A 1937 graduate of Granite High School, he lettered in football and track and was also a prosecuting attorney in student court. He was later inducted into the Granite High Hall of Fame.

He was also a 1948 graduate of the University of Utah School of Law, where he received a bachelor of arts and a juris doctorate degree. He ran the quarter-mile and was a member of the mile relay team for the U. in 1938.

His college education was interrupted by service during World War II in the U.S. Air Force, from which he was discharged as a first lieutenant.

He practiced law in Salt Lake City from 1948 until his call to be a general authority in 1972. He had served as president of the Utah Bar Association from 1962-63 and as Democratic representative in the Utah Legislature from 1949-51.While a legislator, he also served as chairman of the House liquor investigation committee.

President John F. Kennedy appointed him to the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Racial Unrest. He also had been a member of the state's Constitutional Revision Committee and had been an adviser to the American Bar Journal. Former Utah Gov. Scott Matheson had appointed him state director of the Friendshipping Force.

As a business leader, President Faust served on the board of the Deseret News Publishing Co. from 1970 to 1996. That service included being vice president and chairman of the executive committee. He also had been a trustee of Ballet West and a board member for Commercial Security Bank.

In 1997, he was given an honorary degree of Christian service by Brigham Young University. The U. awarded him an honorary degree in 2002.

He was characterized as a high school football letterman, a husband, father, church leader and the "family Google" by the BYU Management Society when he was honored with its "Distinguished Utahn" award in 2006.

His daughter, Janna R. Coombs, called him "a great family patriarch," who taught his children and grandchildren from the experiences of his "rich and righteous life," after he received that award.

President Faust's own humility and humor also were evident when he received the award.

"I'm sure that I don't deserve this honor," he said in accepting the award. "But as Jack Benny once said, 'I don't deserve this honor. But then I have arthritis, and I don't deserve that, either."'

In 2003, President Faust became the first recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the J. Reuben Clark Law Society.

He told society members that lawyers, sometimes accused of being greedy, should always put the interest of clients first. He recalled that, after covering his expenses, he earned a mere $3 from his first client, but never wanted for material things.