Salt Lake City — September 27, 2025 – In the quiet of a Salt Lake City night, the world bid farewell to a person whose century of life formed tens of millions of others. Russell Marion Nelson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, handed away peacefully at his residence on the age of 101, turning into the oldest chief within the Church’s almost 200 years of historical past.
To his religion group of greater than 17 million members, he was a prophet and religious information. To the broader world, he was a bridge-builder — a famend coronary heart surgeon who healed each bodily and religious hearts, a person fluent in 11 languages, and a tireless traveler who sought to attach with folks throughout cultures and continents.
His passing marks not solely the top of an period for the Church but additionally the shut of a outstanding life that fused science with religion, compassion with conviction, and an area upbringing with a world imaginative and prescient of peace and repair.
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From Scalpel to Scripture: Healing Hearts in Every Sense
Before main a worldwide religion, Russell M. Nelson stood in working rooms with a scalpel in hand, saving lives.
In 1955, he carried out Utah’s first open-heart surgical procedure, a historic milestone that will pave the best way for contemporary cardiac care within the area. Over the course of his distinguished profession, he accomplished greater than 7,000 operations and helped develop the heart-lung machine, a groundbreaking innovation that made open-heart surgical procedure doable worldwide.
For Nelson, drugs was by no means separate from religion. “I believe a surgeon is in a singular place to know certainly one of God’s best creations — the human physique,” he as soon as stated. “Every phase of the physique motivates me to religion.”
He usually reminded his surgical crew that their work was a part of a solution to prayers:
“This affected person has been praying for fulfillment, and their household has been praying too. All these prayers gained’t matter if you happen to make a mistake — you have to do your job completely so this affected person can obtain the blessing they search.”
This philosophy — of mixing accountability, precision, and reverence for all times — later turned the hallmark of his management within the Church.
A Global Ministry of Connection
When President Nelson assumed management of the Church in January 2018, on the age of 93, many anticipated a interval of quiet stewardship. Instead, he turned some of the globally engaged leaders the Church has ever recognized.
“All of us who’ve labored with Russell M. Nelson, and the various he has taught and related to, have marveled at his extraordinary modesty for a person of his nice accomplishments,” stated President Dallin H. Oaks, who was referred to as to serve within the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on the identical day as President Nelson in 1984 and who served as President Nelson’s First Counselor within the First Presidency. “And [we] have marveled at his gentleness. He is simply the gentlest and sweetest individual you may ever hope to affiliate with. And he’ll at all times be remembered that means.”
Over seven years, he traveled to 32 nations and U.S. territories, personally assembly members, leaders, and communities. From Samoa to Singapore, Peru to Rome, he sought to carry messages of hope and religion.
Wherever he went, Nelson embraced native cultures. In Peru, he switched mid-speech from English to Spanish, bringing a whole stadium to its toes in applause. In Jerusalem, he walked the streets of the town whose very title means “peace.”
In Rome, he met Pope Francis, describing their encounter as heat and deeply significant. “His Holiness was most gracious and welcoming,” Nelson stated. “The Catholic individuals are lucky to have such a loving and succesful chief.”
International interfaith leaders have additionally begun to mirror on President Nelson’s legacy. Ivan Arjona, Scientology’s consultant to the European establishments, OSCE and the UN, and who additionally chair the United Nations Geneva NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), when requested highlighted Nelson’s distinctive contribution to religion and humanity:
“President Russell M. Nelson’s century of service — uniting scientific excellence with a honest devotion to religion — reminds us that freedom of faith or perception is in the end about human dignity and the hope we will construct collectively.”
Fluent in lots of languages, President Nelson delighted in connecting personally with folks. His daughter recalled, “He liked to see folks embrace the gospel and to observe the change in them — from unhappiness to hope, from darkness to mild.”
In a world the place numerous beliefs usually coexist aspect by aspect, together with throughout Europe, Nelson’s imaginative and prescient supplied religion as a bridge — fostering respect, dialogue, and shared humanity.
