Henry D. Moyle
Born: 22 April 1889
Called to Quorum of the Twelve: 10 April 1947
Called as Second Counselor in the First Presidency: 12 June 1959 (David O. McKay)
Called as First Counselor in the First Presidency: 12 October 1961 (David O. McKay)
Died: 18 September 1963
Called to Quorum of the Twelve: 10 April 1947
Called as Second Counselor in the First Presidency: 12 June 1959 (David O. McKay)
Called as First Counselor in the First Presidency: 12 October 1961 (David O. McKay)
Died: 18 September 1963
Biographical Articles
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 4
Improvement Era, May 1947, Henry D. Moyle of the Council of the Twelve
Relief Society Magazine, May 1947, Henry D. Moyle - The New Apostle
Instructor, June 1947, Apostle Henry D. Moyle and the Church Welfare Plan
Improvement Era, July 1959, Henry Dinwoodey Moyle - Some Personal Impressions
Improvement Era, July 1959, Henry Dinwoodey Moyle
Relief Society Magazine, August 1959, Henry Dinwoodey Moyle, Second Counselor in the First Presidency
Relief Society Magazine, December 1961, Henry D. Moyle, Appointed First Counselor in the First Presidency
Improvement Era, October 1963, Henry Dinwoodey Moyle 1889-1963
Relief Society Magazine, November 1963, In Memoriam--President Henry Dinwoodey Moyle (1889-1963)
Improvement Era, May 1947, Henry D. Moyle of the Council of the Twelve
Relief Society Magazine, May 1947, Henry D. Moyle - The New Apostle
Instructor, June 1947, Apostle Henry D. Moyle and the Church Welfare Plan
Improvement Era, July 1959, Henry Dinwoodey Moyle - Some Personal Impressions
Improvement Era, July 1959, Henry Dinwoodey Moyle
Relief Society Magazine, August 1959, Henry Dinwoodey Moyle, Second Counselor in the First Presidency
Relief Society Magazine, December 1961, Henry D. Moyle, Appointed First Counselor in the First Presidency
Improvement Era, October 1963, Henry Dinwoodey Moyle 1889-1963
Relief Society Magazine, November 1963, In Memoriam--President Henry Dinwoodey Moyle (1889-1963)
Jenson, Andrew. "Moyle, Henry D." Biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 4. pg. 445, 756.
MOYLE, Henry Dinwoodey, president of the Cottonwood Stake, Utah, from 1927 to 1930 -1, was born April 22, 1889, in Salt Lake City, the son of James H. Moyle and Alice Dinwoodey. He was baptized July 3, 1897, ordained an Elder June 21, 1909, by his father, and filled a mission to Switzerland and Germany in 1909-1912. He was ordained a High Priest Feb. 21, 1927, by Melvin J. Ballard, and set apart as president of the Stake Nov. 21, 1927.
MOYLE, Henry Dinwoodey, president of the Cottonwood Stake, Utah, since 1927, was born April 22, 1889, in Salt Lake City, Utah, the son of James H. Moyle and Alice Dinwoodey. He was baptized July 3, 1897, by Joseph S. Wells, received a good education and was an earnest student from his early youth. Taking an active part in Church affairs, he was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood when quite young and was active among the boys doing the work pertaining to offices in said Priesthood. He was ordained an Elder June 21, 1909, by James H. Moyle and filled a mission to Switzerland and Germany in 1909- 1912. In 1915 he completed the study of law at Harvard University and was appointed U. S. Attorney for Utah in 1920. Since 1915 he has delivered lectures on law to the students at the University of Utah. When the World war broke out he enlisted as a private but soon was advanced to the position of captain of infantry and served in the 21st Infantry in the U. S. Army. After the war, he again became active in Church matters and on Feb. 21, 1927, he was ordained a High Priest by Apostle Melvin J. Ballard, after which he acted as a high councilor in the Cottonwood Stake until Nov. 21, 1927, when he was set apart as president of the Cottonwood Stake, succeeding Uriah G. Miller. In 1920 (July 26th) Bro. Moyle married Clara Alberta Wright (daughter of Charles H. Wright and Clara Scoville, born July 24, 1893, in Ogden, Utah) in the Salt Lake Temple, which union has been blessed with six children, namely, Alice (born July 26, 1920), Maria (born Jan. 22, 1922), James H. (born Jan. 25, 1923), Virginia (born Jan. 10, 1926), Janet (born June 17, 1928), and Henry D. Moyle, jun., (born Dec. 24, 1929). Pres. Moyle's present occupation is practicing attorney at law.
