Sister Kathleen Eyring and her husband President Henry B. Eyring, arrive Saturday morning for the second day of the dedication of the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple, August 22, 2009, in South Jordan, Utah. (Photo: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
SALT LAKE CITY — Kathleen Johnson Eyring, wife of President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, passed away on Sunday, Oct. 15. Church officials said the 82-year-old was surrounded by her family in Bountiful, at the time of her death.
Kathleen was born in San Francisco, California, on May 11, 1941. She is remembered by family and friends as an outgoing and fun-loving young woman who excelled in sports and academics, serving as captain of her high school tennis team, the student body president and valedictorian. After high school, Kathleen continued her education at the University of California at Berkeley.
In 1961, while attending summer school in Boston, she attended a devotional where she met Henry Eyrings, who was attending Harvard at the time. They began dating and were later married on July 19, 1962, in the Logan Utah Temple.
Kathleen served faithfully in many formal Church responsibilities, teaching lessons at church, serving as a visiting teacher and producing a newsletter for her congregation for many years. But she is also remembered for powerfully ministering to others in quiet, less formal ways.
Kathleen was a gifted writer and offered editorial counsel to her husband throughout his career and Church service, later taking formal minutes for the monthly meetings with other wives of General Authorities. Kathleen also recorded family memories, wrote scripts for family events and helped co-publish a monthly family newsletter. She wrote a young adult novel and won a statewide prize for young adult literature in 1979.
Henry B. Eyring was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1995, and Kathleen provided support and companionship during his long recovery from cancer surgery in 2005 and when he was called to the First Presidency in 2007. During this time, Kathleen began suffering from memory lapses, which her father had experienced as he grew older. President Eyring has said, “Kathleen has always been a person that made me want to be the very best that I can be.”
According to a press release from the Church, funeral arrangements are pending.