Antoine R. Ivins
Born: 11 May 1881
Called to First Council of Seventy (Presidency of the Seventy): 4 October 1931
Died: 18 October 1967
Called to First Council of Seventy (Presidency of the Seventy): 4 October 1931
Died: 18 October 1967
Biographical Articles
Improvement Era, June 1931, Antoine Ridgeway Ivins
Relief Society Magazine, June 1931, Antoine Ridgeway Ivins
Improvement Era, July 1954, Antoine Ridgeway Ivins of the First Council of the Seventy
Improvement Era, November 1967, Antoine R. Ivins of the First Council of the Seventy
Improvement Era, December 1967, A Tribute to President Antoine R. Ivins
Relief Society Magazine, January 1968, In Memoriam: President Antoine R. Ivins
Relief Society Magazine, June 1931, Antoine Ridgeway Ivins
Improvement Era, July 1954, Antoine Ridgeway Ivins of the First Council of the Seventy
Improvement Era, November 1967, Antoine R. Ivins of the First Council of the Seventy
Improvement Era, December 1967, A Tribute to President Antoine R. Ivins
Relief Society Magazine, January 1968, In Memoriam: President Antoine R. Ivins
"Antoine Ridgeway Ivins" Improvement Era. June 1931. pg. 451, 456.
Antoine Ridgeway Ivins THE Gospel, as it has been given to the world in this day, enters so intimately into the every-day lives of its members that it of necessity must have officers who are men of practical experience. With this thought in mind, one can appreciate the method which prevails in the Church when any of the general authorities are to be chosen. One hundred years of history has demonstrated that the Lord can prepare men for positions which he desires them to occupy far better than they could possibly fit themselves if they sought the office. Again it has been necessary to fill a vacancy in one of the general quorums of the Church, caused by the death of President Rey L. Pratt of the First Council of Seventy; and Antoine Ridgeway Ivins has been called to the place. He is the type of man the Church membership will be delighted to sustain as one of their officers—practical, hard-headed, industrious, and with a spirituality which is ingrained in his nature—qualities he inherited from his ancestors on both sides of the house; and to these qualities he has added an excellent modern education. ELDER IVINS was born May 11, 1881, at St. George, Utah, the son of President Anthony W. Ivins and Elizabeth Snow Ivins, and in June, 1912, married Vilate Romney, the ceremony being performed in the Salt Lake Temple. Not only does he succeed the late President Pratt in the council of the Seventies, but also as the president of the Mexican mission, a position he is admirably adapted to fill, as he has spent many years of his life in Mexico, knows the habits of the people, and has a thorough knowledge of the language. It is fortunate for the Church that a man has been found who can so creditably fill this place. Like his father, he is a natural leader of men, but their natures are such that they would never seek ecclesiastical leadership. The new President Ivins, again like his father, is a passionate lover of the great outdoors. He is an expert horseman and loves all forms of livestock, and knows more about them than the average man who makes his living from these things. His early education was received in Mexico, and he is a graduate of the Juarez Academy. Later he attended the school of Jurisprudence in the City of Mexico for three years, and afterwards studied law at Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is also a graduate of the University of Utah, taking a Bachelor of Arts degree in engineering. BY natural inclination, he has always chosen pursuits which have brought him into close contact with nature. For several years he operated a large ranch in the vicinity of Enterprise, Utah, and for two years was superintendent of farming operations of the boys at the Lund school in Centerville, Utah. On May 2, 1021, Elder Ivins was set apart by his father to labor as a missionary in the Hawaiian Islands, where he has since labored, his especial assignment being to manage the Laie Sugar Plantation on the Island of Oahu, Hawaii. This plantation surrounds the temple erected there by the Church and is one of the most delightful spots on those scenic islands. On the same date his wife, Vilate Romney Ivins, was set apart as a missionary by the late Charles W. Penrose to labor as a missionary with her husband. |
"Antoine Ridgeway Ivins" Relief Society Magazine. June 1931. pg. 365.
