Joseph Anderson (Mormon)

Joseph Anderson (November 20, 1889 – March 13, 1992) was the secretary to the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1922 to 1970 and was a general authority of the church from 1970 until his death.

Joseph Anderson
Photograph of Joseph Anderson
Emeritus General Authority
December 31, 1978 (1978-12-31) – March 13, 1992 (1992-03-13)
First Quorum of the Seventy
October 1, 1976 (1976-10-01) – December 31, 1978 (1978-12-31)
End reasonGranted general authority emeritus status
Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
April 6, 1970 (1970-04-06) – October 1, 1976 (1976-10-01)
End reasonPosition abolished
Personal details
BornJoseph Anderson
(1889-11-20)November 20, 1889
Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, United States
DiedMarch 23, 1992(1992-03-23) (aged 102)
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Resting placeSalt Lake City Cemetery
40°46′37.92″N 111°51′28.8″W / 40.7772000°N 111.858000°W / 40.7772000; -111.858000 (Salt Lake City Cemetery)

Anderson was born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory in 1889, the same year that Wilford Woodruff became President of the Church. Anderson graduated from the Weber Stake Academy (now Weber State University) in 1905. A few years later he served as a missionary in Germany and Switzerland.[1]

Anderson became secretary to the First Presidency of the church in 1922. On 6 April 1970, church president Joseph Fielding Smith released Anderson from his secretarial duties and called him to serve as an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. When that calling was abolished in 1976, Anderson was ordained a Seventy and became a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. In 1978, Anderson became an emeritus general authority and was relieved of his day-to-day duties as a Seventy. Anderson died in Salt Lake City at the age of 102 and was buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Anderson is one of three church general authorities to reach the age of 100. The others are former Presiding Patriarch, Eldred G. Smith, who in 2009 surpassed Anderson as the longest-lived general authority in LDS Church history,[citation needed] and the third is emeritus general authority Robert L. Backman.

Anderson married Norma Ettie Peterson in 1915.[2] The couple had three children.

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Notes edit

  1. ^ Flake, Lawrence R. "Joseph Anderson" in Garr, Arnold K, Donald Q. Cannon and Richard O. Cowan, ed. Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2000) p. 25
  2. ^ "DEATH: JOSEPH ANDERSON". Deseret News. 1992-03-15. Retrieved 2022-06-11.

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