Bruce R. McConkie

Bruce Redd McConkie (July 29, 1915 – April 19, 1985) was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1972 until his death.

In 1925, his family moved back to Ann Arbor, where his father continued studying law and in 1926 they moved to Salt Lake City, Utah.

McConkie attended Bryant Junior High School and LDS High School, where he graduated at 15.

He attended three years of college at the University of Utah before he served a church mission.

McConkie followed his father's preaching style and doctrinal views but differed from his father politically, as McConkie was a Republican, and his father was a Democrat.

On September 6, 1934, McConkie received a call to serve in the Eastern States Mission, with Don B. Colton as his mission president.

His first assignment was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

From May 1 to July 24, 1935, he served in the Cumorah District in Palmyra, New York, as part of an intensive missionary campaign tied to the dedication of a monument to Moroni on the Hill Cumorah.

McConkie then served in the Seneca District and later presided over it.

In 1936, McConkie participated in the first Hill Cumorah Pageant, which was attended by his future father-in-law, Joseph Fielding Smith.

At the end of his second year of missionary service, McConkie "extended his mission for six weeks to travel, without a companion, from town to town throughout the mission, teaching investigators and missionaries," at the request of his mission president.

McConkie met Amelia Smith, daughter of Joseph Fielding Smith, before his mission while he was attending the University of Utah.

In 1937, he married Amelia Smith (1916–2005), a daughter of Joseph Fielding Smith, who would later become LDS Church president.

McConkie was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Oscar Walter McConkie and Margaret Vivian Redd.

Before he was a year old, his family moved to Monticello, Utah.

He and Amelia graduated there in June 1937, he with a Bachelor of Arts degree and she with a bachelor's degree in bacteriology and pathology.

They were married in the Salt Lake Temple by Amelia's father on October 13, 1937.

Together, they had nine children: Bruce (1938-1938), Vivian (1940-2024), Joseph (1941-2013), Stanford (1944), Mary (1946-2021), Mark (1948-2018), Rebecca (1950), Stephen (1951), and Sara (1957).

Their oldest child, Bruce, lived less than two months.

McConkie graduated with a bachelor of laws degree in 1939 and was third out of seventy-five on the Utah bar exam.

With the advent of World War II, he was called to active duty service on March 5, 1942.

He served in military intelligence at Fort Douglas for the duration of the war and received the American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.

McConkie was a member of the First Council of the Seventy of the LDS Church from 1946 until his calling to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

He held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel at his discharge on February 26, 1946.

He had been one of the youngest in Army Intelligence to hold that rank.

McConkie worked for a time as a reporter for the Deseret News.

While covering the proceedings of LDS general conference on October 6, 1946, McConkie was interviewed by apostle David O. McKay to fill a vacancy in the First Council of the Seventy created by the death of John H. Taylor.

McConkie's name was presented for a sustaining vote by the membership of the church that same day, and on October 10, he was ordained and set apart by George Albert Smith.

He served as a member of the First Council of the Seventy for 26 years.

In 1958, McConkie published a book, Mormon Doctrine: A Compendium of the Gospel, which he described as "the first major attempt to digest, explain, and analyze all of the important doctrines of the kingdom" and "the first extensive compendium of the whole gospel—the first attempt to publish an encyclopedic commentary covering the whole field of revealed religion."

He included a disclaimer that he alone was responsible for the doctrinal and scriptural interpretations, a practice then unusual.

In writing the book, McConkie relied heavily upon the church's standard works and recognized doctrinal authorities.

On June 11, 1961, McConkie was ordained a high priest by Henry D. Moyle of the church's First Presidency.

This was necessary because of a new policy requiring the First Seven Presidents of Seventy to assist the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in setting apart stake presidents, stake high councilors, and bishops.

His degree was automatically changed to juris doctor in June 1967.

Following his graduation, McConkie worked as assistant city attorney in Salt Lake City.

McConkie enrolled in Army ROTC while at the University of Utah.

During his service as a general authority, McConkie published several doctrinal books and articles and wrote the chapter headings of the LDS Church's 1979–81 editions of the standard works.

McConkie received a Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor from the University of Utah.

He spent his childhood between Monticello, Utah; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Ann Arbor, Michigan.