Antoine Ridgeway Ivins
ANTOINE RIDGEWAY IVINS has been honored in being called to be one of the First Seven Presidents of Seventies, and to preside over the Mexican Mission. He comes to his new labors well fitted by education and experience to carry on the work.
He was born in St. George, Utah, May 11, 1881, but soon afterward went to Mexico with his parents, President Anthony W. Ivins and Elizabeth Snow Ivins. He spent a number of years in Mexico and gained much of his education in that land ; consequently, he knows the language and the people.
Brother Ivins was graduated from the Juarez Academy, then attended for three years the School of Jurisprudence in the City of Mexico, and later studied law at Ann Arbor, Michigan. From the University of Utah he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Engineering. For several years he operated a 14,000-acre ranch near Enterprise, Utah, then served for two years as superintendent of the Lund Home for Boys at Centerville, Utah. For the past ten years he has been the manager of the Laie Sugar Plantation in Hawaii.
Brother Ivin's wife, Vilate Romney, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Orson D. Romney, will be a great help to him in his missionary service.
It is a source of great satisfaction to know that the Church has one so eminently fitted to carry on the work of Rev L. Pratt in the Mexican mission, and so well qualified to enter the quorum of the First Seven Presidents of Seventies. We feel sure that every needed blessing will be added to him and his wife in their important labors.
Antoine Ridgeway Ivins
ANTOINE RIDGEWAY IVINS has been honored in being called to be one of the First Seven Presidents of Seventies, and to preside over the Mexican Mission. He comes to his new labors well fitted by education and experience to carry on the work.
He was born in St. George, Utah, May 11, 1881, but soon afterward went to Mexico with his parents, President Anthony W. Ivins and Elizabeth Snow Ivins. He spent a number of years in Mexico and gained much of his education in that land ; consequently, he knows the language and the people.
Brother Ivins was graduated from the Juarez Academy, then attended for three years the School of Jurisprudence in the City of Mexico, and later studied law at Ann Arbor, Michigan. From the University of Utah he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Engineering. For several years he operated a 14,000-acre ranch near Enterprise, Utah, then served for two years as superintendent of the Lund Home for Boys at Centerville, Utah. For the past ten years he has been the manager of the Laie Sugar Plantation in Hawaii.
Brother Ivin's wife, Vilate Romney, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Orson D. Romney, will be a great help to him in his missionary service.
It is a source of great satisfaction to know that the Church has one so eminently fitted to carry on the work of Rev L. Pratt in the Mexican mission, and so well qualified to enter the quorum of the First Seven Presidents of Seventies. We feel sure that every needed blessing will be added to him and his wife in their important labors.
Hyde, Florence Ivins. "Antoine Ridgeway Ivins of the First Council of the Seventy" Improvement Era. July 1954. pg. 496-499, 521.
