Hugh Nibley laid to rest

Family members and friends remembered Hugh Winder Nibley Wednesday not only as a world-class scholar of the scriptures and defender of the LDS faith, but as a loving father, a humble humanitarian and a staunch environmentalist.

Hundreds gathered in the Provo Tabernacle and scores of additional admirers were in the DeJong Concert Hall at Brigham Young University to pay their final respects to the man many consider the most brilliant scriptural scholar ever to come out of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Dr. Nibley died last Thursday at age 94 of causes incident to age. He is survived by his wife, Phyllis, and eight children, seven of whom spoke at his funeral.

Noting his beloved professor came to class in "trousers and a coat that didn't match" and "combat boots that were standard issue to foot soldiers in World War II," Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the LDS Church's Council of the Twelve said he first met Dr. Nibley more than 50 years ago when Oaks was a student at BYU.

Elder Oaks later became president of the university. He presided at Nibley's funeral, along with three other BYU presidents who now are general authorities: fellow apostle Elder Jeffrey Holland and Elders Merrill J. Bateman and Cecil Samuelson (current BYU president) of the Quorums of Seventy.

"He was the first eccentric I ever met," Elder Oaks recalled, and provided his young student with a new appreciation for the "wonderfully diverse way the Creator distributes talents and spiritual gifts . . . He was the epitome of the Book of Mormon teaching, 'Do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor labor for that which cannot satisfy.' "

Elder Oaks described learning from Dr. Nibley — whether in class, in personal discussion, as a student in his gospel doctrine class or as one of several church leaders receiving information from Dr. Nibley in the Salt Lake Temple — as a "thrilling and unique learning experience." The impact on his own intellectual horizon was "enormous," he said.

Using his vast intellect to explain and defend the gospel of Jesus Christ and its scriptural canon, Dr. Nibley was a man of God who inspired his students to explore "the big questions, those that have the greatest meaning for the future," Elder Oaks said.

Latter-day Saints are better for his understanding and explanation of such topics as temple worship, priesthood power and the Atonement of Jesus Christ, he said.

Elder Holland read a letter from the LDS Church's First Presidency to Dr. Nibley's widow, Phyllis, and the couple's children, lauding his exemplary life and defense of LDS doctrine.