Emily H. Bennett
Born: 27 June 1896
Called as First Counselor in the Young Women's General Presidency: 1948
Released: 1961
Died: 19 March 1985
Called as First Counselor in the Young Women's General Presidency: 1948
Released: 1961
Died: 19 March 1985
Biographical Articles
Improvement Era, July 1948, Service to the Young Women of the Church through the Y.W.M.I.A.
Improvement Era, January 1962, Recently Released YWMIA General Presidency
Improvement Era, January 1962, Recently Released YWMIA General Presidency
Josephson, Marba C. "Service to the Young Women of the Church through the Y.W.M.I.A. - The Newly Appointed Presidency." Improvement Era. July 1948. pg. 431, 477-478.
Service to the Young Women of the Church through the Y.W.M.I.A. By Marba C. Josephson Associate Editor The Newly Appointed Presidency The new general presidency of the Y.W.M.I.A. comes into office with a wealth of experience in working with young people. Sister Bertha Stone Reeder of Ogden, Utah, was appointed general president of the Y.W.M.I.A. at the April 1 948 general conference, with the provision that the former presidency and board carry on through June conference. Like her predecessor she has rare qualities of mind and spirit. She has a keen, evaluating intellect and a limitless reservoir of spirituality. She has experienced enough of the vicissitudes of life to develop a sympathetic response to problems which confront young women. Added to these rare and essential qualities Sister Reeder has an infinite capacity for work—a necessary qualification for this assignment. Sister Reeder and her husband, Judge William H. Reeder, Jr., have recently returned from a mission to the New England states, over which they presided for five and one-half years. Her activity in the mission field gave her a rich, new experience which also will prove valuable in her new calling. Her wide experience in the Church auxiliaries has given her a varied approach for her new position. She has worked in the various organizations of the Church: the Sunday School, the Primary, the Mutual — as a ward, stake board, or a general board member. She understands and loves camp work and is eager to help all girls experience the out-of-doors in order to enrich their lives further. She feels sincerely the need for all girls having the advantages of Mutual work and is especially eager to find ways of bringing all young women into enrolment in the Y.W.M.I.A. Her gracious personality will attract young folk to her; her acute understanding of their problems will hold them; her astuteness will aid her in winning more of them to the Mutual. Brother and Sister Reeder have two sons and a daughter. (See May 1948 Era, p. 265, for further details.) Congratulations are due Sister Reeder on her latest assignment in the Church, but lest anyone think that it is all glory, let him think of the responsibilities that devolve upon one called to an office of this kind. Sister Reeder herself when she learned of her appointment began to launder everything in the house that needed washing since she said she simply had to keep busy and refrain from thinking of the appointment. For three or four nights after she had been sustained general president, she slept very little. But she has counseled with the former presidency (another sign of her greatness), has asked direction from the advisers from the Council of the Twelve and the First Presidency, and has learned her responsibilities. She has a clear eye to the needs and qualifications of those whom she wishes to work with her in filling the assignment. The wisdom and inspiration evidenced in the selection of her counselors are indications of her vision. Her insight into the problems that need immediate solution is almost uncanny. She has been gifted with second sight in her judgment of people and has the rare quality of being able to convert people to her point of view. As general president, although she has a truly hospitable and beautiful home in Ogden, she has determined to spend three days in the general offices in Salt Lake, tending to the duties of her calling; the other counselors will take turns the remaining days. When one realizes that the general presidency serves without any remuneration whatever, this is really a greater contribution than many people realize, and calls for much sacrifice on the part of the new presidency—even as it did on the part of the former presidency. In addition, Sister Reeder and her counselors will be called upon constantly to give of their time, talents, and energies to the peoples in the various wards and stakes, branches and missions. There will be many blessings that come from this work —they will constitute the remuneration for the hours of diligent, prayerful labor. There will be satisfactions— which will help pay for the sacrifice of home duties and many pleasurable social hours with friends and loved ones. So while we congratulate Sister Reeder, Sister Bennett, and Sister Longden, let us also remember that they, like all the former presidencies of the Y.W.M.I.A., will make many personal sacrifices in order to help better the conditions among the young women of the Church. Emily Higgs Bennett, newly appointed by the First Presidency as first counselor to Sister Reeder, is one who has learned the value of things through her own diligence. Orphaned of her father, Jesse B. Higgs, while she was yet young, Sister Bennett, with her three sisters and brother, was encouraged and sustained by their valiant mother, Emily Hillam Higgs, who was for twenty-one years herself a member of the general board of the Y.W.M.I.A. When Sister Bennett was old enough, she too began to share in the responsibility of the financial end of the household, as she had early shared in the domestic duties. Her generosity is well known and her thoughtfulness of family and friends proverbial. She and her husband, Harold H. Bennett, have done many good deeds which are not generally known, since they accept literally the statement of the Master: "But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." (Matt. 6:3.) A graduate of the Latter-day Saints University she early evidenced rare qualities that placed her among the top scholars of her class, and won for