MOYLE, Henry Dinwoodey, president of the Cottonwood Stake, Utah, from 1927 to 1930 -1, was born April 22, 1889, in Salt Lake City, the son of James H. Moyle and Alice Dinwoodey. He was baptized July 3, 1897, ordained an Elder June 21, 1909, by his father, and filled a mission to Switzerland and Germany in 1909-1912. He was ordained a High Priest Feb. 21, 1927, by Melvin J. Ballard, and set apart as president of the Stake Nov. 21, 1927.
MOYLE, Henry Dinwoodey, president of the Cottonwood Stake, Utah, since 1927, was born April 22, 1889, in Salt Lake City, Utah, the son of James H. Moyle and Alice Dinwoodey. He was baptized July 3, 1897, by Joseph S. Wells, received a good education and was an earnest student from his early youth. Taking an active part in Church affairs, he was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood when quite young and was active among the boys doing the work pertaining to offices in said Priesthood. He was ordained an Elder June 21, 1909, by James H. Moyle and filled a mission to Switzerland and Germany in 1909- 1912. In 1915 he completed the study of law at Harvard University and was appointed U. S. Attorney for Utah in 1920. Since 1915 he has delivered lectures on law to the students at the University of Utah. When the World war broke out he enlisted as a private but soon was advanced to the position of captain of infantry and served in the 21st Infantry in the U. S. Army. After the war, he again became active in Church matters and on Feb. 21, 1927, he was ordained a High Priest by Apostle Melvin J. Ballard, after which he acted as a high councilor in the Cottonwood Stake until Nov. 21, 1927, when he was set apart as president of the Cottonwood Stake, succeeding Uriah G. Miller. In 1920 (July 26th) Bro. Moyle married Clara Alberta Wright (daughter of Charles H. Wright and Clara Scoville, born July 24, 1893, in Ogden, Utah) in the Salt Lake Temple, which union has been blessed with six children, namely, Alice (born July 26, 1920), Maria (born Jan. 22, 1922), James H. (born Jan. 25, 1923), Virginia (born Jan. 10, 1926), Janet (born June 17, 1928), and Henry D. Moyle, jun., (born Dec. 24, 1929). Pres. Moyle's present occupation is practicing attorney at law.
"Henry D. Moyle of the Council of the Twelve." Improvement Era. May 1947. pg. 274.
