M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

Marjorie Pay Hinckley Turns 90 Years Old

SALT LAKE CITY — Marjorie Pay Hinckley, wife of President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will celebrate her 90th birthday on 23 November 2001. Sister Hinckley was born in Nephi, Utah in 1911, a descendant of early pioneers who settled the Wasatch Front.

Sister Hinckley said she doesn’t feel 90 and her advice for living such a long and healthy life is to the point, “I think if you’re happy you live longer than if you’re unhappy.” President Hinckley agreed, “That’s they way she feels, that’s the way she’s lived and I think it has had its effect.”

Sister Hinckley will celebrate her birthday surrounded by her children and grandchildren at a family party on Friday. A reception for General Authorities from the Church is planned for Saturday.

When asked if he had a special birthday wish that he would like to send his wife, President Hinckley said, “I would just wish that we might live together for as long as the Lord wills and that when the time comes for us to move on, that we might go together or very close together, without one lingering a long time after the other. We’ve lived together for a long time, I hope we’ll continue to move on together.”

President Boyd K. Packer, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said "... the greatest judgment President Hinckley has ever shown in his entire life is the judgment he showed in marrying Marjorie Pay."

Sister Hinckley has been recognized a number of times, receiving a doctorate of humane letters from Utah Valley State College in April of this year, an honorary doctoral degree in Christian Service from BYU in 2000, and the distinguished Service to Humanity Award in 1998.

Marjorie Pay Hinckley: Life Sketch

• Marjorie Pay Hinckley was born on 23 November 1911 in Nephi, Utah.
• Sister Hinckley is the descendant of early pioneers. Her grandmother, Mary Goble, came to Utah from England when she was 13 years old, losing her mother and two siblings along the way.
• Although family finances during the Depression precluded her graduating from college, Sister Hinckley is a voracious reader and enjoys learning.
• Growing up together in the same neighborhood, President and Sister Hinckley knew each other from their youth. Their first date was to a Gold and Green Ball when she was eighteen. Upon returning from a 2_-year mission to England, President Hinckley began courting Sister Hinckley again. Delaying the marriage because of the Depression, the Hinckleys were married in April 1937.
• President and Sister Hinckley are the parents of five children: Kathleen H. Barnes, Richard Gordon, Virginia H. Pierce, Clark Bryant, and Jane H. Dudley. They have 25 grandchildren and 29 great-grandchildren.
• After the birth of her first child, Sister Hinckley gave up a career outside the home, opting to stay home and raise her children.
• Sister Hinckley never lived away from her parents' home until she married, and excepting a few months spent in Denver, she has never lived outside Utah's Wasatch Front. However, traveling with her husband, she has now visited every continent and conversed with such dignitaries as the queen of Thailand and prime minister of England.
• Sister Hinckley has been recognized a number of times, receiving a doctorate of humane letters from Utah Valley State College in April of this year, an honorary doctoral degree in Christian Service from BYU in 2000, and the distinguished Service to Humanity Award in 1998.
• The book, Glimpses into the Life and Heart of Marjorie Pay Hinckley, was edited by her daughter, Virginian H. Pearce and published in 1999 by Deseret Book Company.

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