The wife of President Henry B. Eyring, the second counselor in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ First Presidency, Sister Kathleen Johnson Eyring, passed away on Sunday at the age of 82. According to a statement released by the church, Sister Eyring “passed away peacefully today, surrounded by her family” in Bountiful.
Sister Eyring Johnson was born to parents J. Cyril and LaPrele Lindsay Johnson on May 11, 1941, in San Francisco, California. After graduating as valedictorian of her high school class and holding other leadership roles there, she enrolled in the University of California, Berkeley. While attending summer school in Boston in 1961, she met Henry B. Eyring during a devotional.
The young Harvard undergraduate reflected, “If I could only be with her, I could be every good thing I ever wanted to be.” They eventually tied the knot at the Logan Utah Temple on July 19, 1962. Henry, Stuart, and Matthew were born during the couple’s early years of marriage in California.
After President Eyring accepted a post as president of Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho) in 1970, he and his family relocated to Idaho. In 1977, after his promotion to the position of deputy commissioner of church education for the LDS Church, Eyring and his family relocated to Utah. Another boy and two girls were added to the family, bringing the total to five.
Later, in 1995, President Eyring was called to serve in the church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and in 2007, he was elevated to the presidency of the church. Sister Eyring held numerous official roles within the church, one of which was publishing a newsletter for her flock. However, she ministered to others in more subtle and unobtrusive ways.
“Her most important service was quiet compassion for those who had experienced difficulty and sadness in their lives,” her son Matthew J. Eyring remarked. She was unassumingly dedicated to finding “the one” and making sure they felt her and Jesus’s love. She is known as a talented author who often provided editing advice to her husband throughout his professional and religious endeavors.
Sister Eyring’s writing wasn’t limited to church-related materials; she also scripted family activities and co-published a monthly family newsletter. She also authored a novel for young adults, which was awarded the state’s top literary prize for that demographic in 1979.
The church statement praised Sister Eyring for her support while her husband served in the First Presidency and during his lengthy recuperation from cancer treatment in 2005. She started having memory problems about this time.
While President Eyring was in meetings, he would often bring her to his office so she could read and relax in a recliner while her memory began to deteriorate. President Eyring has said, “Kathleen has always been a person that made me want to be the very best that I can be.”
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