An uncle, Alonzo Arza Hinckley, served in the Quorum of the Twelve from October 1934 until his death in December 1936 and was a member of the committee that was created after President Hinckley returned home and reported on mission needs in Europe. A stepmother, May Green Hinckley, was Primary general president from January 1940 through May 1943.

President Hinckley's paternal grandfather, Ira Nathaniel Hinckley, was baptized in Nauvoo at about 16, crossed the Plains in 1850, and after living in Salt Lake City and Coalville was called by President Brigham Young to superintend the building of a church fort in Cove Creek. There he was called as the second president of the Millard Stake.

Both President Hinckley's sons served as stake presidents, Richard in the Salt Lake Emigration Stake and Clark in the Salt Lake Bonneville Stake.

President Hinckley developed an early love for all types of writing and got some hands-on experience as an aspiring journalist when he delivered the Deseret News as a young boy.

He attended public schools and LDS High School in Salt Lake City before enrolling as an English major at the University of Utah, where he took all of the journalism and writing courses then offered. He pursued a minor in ancient languages, studying Latin and Greek. While at the university, he was a plumber and a key room attendant at the Deseret Gym. He graduated from the U. in 1932 with a degree in English with a minor in ancient languages.

While growing up, he also knew and associated with a young woman in his ward, Marjorie Pay. They met while both were in Primary, their first date was a Gold and Green Ball, and they subsequently attended several church functions together. Their courtship was interrupted by his mission call in 1933. The call came during the Depression; Elder Hinckley was only one of 525 missionaries called by the church that year.

Then-Elder Hinckley first was assigned to Preston, Lancashire, England, and followed in Elder Heber C. Kimball's footsteps by preaching in many street meetings there. Later in his mission, he was called to serve in the mission office as an assistant to President Joseph F. Merrill, who was also a member of the Quorum of the Twelve.

He and Elder G. Homer Durham, who later served in the First Quorum of the Seventy, served in the office together; they and another missionary took a short trip through Europe on their way home from their missions in June 1935.

Another mission companion was Wendell J. Ashton, publisher of the Deseret News from 1978 through 1985.