ANTOINE R. IVINS By Richard L. Evans OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE For some sixteen years I have enjoyed the association of Antoine R. Ivins, weekly, sometimes almost daily, and have partaken of. his friendly kindliness in many circumstances and situations. No one ever rushes Antoine into a hasty decision. Always he has a judicial attitude, with the wisdom of deliberation. Always he is pleading for understanding; always he seems to see that there may be two sides to a subject. There is no unkindliness in his makeup, and no quick condemnation. He is just and merciful and generous. He does his own thinking; he speaks courageously and forthrightly what he feels should be spoken —and then "holds his peace." Brother Ivins has an unusual repertoire of appropriate stories and experiences that make him good- traveling company. And while he has a rich sense of humor, it is never of the cutting kind. He loves life and lives it well and enjoys many good things. He has a very warm human heart, an analytical mind, an understanding spirit, and a firm faith. It is good to be in his gracious, gentlemanly and kindly company. Antoine Ridgeway Ivins OF THE FIRST COUNCIL OF THE SEVENTY by Florence Ivins Hyde I should like to write of my brother as I remember him in our youth and as I know him now. It is a proverbial fact that a man's attitude toward life is largely determined by the experiences of his childhood and youth. This platitude is borne out in the character of Antoine Ridgeway Ivins. He has had a rich and varied experience. He has known life in a small town, life on the farm, with its breeding of fine horses and cattle, life in the universities of Mexico, Michigan, and Utah (from which he was graduated), life as a manager of groups of foreign workers, and, most valuable of all, years of service in his Church, all of which has made him a man of understanding and sympathy with the problems of others. Antoine was born May 11, 1881 in St. George, Utah, the eldest son of Anthony Woodward Ivins and Elizabeth Ashby Snow, into a family of nine children, four boys and five girls, the eldest son having died in infancy. On his father's side his ancestors were Quakers ("Friends") — one of the most genuinely good, friendly, and peaceful groups of people in the world. On his mother's side his ancestors were of old New England stock. His grandfather, Erastus Snow, on one of his first missions, was a companion of Israel Ivins, who later became Antoine's paternal grandfather, little knowing that in future years their families would be united by the marriage of their children. From the Quaker side of the family comes a letter which our father took much pleasure in reading to us, and which must have had some influence on Antoine in forming his habits of thrift, industry, and honesty, and which I should like to quote, for it is a classic of its kind. To Isaac Shreve from his beloved Father. Alexandria, 29th, the 5th Month, 1794. Dear Son Isaac: Thee is now going from under the care of thy loving father, whose eyes have been ever watchful for thy good, into the wide world. Thee will be now under the care of Captain Very, who will advise thee for thy good and I would wish thee to be advised by him. I have thought it most for thy good for thee to go to Salem to learn the trade of a tanner. If Captain Very can get thee a place to suit, I would advise thee to stay; if not, come home by the first opportunity that offers. As thee will be among strangers, take good care how thee forms acquaintance. Let them be Friends if possible, and steady, sober lads, older than thyself, and the fewer, the better. A young man's happiness both in this world and that which is to come, in a great measure depends upon the connections he forms when young. Keep steady to meeting and to plainness both in speech and apparel and the God that made us will protect thee from all harm. Above all things, be true to thy trust and defraud no man though the thing may be small. But do unto men as thee would that they should do unto thee and by so doing, thee will gain the esteem of all good men and thy master and come up in the world a useful member of society. Thee will have peace in thy own mind which cannot be taken away but by action which I hope thee will not be guilty of. I now recommend thee to that God that has protected me from my youth until this time (my father having died when I was about four years old) and I am sure he is the same heavenly Father that ever he was and will remain to protect and preserve all those that love and fear him. From thy loving father. /Signed/ Benj. Shreve N.B. Take care of the little money thee has for thee will find that to be a friend where all others have forsaken thee. I shall furnish thee with small matters of money according as I hear of thy behavior. Often read this advice and endeavor to follow it. From his childhood Antoine was very close to his father. Being the only boy in the family for several years, he traveled with him whenever it was possible. (We were never allowed to miss school except for sickness.) On these trips made by team and buckboard or by saddle horse and pack horse, Antoine and Father often managed to take a day to fish or hunt. Let me quote what Antoine says of this period. It was my happy lot to travel many miles with him, eating food which he prepared, cuddling close to him at night under