Henry D. Moyle Member of the Council of the Twelve One of the visible activities that adds to the impressiveness of the conferences of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the sustaining of officers—when, at the request of the person presenting the names, right hands in the congregation are raised in an affirmative but silent vote. It is a motivating experience seldom witnessed elsewhere—to see many hands join as one. So it was during the afternoon of the Easter Sabbath—April 6, 1947, when, in the closing session of the one hundred seventeenth annual conference of the Church, President David O. McKay arose to have the General Authorities and general Church officers sustained. During the next few moments, the existing vacancies in the Council of the Twelve and the Patriarch to the Church[1] were filled and sustained by those who had crowded themselves into the historic Tabernacle, and by the additional hundreds who had found seats in the adjoining Assembly Hall on Temple Square. Unnumbered others were listening to the conference in their own homes, with radios tuned to one of the three stations broadcasting the services. Henry Dinwoodey Moyle, who was sustained as a member of the Council of the Twelve, filling the vacancy created by the death of Elder Charles A. Callis, needs little introduction to Church members residing in the stakes of Zion. As chairman of the Church welfare committee, he has accompanied the General Authorities to many of the stake conferences in the past ten years, where he has conducted welfare meetings and spoken at the general sessions. Fifty-seven years of age at the time of this appointment, he was born in Salt Lake City April 22, 1889, a son of the late James H. and Alice Dinwoodey Moyle. He attended public schools and the old Latter-day Saint high school, and was graduated from the University of Utah in 1909, with a degree in mining engineering. He was called on a mission to Germany in 1909. After completing this mission, he enrolled for a year at the University of Freiberg in Germany, where he studied geology. Returning home, he prepared for a law career by studying at the University of Utah, the University of Chicago, and Harvard University. He began the practice of law in Salt Lake City in 1916, only to have it interrupted by World War I, in which he served as a captain in the Twenty- first Infantry. He was an instructor in the officers' school at The Presidio, and was in charge of the R.O.T.C. at Utah State Agricultural College, Logan, for six months. With the outbreak of World War II, he was again ready to serve his country—this time out of uniform— and his community, as he had done in years past, and he became a director of the Petroleum Industry Council, as chairman of refining for District Four, the Rocky Mountain area. He is now a director of the successor of this organization, known as the National Petroleum Council. In private life he is an officer of three oil refinery companies and president of a livestock company. Elder Moyle became president of the Cottonwood Stake in 1927, a position he filled for ten years. In the meantime, in 1936, the Church initiated what has come to be known as the welfare plan, and he became one of the general committee members. In 1937 he was called to the chairmanship of the general committee. As such, he has seen this work grow from almost temporary, seasonal projects, to a place where the welfare plan is worldwide in scope, caring for the needs of the Saints in war-ravaged Europe, as well as the stakes of Zion, and in the far-flung isles of the sea. Elder Moyle is the second member of the general welfare committee to be called as an apostle, Elder Harold B. Lee having been sustained in April 1941. Elder Moyle married Alberta Wright, a daughter of Charles C. and Clara Scoville Wright, on October 1 7, 1919. They have six children—four daughters and two sons: Alice M. Yeates, Oakland, California; Marie M. Wangeman, New York City; Virginia Moyle, Janet Moyle, Henry D. Moyle, Jr., and Richard W. Moyle, all of Salt Lake City. [1] See page 275 for the article on Patriarch Eldred G. Smith. |
—Courtesy, "The Deseret News"
Mrs. Alberta Wright Moyle, Eider Henry D. Moyle of the Council of the Twelve, seated, with two of their grandchildren, Kenneth W. Yeates III (left), and Marion Yeates. Back row: Henry D. Moyle, Jr., Mrs. Alice Moyle Yeates, Richard W., Virginia, and Janet. (Mrs. Marie M. Wangeman of New York City was absent when picture was taken.) |
Lee, Harold B. "Henry D. Moyle - The New Apostle." Relief Society Magazine. May 1947. pg. 302-303, 359.