her a prized Heber J. Grant award for scholarship. She began to demonstrate her unusual gift for writing, which, after graduation from the University of Utah, carried her into the advertising field, where she might have gone to the top, if she had not decided on marriage and motherhood instead. And Sister Bennett has made a career of wifehood and motherhood. She was married to Harold H. Bennett in the Salt Lake Temple, and they are the parents of eight children-—four boys and four girls. Two sons recently left for the mission field, one for the California Mission, the other for the British Mission, both of them entering the mission home on the same date, June 21, 1948. Sister Bennett maintains a well-organized home where her children feel free to entertain—and where guests of the Bennetts appreciate the easy hospitality that awaits them when they meet in their home or in the large back yard with the beautiful canyon stream running through it. Day and night there is welcome at the Bennett home. The entire family attends to its religious duty. John, who is now serving in the California Mission, was in the Mutual presidency this past season. And the others likewise are busy in the Church. Sister Bennett served in the presidency of the Tenth Ward Y.W. M.I.A. and has taught Gleaner and Junior classes in the Mutual. She also was president of the Primary of the Twentieth Ward. Following her marriage she and Harold spent a year in England where her husband was studying music and where their eldest son was born. An insight into the character of Sister Bennett can be gained from the fact that after she began earning money she studied piano. Although she insists that she is not a musician, she is an accomplished accompanist, frequently playing for her husband, whose rich voice has enhanced several presentations of The Messiah, and who has contributed greatly to the musical culture of the community. Sister Bennett has served on the general board of the Y.W.M.I.A. for the past ten and a half years. She has served on the Junior and Gleaner committees, becoming chairman of the Junior committee. It is a happy experience to be around the Bennetts: their love for each other is so deep, and their joy in their family is so great. Yet each person in the family is an individualist —a rare tribute to the Bennett family life that has made such development possible. Brother Bennett is general manager of the Z.C.M.I. as well as being on the high council of Bonneville Stake and a member of the Church auditing committee. LaRue Carr Longden, daughter of Alex E. Carr, and the late Caroline Edward Carr, has been appointed second counselor in the general presidency of the Y.W. M.I.A. by the First Presidency. She has always been active in the Church, having been appointed secretary to the Sunday School stake board when she was only sixteen. Prior to her marriage and for a short time afterward she was ward president of the Y.W.M.I.A. in the Nineteenth Ward—acting in this capacity for four years. She was on the Y.W.M.I.A. board of Salt Lake Stake also. She also served for about six years on the stake board of the Highland Stake as Gleaner adviser. From this activity she was called to be the stake president for the Y.W. M.I. A. of Highland Stake. She held this position for four and a half years. It was while she was serving as stake president of Highland Stake that the Gleaner Girls of that stake bound their Gleaner sheaf — the first Salt Lake City stake in the Church to achieve this distinction. It is typical of Sister Longden that she takes little credit for this achievement, saying that it was the people under her who achieved. Yet anyone who knows her understands that it is her exceptional leadership that encouraged those who worked with her to attain the high goals they did. Sister Longden also feels a sincere debt of gratitude and respect for those who have preceded her in the positions to which she has succeeded. She appreciates that each group makes its own particular contribution to the work and that the success of succeeding officers is built upon the achievement of the preceding. In her positions in the various Y.W.M.I.A. activities she has been kept exceptionally busy in writing and directing skits, roadshows, and plays. Twice her one-act plays have won prizes—and she herself was too modest to submit them until others insisted on her doing so. One play was titled "Flanders' Field" which won first place in the Ladies' Literary Club contest; her one-act play "Secrets" won third place in one of the M. I. A. contests and was included in the 1 934 Revue Sketches, Designed for Roadshows, Merry- Go-Rounds, and Other Entertainments. For the past ten years Sister Longden has done a tremendous amount of good in adding to the literary culture of the community through her popular play and book reviews. She has been in constant demand among civic, literary circles, and among Mutual groups. Recently she has also been social science teacher in the Stratford Ward Relief Society. She has been active in the Girls' Committee, encouraging the young women in her stake to attend to their religious duties that they might further increase their capacity for joyful living. She, too, has been busy assisting her husband, John Longden, in his work, for he has been active in the community and the Church, having been bishop of the Nineteenth Ward for five years, and a member of the high council of Highland and Salt Lake stakes. He was coordinator for the service men for the L.D.S. Church during the war and is the manager of the Westinghouse Electric Supply Company. They lost their first child who would have been twenty-three had she lived, and are the parents of two living daughters, Gail, eighteen, and Sharon, twelve. Sister Longden' s earnest desire is to be a good wife and mother and keep close, as she said, "to the lovely daughters of Zion." The newly appointed board consists of: Norma P. Anderson, Pearl Bridge, Carol H. Cannon, Virginia F. Cutler, Irene Hailes, Gladys E. Harbertson, Marba C. Josephson, Ruth H. Funk, Helena W. Larson, Jeannette Morrell, Gladys D. Wight, Sara D. Yates. |
"Recently Released YWMIA General Presidency." Improvement Era. January 1962. pg. 28-29, 68.