Navajo blankets, while I blinked back at the stars and listened to the howling coyotes. Those are the days I shall never forget and would not if it were possible. They are among the most cherished recollections of my life. Antoine passed through the stage of bows and arrows which Father taught him to make; then became old enough and responsible enough to use a gun, a sixteen-gauge Parker, then a twelve-gauge Daly with a 40-70 rifle underneath, and finally a Winchester. It was on these trips that he received his first lessons in Spanish from Father who had previously filled two missions in Old Mexico. When Antoine was about fifteen years of age the family was figuratively lifted out of the town of St. George, Utah, and transplanted into a small town in a foreign country—the town of Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, where our father had been made president of the Mexican Colonization and Agricultural Company, and the first president of the Juarez Stake. This was an immense change in Antoine's young life. Taken away from his school and his boyhood friends, he was required to make a real social adjustment, but our life in Mexico was a wholesome and a happy experience. The Church was our life. It furnished our social activities, but most of all, it laid the foundation for our religious beliefs and our religious habits. Antoine's faith in the efficacy of prayer and his dependence upon it was laid in his childhood. Never a day passed without our family prayer night and morning. In Father's absence Mother carried on. In our town there were no doctors within many miles and in case of sickness the first thought was to pray for and administer to the afflicted one. During our first year in Mexico, Mother kept a record of the time Father was able to be at home with us. He was at home three months and away nine. It was necessary for him to visit the various colonies, to make routine trips to the governor in Chihuahua City on colony affairs, and to make frequent visits to President Porfirio Diaz in Mexico City. During his absence Antoine was required to take over certain responsibilities. He had to learn to care for the horses and cattle, the garden, to harness the Brother and sister Antoine R. Ivins in Hawaii. horses our mother drove on her carriage. He became very versatile. If a harness broke, he fixed it. If a horse lost a shoe, he just put another on. If a door needed repair, he repaired it. To this day when my husband finishes a household job, he says facetiously, "That is done almost as well as Antoine could do it." Of our life in Mexico Antoine again writes: As my brothers Grant and Stanley reached the appropriate age when they could travel with Father, each was supplied, as I had been, with a shotgun which he was taught to use correctly, always with due regard for the safety of all companions of the hunt. Later each received a rifle and the time came when we had four shotguns, four rifles, four saddles, four horses, each suited to its owner. When we set out four strong in quest of "fool hens," quail, ducks, turkeys, or deer, we were a happy family, indeed. Time can never dim these recollections. As I look back over more than a half century that I lived and played under Father's influence, I can think of no unsound counsel and not a single thing about him that I would want to forget. As time went on Antoine was ready for more education than the local schools could provide. If we were to spend our lives in Mexico the logical thing was for him to learn correct and proper Spanish and to know Mexican law. And so he was sent to Mexico City where he entered the School of Jurisprudence. It was during his residence there that the tragic deaths occurred of Elder Abraham Owen Woodruff of the , Council of the Twelve and his wife, close friends of our parents. While in the city Antoine lived with the few missionaries who were there at the time, attending meetings with them and meeting the Saints. He was the official representative of the Mexican Colonization and Agricultural Company. Soon after, having spent thirteen years on this mission, another change came to the family. Father was called to the Apostleship which required a move back to Utah. Here Antoine re-entered the University of Utah from which he was graduated. His record at the "U" was excellent. When I entered as a student a few years later I needed all the credits I could muster in order to matriculate. Juarez Stake Academy was not an accredited school, but I felt I was entitled to credit for my Spanish which the credit committee had not accepted. When I applied to the chairman of the , committee with a card bearing my name, he asked, "Are you a sister of Antoine Ivins?" I answered, "Yes," to which he replied, "You shall have your credits." The next important event in his life was his marriage to Vilate Romney. Vilate had never been accustomed to any kind of country life, but she went uncomplainingly with her husband to manage his father's farm in Enterprise, Utah. It was a tremendous change for her, but she came from solid stock, from men and women who had met problems and solved them successfully. Her father was Orson D. Romney and her mother was Emma Phillips. Her grandfather was the stalwart Bishop George Romney who repeatedly bore a strong testimony concerning his experience of witnessing the event when the mantle of the Prophet Joseph Smith fell upon