Elder Henry D. Moyle—The New Apostle Elder Harold B. Lee Member of the Quorum of the Twelve JETHRO, the wise father-in-law of the Prophet Moses, characterized an able man as one who feared God, loved the truth, and hated covetousness. As measured by that characterization, Henry D. Moyle, newly sustained member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints, is an able man—he fears God, loves the truth, and hates covetousness. Again paraphrasing another statement from the scriptures recording the Apostle Paul's appraisal of his beloved Timothy's ancestry—"the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice . . . and in thee also"—it can also be said that not alone are these qualities to be found in this man whom the Church has honored with the highest position it can bestow, but like qualities were also in his father James H. Moyle and his mother Alice E. Dinwoodey, who are true representatives of the finest pioneer blood of this generation. Now, to briefly chronicle the history of his life to the present time: He was born in Salt Lake City, April 22, 1889. He received his early education in the schools of Utah and received his bachelor of science degree from the University of Utah, and a law degree from the University of Chicago, and did graduate work at the University of Freiberg in Germany and at Harvard University. His scholastic education was interrupted for three years while he served as a missionary for the Church in Germany. During the first World War he served with distinction as a captain in an infantry division. As an attorney he achieved the high place of United States District Attorney and for Utah. His principal business interests have been with the Deseret Livestock Company, and with three oil companies, the Inland Empire Oil Refinery at Spokane, Washington, the Wasatch Oil Refining Company, and the Idaho Oil Refining Company, all of which he was largely instrumental in organizing. In his growing-up years he was always active in the Church, and for ten years presided as the president of the Cottonwood Stake in Salt Lake County. Because of his vigorous leadership as a stake president in getting the Welfare Program of the Church under way in his stake, he was appointed in July 1936 by the First Presidency a member of the General Church Welfare Committee where, a year later, he became the chairman, which position he holds at the present time. So, at fifty-eight years of age, Henry D. Moyle brings into the councils of the General Authorities of the Church a strength of character, a vigor of manhood, and a background of experience and accomplishment that will be of inestimable worth to these councils. He is not unknown to the body of the Church, for during the past ten years he has visited many of the stakes of Zion as an able teach er and a fearless exponent of the principles of the Welfare Program. But, as always with a man of such qualities and high attainments, there is another side less heralded or publicized. In the quiet of his beautiful home in Holladay, there are his most treasured possessions and accomplishments, his lovely wife and companion Alberta Wright, whom he married in 1919, and his four daughters, Alice, Marie, Virginia, and Janet his two sons Henry and Richard, You haven't seen the full beauty in this man's soul until you have seen him as I have, waking his baby Richard at midnight to fondle him or to tiptoe into the bedroom as we did the other night, together, to see his latest grandson whom he calls his little "Patootie." Father love was never more in evidence than when you see this man, with pardonable pride, listening to music played by one of his accomplished daughters, or counseling with his son "Hank" about his cow or chicken projects. With the love and inspiration of such a wife, and the loyalty and support of such a family, this father has had, in them, some of the essentials to high and worthwhile achievement. After I was asked to prepare this article I searched some of his writings and written addresses to find a statement that would reveal the source of the characteristic driving qualities of his life. I think I found it in this quotation : "With faith in God, with faith in our own destiny, and with individual effort expended—nothing is impossible." In a just cause which most men have thought hopeless and have quit fighting, Henry D. Moyle has just begun the fight. A man with such fighting qualities is certain to have made some people disaffected toward him, but his friends, the friends of righteousness, are legion and, as the Church members come to know him better, they will know him as an able preacher of righteousness, a fearless defender of the faith, and a loyal and powerful advocate of the truth. Such is, in part, the man Henry D. Moyle, whom the Council of the Twelve unanimously accepts into their quorum, and the Church welcomes as one of its leaders. |
THE HENRY D. MOYLE FAMILY
Seated, left to right: Kenneth W. Yeates III (grandson); Mrs. Alice Moyle Yeates; Alberta Wright Moyle; Elder Henry D. Moyle, holding Marion Yeates (granddaughter); and Virginia Moyle. Standing, left to right: Henry D. Moyle, Jr.; Janet Moyle; and Richard Wright Moyle. |
Lee, Harold B. "Apostle Henry D. Moyle and the Church Welfare Plan." Instructor. June 1947. pg. 254-255, 277.
Apostle Henry D. Moyle and the Church Welfare Program
Harold B. Lee
On July 4th, 1936, I was invited to join a fishing party over the vacation period up at a mountain stream near Yellowstone Park. In that fishing party was the subject of this article, Henry D. Moyle, the newly sustained member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. He was then the president of the Cottonwood Stake in Salt Lake County, where he had presided for ten years. The Churchwide welfare program was only three months old, it having been recently announced at the General Conference, April 1936. During the hours of leisure time on that trip, the chief topic of our discussion was this new welfare movement. I was delighted at Brother Moyle's broad understanding, his absolute loyalty to the leadership of the First Presidency in this new movement then being scoffed at by skeptics, and his unwavering faith in its ultimate triumph to the blessing and benefit of the membership of the Church. I was not greatly surprised, therefore, a few weeks later on July 20th, when the First Presidency announced his appointment as a member of the newly organized General Church Welfare Committee, which was given the responsibility of directing the Welfare Program throughout the Church. One year later he was named the chairman of this important committee, which position he holds at the present time.
