Remembering the Life of Global Faith Leader Russell M. Nelson

Family and leaders remember him as a “beloved physician”

SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — With sorrow we announce that Russell M. Nelson, beloved President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, passed away peacefully shortly after 10 p.m. MDT today at his home in Salt Lake City. He was 101 — the oldest president in the history of the Church.

President Nelson was called as an Apostle on April 7, 1984. He became the leader of the Church on January 14, 2018. His time as prophet will forever be remembered as one of global ministry, increased temple construction and profound change.

President Russell M. Nelson in 1982. He was a world-renowned heart surgeon for many years before being called to be an apostle in 1984.

President Russell M. Nelson greets Reverend Dr. Amos C. Brown prior to a news conference with NAACP leadership in the Church Administration Building on Temple Square in Salt Lake City on June 14, 2021.

President Russell M. Nelson greets young Latter-day Saints in Asuncion, Paraguay, on Monday October 22,2018.

President Nelson was called as an Apostle on April 7, 1984. He became the leader of the Church on January 14, 2018. His time as prophet will forever be remembered as one of global ministry (he visited 32 countries and U.S. territories), increased temple construction (he announced 200 new temples) and profound change. Beginning in the April 2018 general conference in which he was sustained as the senior Apostle, President Nelson began introducing frequent adjustments designed to help the Saints minister more like Jesus Christ and better emphasize the centrality of the Savior of the world in all the Church does. Later sections of this obituary provide a detailed accounting of his travels as president and the many changes he implemented.

Downloadable video for journalists: Tribute video (transcript) | B-roll | SOTs (transcript)

Prior to full-time Church service, President Nelson was a heart surgeon revered and respected the world over. He performed the first open-heart surgery in Utah in 1955. He served as president of the Society for Vascular Surgery, a director of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, chairman of the Council on Cardiovascular Surgery for the American Heart Association and president of the Utah State Medical Association. He authored numerous chapters in medical textbooks and other publications. He lectured at and visited professionally many organizations throughout the United States and other nations. And he was conversant in 11 languages.

“He was just the gentlest and sweetest person you could ever hope to associate with.” —President Dallin H. Oaks

“All of us who have worked with Russell M. Nelson, and the many he has taught and associated with, have marveled at his extraordinary modesty for a man of his great accomplishments,” said President Dallin H. Oaks, who was called to serve in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on the same day as President Nelson in 1984 and who served as President Nelson’s First Counselor in the First Presidency. “And [we] have marveled at his gentleness. He is just the gentlest and sweetest person you could ever hope to associate with. And he will always be remembered that way.”

President Nelson is survived by his wife, Wendy, eight of his 10 children, 57 grandchildren, and more than 167 great-grandchildren.

SOURCE The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints