L Tom Perry

Elder Perry was called to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve on April 6, 1974. He was third in leadership seniority in the quorum, behind LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson and President Boyd K. Packer, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. His death came a single day after a church spokesman said Elder Perry's thyroid cancer — found by doctors last month — had spread to his lungs and beyond and was terminal. Elder Perry took the lessons he learned growing up on a farm in Logan, Utah, and applied them to a life of service toward his country, his church and his family — doing it all with hallmark enthusiasm. His parents taught him to work, pray and lift others. Young Tom did all of those as a full-time church missionary and then as a Marine in the aftermath of World War II. Elder Perry is the first member of the LDS Church's First Presidency or Quorum of the Twelve to pass away since 2008, when Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin died.