the shoulders of Brigham Young. Vilate enjoys relating how they experienced real pioneer life and "came up the hard way"; how they first lived in a tent, then in a granary, then they built a home. She made butter, carded wool, from which she made a quilt for her husband's mother. She became a good "horseback rider" in order that she might JULY 1954 enjoy riding with her husband. She adjusted herself with remarkable aptitude to a difficult situation. In the spring of 1920 he was appointed to aid in the development of the new Lund Home for Boys in Centerville, Utah, having charge of the Agricultural division of the school. Here they remained a year making some of the most lasting friendships of their lives. While here he was called to manage the Church sugar plantation in the Hawaiian Islands, where they were active in the Church organizations, Vilate doing temple work during their ten years residence. The management of the plantation was a valuable experience. Laborers on the project were men of different nationalities; viz., Hawaiian, Spanish, Portuguese, Filipino, Sahioan, Chinese, Japanese, and Porto Rican. It required tact and judgment to handle such a conglomerate group and maintain peace among them. After the October 1931 general conference Antoine was set apart in his present position in the Quorum of the Seventy, having assumed the presidency of the Mexican Mission the previous August. In this new position commercial life was forgotten. It was a complete change in his life and in his plans for a rural home where he could breed fine horses and cattle. He immediately devoted himself, to the best of his ability, to the council to which he had been called, and to the Mexican Mission. From the mission home in Los Angeles they presided for three years, visiting all Young Antoine and his sister Anna. the branches, even those in Mexico. In the mission field their sole purpose was to help the missionaries successfully carry the gospel to the world, at the same time guarding carefully the health of the boys and girls under their care. Since his release from this mission, he has spent his time in the work of the Quorum of the Seventy. Antoine speaks and writes Spanish well and has spent many arduous months in translating books and pamphlets from English into Spanish for use in the mission field, all of which has absorbed most of his time. With Eduardo Balderas he has translated the temple ceremony into Spanish. For several years he acted as treasurer for the Great Salt Lake Council of Boy Scouts. He is at present on the board of directors of the Hotel Utah and the Layton Sugar Company. Antoine and Vilate have a most productive family life. He had a rich home life himself, with a deep appreciation of his parents and brothers and sisters. He had an affectionate pride in his mother. He once wrote on her birthday: "You are the beloved idol of your family, and justly so, for as I look back I can think of no single thing in your life that we could not emulate and be proud to do so." At home they practically keep open house for their families. It is no apparent hardship for Vilate to prepare dinner for twenty or thirty of them. The physical labors she never mentions. We spend many happy family gatherings at their home. Their nieces and nephews have been taken in as their own. Antoine and Vilate are always there when help is needed. Their satisfaction comes from seeing us enjoy ourselves. Antoine Ivins is an inveterate reader, with the ability to recognize the vital parts of a book or article. He has always been a man of unquestioned honesty and integrity. He is completely loyal to the Church and its teachings. In his sincere manner he is constantly trying to impress upon his family and their associates what adherence to the principles of the gospel will mean to them and the advantages he knows will come from Church participation. It has been his life and his constant hope is that it will also be their life. I should like to end this short sketch with a paragraph from a letter written by our father to one of his daughters because I feel Antoine has fulfilled his every wish. As Father expressed it, I have always been ambitious, of course, for the welfare of my children. I have worked for them, saved for them, determined that their opportunities should be better than mine were. I wanted them to be accomplished and well equipped for the battle of life. I wanted them to be men and women of character, with faith, loving the right because it was right, with their consciences trained to abhor the habit so common in society which regards self-interest as the dominant thing to be sought after; to be independent thinkers, but at the same time giving honor and respect to the opinions of others, and above all, to have faith that the Lord will care for and direct us if we put our trust in him, and that in the end (and we can't reach a proper judgment until the end comes) we will know that he does all things well. |
Brother Antoine R. and Sister Vilate Ellen Romney Ivins as they were leaving Hawaii in June 1931.
Anthony W. Ivins, Antoine's father.
Elizabeth Ashby Snow Ivins, Antoine's mother.
Antoine R. Ivins as a student at the School of Jurisprudence in Mexico City.
Brother Ivins at the time he entered the University of Utah.
The Ivins family in 1917. Antoine is standing in back of his father.
Brother and sister Antoine R. Ivins in Hawaii.
