LeGrand Richards

LeGrand Richards

1886–1983 (96 years)

Hometown: Farmington, Utah

Biography

LeGrand Richards was an apostle from 1952 until his death in 1983, serving for 31 years. The son of apostle George F. Richards, he continued a family tradition of church leadership.

Richards authored “A Marvelous Work and a Wonder,” one of the most influential LDS missionary books ever published. The book has been used for decades to introduce people to Mormon beliefs.

He served as Presiding Bishop before his apostolic call and was known for his enthusiasm and missionary zeal even into his 90s. He remained active and speaking publicly until shortly before his death at age 96.

Served Under

Church presidents during this leader's apostolic service:

David O. McKay
David O. McKay
Joseph Fielding Smith
Joseph Fielding Smith
Harold B. Lee
Harold B. Lee
Spencer W. Kimball
Spencer W. Kimball

Wives (1)

1 wives · Lifespan: 1886–1983

Ina Jane Ashton
1909–1977 (68 yrs)
1886 (born) 1910 1934 1958 1983 (died)
Wife

10 children from 1 wives · Lifespan: 1886–1983

Ina Jane Ashton
10 children
1886 (born) 1910 1934 1958 1983 (died)
Wife Child born
#NameBornDiedMarriedHer AgeHis AgeAge DiffChildren
1
Ina Jane Ashton Ina Jane Ashton
Sep 14, 1886Dec 31, 1977 May 19, 1909 2223110

Children (10)

With Ina Jane Ashton Ina Jane Ashton  (10 children)

  1. Ina Mercedes Richards (b. Jan 1, 1910)
  2. Effie Norinne Richards (b. Jan 1, 1911)
  3. Marian Louise Richards (b. Jan 1, 1912)
  4. Jane Richards (b. Jan 1, 1914)
  5. LeGrand Ashton Richards (b. Jan 1, 1916)
  6. George LaMont Richards (b. Jan 1, 1918)
  7. Nona Richards (b. Jan 1, 1921)
  8. Alden Ross Richards (b. Jan 1, 1922)
  9. Infant Richards (b. Jan 1, 1925)
  10. George LeMont Richards (b. Jan 1, 1918)

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Now when President Kimball read this little announcement or paper, was that the same thing that was released to the press? “Yeah.” There wasn’t a special document as a revelation, that he had and wrote down? “We discussed it in our meeting. What else should we say besides that announcement? And we decided that was sufficient; that no more needed to be said.”- LeGrand Richards, Senior Apostle Recounting a behind-the-scenes look at the 1978 Priesthood Ban | wasmormon.org “[President Kimball] asked each one of us of the Twelve if we would pray—and we did— that the Lord would give him the inspiration to know what the will of the Lord was. And then he invited each one of us in his office—individually, because you know when you are in a group, you can’t always express everything that’s in your heart. You’re part of the group, you see—so he interviewed each one of us, personally, to see how we felt about it, and he asked us to pray about it. And then he asked each one of us to hand in all the references we had, for, or against that proposal. See, he was thinking favorably toward giving the colored people the priesthood.”- LeGrand Richards, Senior Apostle Recounting a behind-the-scenes look at the 1978 Priesthood Ban | wasmormon.org “I might tell you what provoked it in a way. Down in Brazil, there is so much Negro blood in the population there that it’s hard to get leaders that don’t have Negro blood in them. We just built a temple down there. It’s going to be dedicated in October. All those people with Negro blood in them have been raising the money to build that temple. And then, if we don’t change, then they can’t even use it. So Brother Kimball worried about it, and he prayed a lot about it.” - LeGrand Richards, Senior Apostle Recounting a behind-the-scenes look at the 1978 Priesthood Ban | wasmormon.org What about intermarriage? Is it okay? “Well, no. Never. Before this decision was reached we’ve always recommended that people live within their own race – the Japanese ought to marry Japanese, the Chinese ought to marry Chinese, Hawaiians ought to marry Hawaiians and the colored people ought to marry colored.” That would still be your position? “That is still our position. But they are entitled to the temple blessings and the sealing of their wives to them. It’s all conditioned on their living.”- LeGrand Richards, Senior Apostle Recounting a behind-the-scenes look at the 1978 Priesthood Ban | wasmormon.org “We had a meeting in the temple, and we discussed it as a group together, and then we prayed about it in our prayer circle, and then we held another prayer circle after the close of that meeting, and President Kimball lead in the prayer; praying that the Lord would give us the inspiration that we needed to do the thing that would be pleasing to Him and for the blessing of His children. And then the next Thursday—we meet every Thursday—the Presidency came with this little document written out to make the announcement—to see how we’d feel about it—and present it in written form. Well, some of the members of the Twelve suggested a few changes in the announcement, and then in our meeting there we all voted in favor of it—the Twelve and the Presidency.”- LeGrand Richards, Senior Apostle Recounting a behind-the-scenes look at the 1978 Priesthood Ban | wasmormon.org LeGrand Richards