Francis M. Gibbons

Who is Francis M. Gibbons?

Francis Marion Gibbons was the secretary to the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1970 to 1986 and a general authority of the church from 1986 until 1991.

A native of St. Johns, Arizona, Gibbons received degrees from Stanford University and the University of Utah and practiced law in Utah for eighteen years. In 1970, while serving as a bishop of the LDS Church, Gibbons was hired as the secretary to the First Presidency to replace Joseph Anderson, who had been the secretary since 1922 but who had just become an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Gibbons served as secretary to the First Presidency until March 1986, when he retired and was succeeded by F. Michael Watson. Just one week later, at the April general conference of the church, Gibbons was selected as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. In April 1989, he was transferred to the newly created Second Quorum of the Seventy.

In October 1991, Gibbons was honorably released from his service in the Second Quorum of the Seventy and as a general authority of the church.

Gibbons has also served as a stake president and patriarch in the church. He is the author of 19 books, including a biography of Jack Anderson and the hagiographical Prophets of God series about the presidents of the LDS Church.