In this capacity he has accompanied members of the General Authorities to many stake conferences where the Church membership has already come to know him as an able defender of the faith and a powerful advocate and effective teacher of the principles of the gospel as they apply to the caring for the needy and aiding them in their efforts to help themselves.
Henry D. Moyle, as an ancient prophet said of himself, was likewise "born of goodly parents." Faith that the Lord governs in the affairs of men came to him as an inheritance from his ancestors and as a gift from God. In his first address as a member of the General Authorities in the Tabernacle at the last general conference April 6th, he made reference to a disaster that befell his grandfather who, despite his great loss, bowed in humble submission to the will of the Lord. Perhaps a more complete recital of the incident to which he referred will serve to acquaint the reader with the caliber of this man and his ancestors.
His grandfather came to Salt Lake City as a young English convert and engaged in the furniture making business in a small shop of his own. He gradually expanded his business until it had grown to one of the largest of its kind in the West. While on a buying trip in Chicago, his store caught fire and burned to the ground. A son-in-law went to Chicago to break the bad news more kindly than by the usual methods of communication. The grandfather's simple reply was: "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!" There was not much fire insurance to cover his loss, but he still had the courage and faith that once made him successful. He went back to work in his planing and sawmill and eventually rebuilt his furniture store which stands today as a monument to his faith and ability coupled with determination and hard work. Such are the sterling qualities bequeathed to this grandson by his pioneer ancestry.
It is no wonder then that Henry D. Moyle has been so tireless in carrying out the principles of the great Welfare Program as declared earlier by President Brigham Young when he said:
"My experience has taught me, and it has become a principle with me, that it is never any benefit to give out and out, to man or woman, money, food, clothing, or anything else, if they are able bodied and can work and earn what they need, when there is anything on earth for them to do. This is my principle and I try to act upon it. To pursue a contrary course would ruin any community in the world and make them idlers."
These same principles were laid down by President Grant in 1936 in these words:
"Our primary purpose was to set up, insofar as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of the dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and self-respect be once more established amongst our people. The aim of the Church is to help people to help themselves. Work is to be re-enthroned as the ruling principle in the lives of our Church membership."
In a printed address, our new apostle a few years ago gave expression to his thinking in full harmony with the principles laid down by our great leaders on the importance of independence and work as essentials in the spiritual growth of our people:
"Selfishness and greed have all but destroyed Christian altruism. We seem to have lost control over our surroundings. We are dependent upon whatever the day may bring forth. Men have forgotten the one redeeming power left in the world today with which to drive away despair, a power which creates hope, encourages faith, and promotes charity among mankind—the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
"... Our ultimate aim in this welfare work is to help Church members to become self-supporting. . . . No one is kept in idleness. Assistance to all but the aged and infirm is looked upon as temporary, something to be returned later, when those helped can in turn contribute to the welfare of others."
His closing testimony at the last General Conference shows evidence of a great faith:
"I want to bear testimony that I know that this Church and this people are capable of taking care of their own and that there is no need for any of us to go beyond the confines of our own resources ... all that we need for ourselves, all that we need for our brothers and sisters in Europe ... if we would but keep in close communion with the spirit of obedience to the direction of the leaders of Israel here upon this earth and here upon this stand today."
May the Lord prosper and preserve our new leader to perform the great labor to which he has been called.