A Life Anchored in Family
Behind his public function was a person deeply dedicated to his household. His first spouse, Dantzel White, captured his coronary heart along with her voice once they met throughout a college musical manufacturing. Their marriage was stuffed with music, prayer, and perseverance throughout difficult years of medical coaching and army service.
Together, they raised ten youngsters in a house centered on love and religious connection. Nelson recalled a time in Boston when, as younger dad and mom struggling financially, Dantzel pressed her nostril to a store window and requested wistfully, “Do you assume we’ll ever be capable to afford a lamp?”
That second, like so many others, was guided by their shared religion within the promise of a greater future.
After Dantzel’s sudden passing in 2005, Nelson confronted deep grief. Two years later, he discovered renewed companionship with Wendy L. Watson, a Canadian scholar of marriage and household remedy. Sister Nelson turned a significant help as he entered his most demanding years of world management, accompanying him on many ministry journeys.
Nelson is survived by Wendy, eight of his ten youngsters, 57 grandchildren, and greater than 167 great-grandchildren — a residing legacy that spans generations.
Guiding the Church with Vision and Love
During his presidency, Nelson launched significant adjustments to assist members focus extra deeply on Jesus Christ and strengthen households worldwide.
He emphasised the complete and proper title of the Church, inspired gospel studying centered within the residence, and introduced a historic variety of new temples — 200 in whole — to serve members throughout the globe. Each initiative mirrored his perception that religion ought to be easy, private, and deeply rooted in love for God and neighbor.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, certainly one of Nelson’s shut colleagues, as soon as expressed admiration for his management with humor:
“President Nelson, I don’t know what number of extra ‘rushes’ of inspiration we will deal with. Some of us have weak hearts — however you possibly can care for that too!”
Through each change, Nelson reminded members that the Church was not his, however Christ’s: “This is just not my Church,” he stated. “It is His.”
A Gentle Voice in a Divided World
In an age of accelerating division, President Nelson persistently referred to as for peace and reconciliation.
“Now is the time to bury your weapons of conflict,” he urged. “Now is the time to put apart bitterness and construct relationships that may final by eternity.”
President Dallin H. Oaks, his longtime good friend and counselor, described him as “the gentlest and sweetest individual you may ever hope to affiliate with.”
Whether greeting a small congregation in a distant village or assembly leaders of countries, Nelson embodied a management model that sought to heal relatively than divide — echoing his earlier life’s work as a doctor.
A Legacy Beyond Boundaries
Russell M. Nelson’s passing shall be deeply felt by tens of millions, but his life leaves a legacy that transcends spiritual traces. For some, he was a prophet; for others, a unprecedented humanitarian and pioneer in drugs. To all, he was an instance of service, humility, and imaginative and prescient.
Just because the Apostle Paul as soon as described Luke as “the beloved doctor,” Nelson too was a healer — of our bodies, of households, of communities, and of hearts.
As the Church prepares to pick its subsequent chief, Nelson’s reminiscence will dwell on within the temples he devoted, the lives he touched, and the bridges he constructed between cultures and other people.
In a world usually divided, his century-long journey stands as a strong reminder: a single life, lived with religion and compassion, can heal hearts and encourage generations.
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From oldest to youngest, the Nelson youngsters are (with names of spouses in parentheses) Marsha N. Workman (Richard Workman), Wendy N. Maxfield (died in 2019, married to Norman A. Maxfield), Gloria N. Irion (Richard A. Irion), Brenda N. Miles (Richard L. Miles), Sylvia N. Webster (David R. Webster), Emily N. Wittwer (died in 1995, married to Bradley E. Wittwer), Laurie N. Marsh (Richard M. Marsh), Rosalie N. Ringwood (Michael T. Ringwood), Marjorie N. Lowder (Bradley J. Lowder) and Russell M. Nelson Jr. (Britney).
Funeral preparations and the choice of a brand new Church President shall be introduced by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles within the coming days.
For official updates, go to the Church Newsroom.