The Ivinses have long been lovers of good horses. Here Sister Vilate Ivins is shown astride Goldie (about 1914).
The Ivins home in St. George.
Young Antoine and his sister Anna.
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"Antoine R. Ivins of the First Council of the Seventy" Improvement Era. November 1967. pg. 54.
ANTOINE R. IVINS of the First Council of the Seventy "What can you say about Antoine R. Ivins?" a friend was asked. "President Ivins is one of God's noble men, possessing a rare sense of balance or temperament. He is gracious, kind, humble, and cordial with all. In the councils of the Church and in his daily life he has an inward and a calming, self-disciplined strength that repeatedly manifests itself in times of stress." Antoine Ridgeway Ivins was born May 11, 1881, at St. George, Utah, a son of Anthony W. and Elizabeth Ashby Snow Ivins. As a youth, he was often his father's willing companion on trips, where the pack on the horse was sure to contain a fishing pole as well as a book. When Antoine was 15, the family moved to Mexico, where his father was president of the Juarez Stake and president of the Mexican Colonization and Agricultural Company. Antoine continued his schooling at Juarez Academy and later at the School of Jurisprudence, Mexico City. When his father was sustained as a member of the Council of the Twelve at the October 1907 general conference, the family moved to Salt Lake City, and Antoine entered the University of Utah. He also studied law at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He married Vilate Ellen Romney on June 26, 1912. Until her passing December 4, 1964, Sister Ivins often traveled with him as he fulfilled his many assignments. Elder Ivins was engaged in ranching and agriculture in Utah before becoming manager of the Church sugar plantation at Laie, Hawaii, a position he held from 1921-31. At the October 1931 semiannual general conference, he was sustained as a member of the First Council of the Seventy. He served as president of the Mexican Mission from August 1931 to March 1934. There he succeeded the late Rey L. Pratt, who had begun the translation of the Doctrine and Covenants into Spanish. President Ivins continued this activity, assisted by Eduardo Balderas. One part after another was printed until, in 1948, the complete Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price in Spanish came from the presses. Returning from the mission field in 1934, President Ivins plunged with all his vigor into his full-time assignment as a General Authority. He has served as senior president of the First Council since the death of Levi Edgar Young, December 13, 1963. There is hardly a stake of the Church that has not felt of his warmth as he has spoken the great truths of the gospel from their pulpits, often using stories rich in humor and ways of life. He has aided the Church to grow strong, and has seen its membership and activity increase many fold since being called as a General Authority. At press time we learn with great sorrow of the death of President Ivins, who passed away at his home at 7:05 the evening of October 18, 1967. |
Hanks, Marion D. "A Tribute to President Antoine R. Ivins" Improvement Era. December 1967. pg. 18.
A tribute to President Antoine R. Ivins [1] By President Marion D. Hanks Of the First Council of the Seventy In a talk he prepared for general conference but was not well enough to deliver, Antoine R. Ivins wrote these words: "I am reading again my Bible, this time in the Spanish language, so as to keep as fresh as possible my control over this very interesting tongue. At present I am in the Gospel by John. It seems not to matter which one of the Gospels one may read, he learns one very important fact, told time and time again, that Christ came to save sinners so as to carry them also into the kingdom of God. I learn that he was constantly invoking the law of forgiveness following sincere repentance. It is most refreshing to learn that people who make mistakes, finding out the error thereof, after abandoning the ill, may receive, still, opportunity to serve and earn entry into the kingdom." President Ivins' life was characterized by the gentleness and meekness and love that Christ taught and exemplified. Keen and fair of mind, astute in analysis, learned in law and languages and mathematics and many of the ways of man, Brother Ivins was a considerate, loving, generous, forgiving servant of God. Unpretentious, seeking no preference or praise, he listened to the sorrows of multitudes and brought them solace and hope and courage and endured his own problems through his knowledge of the gospel and his faith in the Redeemer. How can the life of a man be measured? In many ways, perhaps, but in these, surely: How did he look on life? What was his attitude toward his family? How did he feel about his work and how