Apostle Henry D. Moyle and the Church Welfare Program
Harold B. Lee
On July 4th, 1936, I was invited to join a fishing party over the vacation period up at a mountain stream near Yellowstone Park. In that fishing party was the subject of this article, Henry D. Moyle, the newly sustained member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. He was then the president of the Cottonwood Stake in Salt Lake County, where he had presided for ten years. The Churchwide welfare program was only three months old, it having been recently announced at the General Conference, April 1936. During the hours of leisure time on that trip, the chief topic of our discussion was this new welfare movement. I was delighted at Brother Moyle's broad understanding, his absolute loyalty to the leadership of the First Presidency in this new movement then being scoffed at by skeptics, and his unwavering faith in its ultimate triumph to the blessing and benefit of the membership of the Church. I was not greatly surprised, therefore, a few weeks later on July 20th, when the First Presidency announced his appointment as a member of the newly organized General Church Welfare Committee, which was given the responsibility of directing the Welfare Program throughout the Church. One year later he was named the chairman of this important committee, which position he holds at the present time.
In this capacity he has accompanied members of the General Authorities to many stake conferences where the Church membership has already come to know him as an able defender of the faith and a powerful advocate and effective teacher of the principles of the gospel as they apply to the caring for the needy and aiding them in their efforts to help themselves.
Henry D. Moyle, as an ancient prophet said of himself, was likewise "born of goodly parents." Faith that the Lord governs in the affairs of men came to him as an inheritance from his ancestors and as a gift from God. In his first address as a member of the General Authorities in the Tabernacle at the last general conference April 6th, he made reference to a disaster that befell his grandfather who, despite his great loss, bowed in humble submission to the will of the Lord. Perhaps a more complete recital of the incident to which he referred will serve to acquaint the reader with the caliber of this man and his ancestors.
His grandfather came to Salt Lake City as a young English convert and engaged in the furniture making business in a small shop of his own. He gradually expanded his business until it had grown to one of the largest of its kind in the West. While on a buying trip in Chicago, his store caught fire and burned to the ground. A son-in-law went to Chicago to break the bad news more kindly than by the usual methods of communication. The grandfather's simple reply was: "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!" There was not much fire insurance to cover his loss, but he still had the courage and faith that once made him successful. He went back to work in his planing and sawmill and eventually rebuilt his furniture store which stands today as a monument to his faith and ability coupled with determination and hard work. Such are the sterling qualities bequeathed to this grandson by his pioneer ancestry.
It is no wonder then that Henry D. Moyle has been so tireless in carrying out the principles of the great Welfare Program as declared earlier by President Brigham Young when he said:
"My experience has taught me, and it has become a principle with me, that it is never any benefit to give out and out, to man or woman, money, food, clothing, or anything else, if they are able bodied and can work and earn what they need, when there is anything on earth for them to do. This is my principle and I try to act upon it. To pursue a contrary course would ruin any community in the world and make them idlers."
These same principles were laid down by President Grant in 1936 in these words:
"Our primary purpose was to set up, insofar as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of the dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and self-respect be once more established amongst our people. The aim of the Church is to help people to help themselves. Work is to be re-enthroned as the ruling principle in the lives of our Church membership."
In a printed address, our new apostle a few years ago gave expression to his thinking in full harmony with the principles laid down by our great leaders on the importance of independence and work as essentials in the spiritual growth of our people:
"Selfishness and greed have all but destroyed Christian altruism. We seem to have lost control over our surroundings. We are dependent upon whatever the day may bring forth. Men have forgotten the one redeeming power left in the world today with which to drive away despair, a power which creates hope, encourages faith, and promotes charity among mankind—the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
"... Our ultimate aim in this welfare work is to help Church members to become self-supporting. . . . No one is kept in idleness. Assistance to all but the aged and infirm is looked upon as temporary, something to be returned later, when those helped can in turn contribute to the welfare of others."
His closing testimony at the last General Conference shows evidence of a great faith:
"I want to bear testimony that I know that this Church and this people are capable of taking care of their own and that there is no need for any of us to go beyond the confines of our own resources ... all that we need for ourselves, all that we need for our brothers and sisters in Europe ... if we would but keep in close communion with the spirit of obedience to the direction of the leaders of Israel here upon this earth and here upon this stand today."
