Richard E. Turley Sr., religious leader and teacher in the United States, dies at 90

Richard E. Turley Sr., Seventy General Authority Emeritus of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday, October 10, 2021, of age-related causes, according to his son, Richard E. “Rick” Turley Jr.

Brother Turley was 90 years old.

“We are now imagining the joys of reuniting with those close to him,” said Turley Jr., the recently retired chief executive of the church’s public affairs department. “He lived a very good life and was a wonderful husband, father and grandfather, so we all rejoice with him.”

Brother Turley served in the Second Quorum of the Seventy from 1997-2000, part of its long history of religious service.

Much of this service was performed in Mexico.

As a young man, he served a full-time mission in Mexico, Guatemala and Costa Rica. He served as president of the Mexico Hermosillo mission from 1983 to 1985. He later served as a counselor in the church presidency in the Southern Mexico Area.

“He loved the Mexican people,” said Turley Jr.

While a general authority, Elder Turley presided over the dedication of the Villahermosa temple in Mexico City in January 1999, when he dedicated the site to construction.

“Temples are, along with the Atonement, the greatest gift to mankind, as well as the greatest tool in preparing the earth for the Savior’s Second Coming,” he said at the time.

Brother Turley later became the Deputy Executive Director of the Department of Family History.

“For me it was nice because during his year in the family history department, I was the general manager, so we were fortunate enough to serve together for a year,” Turley said. Jr ..

His son said that Brother Turley was a man of science and faith. He has written a textbook on engineering and statistics and published articles in scientific and engineering journals.

Brother Turley was born on December 29, 1930 in El Paso, Texas. He attended Texas A&M University prior to his assignment, then graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Utah in 1955.

He married Betty Jean Nickle in the Salt Lake City Temple on April 1, 1954. They had seven children and 36 grandchildren. After his death in 2009, he married Ana-Maria Garces.

He worked for aerospace and natural gas companies, graduated from U. and a doctorate. in nuclear engineering from Iowa State University.

He was an associate professor at the University of Utah from 1972 to 1989 and helped start the Utah Advisory Council on Science and Technology.

While in Iowa for his graduate studies, Elder Turley served in the Iowa Central District presidency of the church, which Turley Jr. said required enormous travel.

Turley Jr. shared a story from this time to illustrate his father’s faith:

“He worked full time, attended school full time, had a large and young family, and held a very demanding position in the church. At the same time, we didn’t have a lot of money and we lived in an old house which had the usual maintenance issues of an old house. On one occasion our water heater stopped working. As a mechanical engineer, he did everything to try to fix it, without success. So one day, full of faith, he knelt in the basement next to the water heater, and he prayed to the Lord and basically said, “We are doing our best with the inspiration that we think we have. received from you. I go to school here, I try to educate myself, I try to provide for our family, to serve in a church. We don’t have much money. We cannot not allow us to buy a new water heater. Could you please bless this water heater to run? “He said amen, flipped the switch and the water heater ran and continued to operate the entire time we lived there.

Brother Turley once spoke at a church general conference, a year after being called as a general authority. He spoke about science and faith in an address entitled: “Bridging the gap between uncertainty and certainty. “

“Over the years, I have realized that it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can bridge the gap between uncertainty and certainty,” he said, noting that even though Peter knew Jesus Christ personally, he knew that Christ was the Son of God because he had been revealed to him.

“The details of Creation are undoubtedly interesting,” Elder Turley added, “but much higher on the priority list is the need to know more about our Creator and to accept his invitation to follow Him so that we too can realize our full potential. “

Funeral arrangements are pending.