did he perform it? What was his relationship with others? What service did he give to God? By these or any other worthy standards, President Antoine R. Ivins lived a rich and constructive life. He loved life and lived it with verve and vigor. His deep reservoir of stories and experiences flowed over constantly with delightful, often sobering, always significant lessons of life. Deliberate and judicious as he was, the quick, sweet memory that will always accompany mention of his name is a picture of the upturned corners of his mouth beginning to twitch, the eyes crinkling in the beginning of the warm smile, and the inevitably appropriate story that would follow. Life was deep and broad and sweet to Antoine, and thankfully, it was long. He loved it. As to family, the record is clear. His love and loyalty to his Vilate was a great example to multitudes. Their companionship and friendship were sweet and constant, their travels always together. These twain had become one. In her last illness he waited on her faithfully over the months, sleeping on a cot in her hospital room to give assistance, to be near. For his brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews his concern was genuine and deep. He loved them very well. When Elder Ivins first became ill, it was through an attack that occurred while he was in his apartment alone on a Sunday evening. He was found the first thing Monday morning when a choice secretary became alarmed because he did not appear at his office early, a habit he had practiced for years. In his labors as in all other things, he was consistent and devoted and entirely dependable. Serving came naturally to him and was a delight. He loved his work and performed it with constancy and diligence and great capacity. For God and his kingdom and his children, Antoine Ivins gave his life. From his hospital bed he said, humbly rejoicing that many loving friends and associates had visited him in his illness, "The sweetest part of this experience has been to learn that my labors over the years have not been unacceptable." There was a rare tear in his eye as he said it. Thus was a lifetime of selfless service modestly celebrated by a good man who had the great strength of gentleness and the gentleness of great strength. It might have been for him that the poet wrote: "His life was gentle, and the elements so mix'd in him That Nature might stand up and say to all the world 'This was a man!' " God bless his beloved memory. [1] See November 1967 issue of The Improvement Era for a full-color portrait and brief biography of President Ivins. |
"In Memoriam: President Antoine R. Ivins" Relief Society Magazine. January 1968. pg. 14.
In Memoriam President Antoine R. Ivins of the First Council of Seventy May 11, 1881 - October 18, 1967 President Antoine Ridgeway Ivins, senior President of the First Council of Seventy, passed away October 18, 1967 at the age of eighty-six. He succeeded President Levi Edgar Young, as the senior president in 1963. President Ivins has been a member of the First Council of Seventy for thirty-six years. During that time he spent three years as head of the Mexican Mission and thirty years as a member of the Church missionary committee. A native of St. George, Utah, he was the son of Anthony Woodward and Elizabeth Ashby Snow Ivins. His father was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve and a Counselor in the First Presidency to President Heber J. Grant. Most of President Ivins' early life was spent in Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. He obtained his early education in Colonia Dublan, and was graduated from the Juarez Academy and studied law at the School of Jurisprudence in Mexico City. He also studied at the University of Michigan, then returned to Utah and was graduated from the University of Utah. He was a fluent speaker and a thorough scholar of Spanish. In 1920 he helped build the Lund Home for Boys at Centerville, Utah. He served six years as treasurer of the Great Salt Lake Boy Scout Council and organized several Scout troops. Before his appointment to the First Council of Seventy, President Ivins was manager of the Church owned sugar plantation in Hawaii. Throughout his life, he was dedicated to the gospel, and an active supporter of the youth. In 1957, he received the "All-Church" Honorary Master M-Man award for "outstanding service to the youth of the Church." He married Vilate Ellen Romney in the Salt Lake Temple, June 26, 1912. Sister Ivins passed away in 1964, two years after they celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. The General Board and members of Relief Society in all stakes and missions of the Church extend sympathy to President Ivins' family and his many friends. He has left a heritage resplendent in faith and good works, and an excellent example of devotion to the Church for all to follow. |