How did her grandchildren see her? An article in the April 1997 New Era mentioned that each grandchild pauses as he or she thinks of her, then every one of them breaks into a big grin before they say a word.

"We always say," Jodi Hinckley said. "that we love Grandpa so much because he married Grandma. Everybody loves her so much."

"She never stops smiling," James Pearce added. "Never."

"There's something magical about her," Ann Hinckley said. "She's never in a grumpy mood. She's always happy. The whole way she looks at the world is so real and unpretentious. She is a fun grandma."

Just before Christmas, the article said, she had a special grandchildren's Christmas party. The table was set with fancy dishes and dinner served — and only grandchildren were invited. Another trademark was the individual notes on postcards, written to her children and grandchildren during her travels with President Hinckley, asking about the details of their lives and affirming her love for them.

While their five children were growing up, she described her house as "Grand Central Station, with each member of the family busy with a full slate of activities and Mother trying to tie the schedules down to fairly regular family associations."

In describing family vacations, she said on the video of President Hinckley released during the April 1995 general conference:

"We had a lot of fun as a family. Every summer we'd get into whatever car we had and start out for who knows where. We just went down the highway, and by the time the children were grown, I think we'd seen the states of Utah and California several times over."

In between church assignments she shared with Elder, then President Hinckley, she found time not only for gardening but also for good books, taking a class or two at the University of Utah and teaching literary or social science lessons on a ward or stake basis for the Relief Society.

As a general authority's wife, she had the opportunity to bear testimony to many at home and in foreign lands.

"I believe my testimony was anchored when, as a child, I attended general conference with my parents in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. I thrilled as I listened to the vibrant voice of President Heber J. Grant bearing his testimony to the membership of the church," she said.

One example came in August and September 1995 when she accompanied her husband on a busy 10-day visit to England and Ireland.