things that matter most be at the mercy of the things that matter least.” He chose “souls over statistics.”
He chose to focus on the individual standing right in front of him. He was quoted often as saying the purpose of it all is the individual, not institutional expansion—but individual exaltation. Not counting the sheep but feeding them.
This focus on the individual took a lot more effort and sacrifice on his part, but changed the lives of thousands of individuals.
What experience with Antoine Ivins resulted in what he called the greatest compliment of his life?
Thank you for asking such a sweet question. Humble and gentle Antoine Ivins was seventy-two when Marion D. Hanks was called to join him in the First Council of the Seventy. Once when Antoine was in the hospital, Duff visited him and, holding his hand, mentioned that he’d heard that President McKay had come to see him earlier. Elder Ivins replied, “I do hope that my contributions have not been unacceptable to my brethren.”
The specific experience you reference occurred when one morning Phyllis, Duff’s secretary, called to say that the ailing Elder Ivins had not arrived at the office.
I knew you would come.
Duff rushed to President Antoine R. Ivins’ apartment, where he found him lying on the bathroom floor wedged between the toilet and the wall. He had been stuck there for thirteen hours.
Duff questioned, “Antoine, what are you doing there?
The reply was, “Waiting for you. I knew you would come.”
Duff called it the “greatest compliment of my life.”
What is the legacy of Marion D. Hanks?
A focus on the Savior. Mercy. Love. Encouragement and uplift. Christ-like service. Master teacher.
Our family had a practical problem when Marion D. Hanks died: What should we have engraved on his headstone? How could we summarize the incredible lives of our mom and dad in just a few words? So, we paraphrased a sentiment Duff loved from one of his honorary doctorates:
“Serve others. Wherever they are. Whatever their faith.”
That’s a pretty good description of their lives.
At the end of the biography, I concluded with the observation that Dad’s absolute devotion to the Savior and his testimony of Christ permeated all that he did. He was a believer.
He declared, “My strongest desire is to qualify to be a friend of Christ.”
I think he has. I think he is.
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About the Interview Participant
Richard D. Hanks is the son of Elder Marion D. Hanks, and the author of To Be a Friend of Christ: The Life of Marion D. Hanks. Hanks holds an MBA from Northwestern and is an adjunct professor at Cornell. He is a retired senior executive whose served at some of the world’s largest companies, including Marriott, PepsiCo, and Price Waterhouse. His personal and research experience make him the foremost authority on the life of Marion D. Hanks, and his biography makes use of never-before-seen sources.
Further Reading
- What Are Baseball Baptisms?
- What’s in the David O. McKay Diaries?
- What Is the Latter-day Saint Temple Endowment?
- Who Was Lowell Bennion?
- How Was the 1978 Priesthood Revelation a Process?
Marion D. Hanks Resources
- To Be a Friend of Christ: The Life of Marion D. Hanks (Signature Books)
- Elder Hanks General Conference Talks (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
- Marion D. Hanks BYU Devotionals (BYU Speeches)
- LDS Church General Authority Elder Marion D. Hanks Dies at Age 89 (Deseret News Obituary)
- In Memoriam: Marion D. Hanks and Chieko N. Okazaki (Sunstone)
Select Marion D. Hanks Talks
- A Loving, Communicating God (October 1992)
- Changing Channels (October 1990)
- “My Specialty Is Mercy” (October 1981)
- Boys Need Men (April 1974)
- How to Be Happy (October 1961)
Citation Information
This post was originally published on September 29, 2024. The most recent update on November 17, 2024 includes new resources, relevant links, and an improved online reading experience.
