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Mark E. Petersen

  • ️Thu Apr 20 1944
Mark E. Petersen
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
April 20, 1944 – January 11, 1984
Called by Heber J. Grant
LDS Church Apostle
April 20, 1944 – January 11, 1984
Called by Heber J. Grant
Reason Excommunication of Richard R. Lyman
Reorganization at end of term Russell M. Nelson and Dallin H. Oaks were ordained after the deaths of Petersen and LeGrand Richards
Personal details
Born Mark Edward Petersen
November 7, 1900
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Died January 11, 1984 (aged 83)
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Resting place Salt Lake City Cemetery
40°46′37.92″N 111°51′28.8″W / 40.7772°N 111.858°W


Mark Edward Petersen (November 7, 1900 –January 11, 1984) was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1944 until his death. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, he filled the vacancy caused by the excommunication of Richard R. Lyman. He had become managing editor of the Church-owned Deseret News in 1935 and editor in 1941.

As a young boy, Petersen was a newspaper carrier, and he also helped in his father’s construction business. Later he attended the University of Utah, and he served a mission for the LDS Church in Nova Scotia. In pursuing a career, he became a reporter for the Deseret News and continued working for the paper for sixty years, advancing to the position of president and chairman of the board. Petersen wrote numerous editorials and published more than forty books and many pamphlets used in the Church’s missionary effort.

In April 1944, while serving as general manager of the Deseret News, Petersen was called to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In his calling he directed the Church’s public information programs and served on the Military Relations Committee. He was an adviser to the Relief Society, the Indian Affairs Committee, and the Music Committee. He served as president of the West European Mission[1] and for more than six years he supervised Church activities there. Elder Petersen was also involved in many community affairs. He was closely associated with the Boy Scouts of America, and he was awarded the Silver Antelope citation.

At Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, August 27, 1954, at the Convention of Teachers of Religion on the College Level, Petersen delivered a speech on "Race Problems --As They Affect The Church". The speech outlined the religious underpinnings of segregation, and supported the continued practice of segregation as it related to intermarriage between blacks and whites.

In the 1940s, Petersen coined the term "Mormon fundamentalist" to describe people who had left the LDS Church to practice plural marriage.[2]

Petersen died in 1984 from longstanding complications of cancer after entering Cottonwood Hospital and undergoing surgery.[1] He was buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Grave marker of Mark E. Petersen.

MarkEPetersenGrave2.jpg

Publications

Notes

  1. ^ a b "This week in Church history". Church News (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News). January 3, 2009. http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/56392/This-week-in-Church-history.html. Retrieved 2009-01-27.
  2. ^ Ken Driggs, "'This Will Someday Be the Head and Not the Tail of the Church': A History of the Mormon Fundamentalists at Short Creek", Journal of Church and State 43:49 (2001) at p. 51.

Further reading

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints titles
Preceded by
Ezra Taft Benson		 Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
April 20, 1944–January 11, 1984		 Succeeded by
Matthew Cowley

Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

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