Recently Released YWMIA General Presidency The retiring general presidency of the YWMIA, Bertha S. Reeder, Emily H. Bennett, and LaRue C. Longden, held this high office for thirteen and a half years—years of activity and progress for this great association. The leading achievements of this presidency have included the Girls' Program which has kept active and reactivated young women in the Church. Girls have been encouraged to attend Sunday School, Sacrament meeting, as well as MIA. Another achievement has been the camping program. One of the goals Sister Reeder had when she became general president, April 8, 1948, was to plan that every MIA girl should have a camping experience. The presidency encouraged day or overnight camps in those areas where there were no girls' homes. Stakes were encouraged to combine in contiguous areas and build a camp that could be used by each stake separately or jointly. The 1959-1960 record indicates that of the 66,199 girls attending YWMIA 22,462 had a camping experience, of an average of four days each. The sports committee was also a creation of the new presidency. There had been camp committees prior to the formation of the sports committee, but the creation of the sports department fostered greater physical activity among the young women. Sister Bertha Stone Reeder has had wide experience in the Church auxiliaries and has brought great stimulus to the people whom she has directed. In the Sunday School where at an early age she became ward organist, as a Sunday School stake board member; as ward president of YWMIA; in the stake presidency of the Primary Association; on the general board of the same organization; as wife of the mission president William H. Reeder, Jr.; and as general president of the YWMIA, she has been the gracious and at the same time firm leader who has directed for the cause of righteousness wherever she has labored. People have been challenged to work under her capable leadership. Sister Emily Higgs Bennett has likewise earned great admiration throughout the Church. She is married to Harold H. Bennett, and they are the parents of eight children. Sister Bennett has a long period of service in the Church in addition to her work as first counselor in the YWMIA general presidency. She has served in a ward YWMIA presidency, as Gleaner and Junior class leader, and ten and a half years on the general board prior to her call to the general presidency. She like Sister Reeder has traveled far and wide throughout the Church and has won people to the cause of MIA. As a general board member she authored, along with the many special articles, the popular manual, You and Your Light, used by the Mia Maids. Her clear thinking and friendly spirit have gained friends for her throughout the Church. Sister LaRue Carr Longden is a product of the Mutual program. Like Sister Reeder, Sister Longden also served on the Sunday School stake board at an early age. But from that she moved into the YWMIA presidency of the Nineteenth Ward. From this position she was called to the stake board of Salt Lake Stake YWMIA. After her marriage to Elder John Longden (now Assistant to the Council of the Twelve) she served on the stake board of the Highland Stake as Gleaner leader, and then she was called to be stake president of Highland Stake YWMIA. While she was serving as stake president of Highland Stake the Gleaner girls bound their Gleaner sheaf—the first Salt Lake City stake to achieve this honor! Sister Longden busied herself in writing and directing plays in the MIA, and she was appointed to head all the activities by Sister Reeder, when she was set apart as second counselor. To these three wonderful women go the love and thanks of the thousands whom they have served in the YWMIA. Their great contribution to the YWMIA will long be remembered in the organization which they have helped develop into the great auxiliary it is in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Released with them were their general board members who likewise have served diligently and well throughout the stakes and wards of the Church. The names of these board members follow. Helena W. Larson, Helen D. Lingwall, Norma P. Anderson, Moana B. Bennett, Anne Bennion, lone R. Bennion, Lorraine Bowman, Lillian S. Boyce, Amanda J. Brown, Carol H. Cannon, Hortense H. Child, Alice C. Christensen, Virginia Cutler, May Green Davis, Jeanete H. Demars, Carolyn Dunn, Elaine D. Dyer. Ruth H. Funk, Gladys E. Harbertson, Velma Harvey, Allie Howe, Margaret R. Jackson, Dorothy Jacobson, Florence S. Jacobsen, Lila Jameson, Edythe C. Johnson, Pearl B. Johnson, Clela B. Jorgensen, Marba C. Josephson, Betty J. Killpack, Kathryn F. Kirk. Margrit F. Lohner, Myrle Low, Virginia H. McDonald, Dolores G. Merrill, Grace C. Milner, Caroline E. Miner, Stella H. Oaks, Florence B. Pinnock, Merle P. Poulson, Irene H. Ricks, Joyce Roberts, Edith F. Shepherd, LaRue M. Sneff, Hazel A. Snow, Marie Stuart. Lorna Tayler, Maxine Thomason, Jane Thompson, Doris Unander, Lila B. Welch, H. Lynn Warner, VaLoris Webb, Gladys D. Wight, Sara D. Yates. |
BERTHA S. REEDER
EMILY H. BENNETT
LARUE C. LONGDEN
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