Remembering President James E. Faust

President James Esdras Faust, 87, second counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was remembered Friday by colleagues, politicians, fellow attorneys and religious leaders as a man of wisdom, love and integrity who managed to make both his family and his church the top priorities in his life.

A general authority for nearly 35 years, he died of "causes incident to age" at 12:20 a.m. Friday, Aug. 10, 2007, surrounded by his family at home. Funeral services are scheduled Tuesday at noon in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, and a private burial will follow at the Holladay Memorial Park Cemetery. No public viewing will be held, but condolences can be e-mailed to condolences@ldschurch.org.

President Faust was seen in public most recently at a Pioneer Day commemorative concert in the Conference Center on July 20, and before that at the June dedication ceremonies for the new Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center at Brigham Young University.

President Faust was known as a consummate church leader and political thinker, and his leadership and vision quietly helped forward a variety of LDS Church initiatives, including opposition in the 1980s to parimutuel betting in Utah, construction of the BYU Jerusalem Center, improved public relations and media interface, relationships with Chinese officials and instigation of the LDS Church's now-familiar logo emphasizing Jesus Christ.

But it was his love for his wife, Ruth, and their family that held sway in his heart. Following his calling to the First Presidency, he and Sister Faust called their family together so "I could explain to them that my first responsibility was as a husband, father and grandfather," President Faust said, according to his biography. "I reviewed how all of us would have to conduct ourselves better and be more representative of what we ought to be."

Such sentiments were expressions of what President Faust always sought to be, both in public and private, according to fellow LDS apostles.

Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve, has known President Faust for more than half a century. He told the Deseret Morning News on Friday that, in his judgment, "there is no better example of manhood, church leadership and fatherhood."

President Faust's early legal experience as an attorney with Fabian & Clendenin, and his service as a Democratic representative in the Utah Legislature, "helped him to understand how important it was to be sure the facts were all being considered" in making decisions, Elder Ballard said. Those qualities were paired with a "love and deep concern for all our Heavenly Father's children" as he shared his witness of Jesus Christ with people throughout the world.