May the Lord prosper and preserve our new leader to perform the great labor to which he has been called.
Evans, Richard L. "Henry Dinwoodey Moyle - Some Personal Impressions." Improvement Era. July 1959. pg. 540-542.
PRESIDENT HENRY DINWOODEY MOYLE Some Personal Impressions by Richard L. Evans of the Council of the Twelve, and Editor of The Improvement Era In the close and constant association of Church assignment, trust and affection bring into focus great qualities of character that form themselves into personal portraits and impressions. Such a portrait and impression of President Henry D. Moyle shows many strong and contrasting sides. Of the many things he is, and of the many ways by which he has come to be what he is, some few are suggested by the citation which was read by Dr. Carl J. Christensen at the University of Utah Commencement exercises on June 8, 1959, when an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on Brother Moyle four days before he became a member of the First Presidency: "Mr. President: "I have the distinctive honor to present Mr. Henry Dinwoodey Moyle, Bachelor of Science in Mining Engineering and Bachelor of Arts in General Studies, both from the University of Utah; Doctor of Juris- prudence from the University of Chicago; student of geology at the world famous mining school at Freiburg, Germany; and student of the law at Harvard University. "Mr. Moyle has been and now is engaged in an unusually diversified career of distinguished service to the Utah community, and his influence is now felt on a world-wide scale. "As a lawyer he has served in general practice and as a United States attorney in this area. As an industrialist he has been prominent in the development of the oil industry, the trucking industry, and the livestock industry. As an educator he served as a law professor for twenty-five years at this university and now is a member of the Governing Board of the Brigham Young University. As a soldier he was captain in the army during World War I, taught in the R.O.T.C. program at the Utah State University, and was commander of American Legion Post #2 at Salt Lake City. As public servant he is now a member of the Water and Power board of the State of Utah, and was a director of the Petroleum Industries Council, being in charge of district #4, during World War II. He was a prominent candidate for governor of this State in 1940. "As a social worker he was one of the prime movers in the establishment of the welfare plan of the L.D.S. Church and now is the general chairman of this activity. "As a churchman he is now a General Authority of the Church of his choice and as such has a worldwide responsibility and activity. "Because of the high quality of his service to his fellow men in a broad field of human activity, I recommend on behalf of the Board of Regents of this university, that Henry Dinwoodey Moyle be awarded the degree Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa." All these things he is, and many more. He faces problems with forthrightness, advocating with strong opinion, even to contending at times against all opposition for what he believes to be a right and sound position, yet not being unwilling to change an opinion or a position when facts so suggest. The exactness of his training first in science and then as a lawyer has given him a great respect for facts, for logic, for the law, for justice—all tempered by mercy and human kindness. He is available to the sick and the sorrowing, to those who bring personal troubles and problems, as he is with high-placed men who come to him to counsel. Another impression of President Moyle is his fond remembrance of his missionary days, and the ease and accuracy with which he uses German. Half a century after his first learning of the language, he converses freely and preaches publicly in German. The gracious and discriminating qualities of President Moyle and his lovely wife and companion, Alberta Wright Moyle, are combined in their six children, in a close-knit and loyal family, which, though widely scattered as to the geography of their lives, find many occasions to come together, and constant occasion to keep close. A loyalty and respect for the principles to which their father's life is dedicated is evidenced in all of them. He possesses the social graces, personal consideration; broad vision with respect for details; great compassion with respect for law; great courage with a humble heart. From personal experience, we would wish for a moment to recall an incident that may point up contrasting qualities of character: During World War II, when many vital materials were in short supply, the Improvement Era was urgently in need of an added allotment of paper, to keep in closer touch with the tens of thousands of young men in the service, and with the members of the Church, many of whom were on the move in the war effort. General conferences as such were canceled, and so were many other meetings, and there was urgent need for wider and better communication by means of the printed word. Brother Moyle, who was not then one of the General Authorities of the Church, but a highly successful practising attorney, was asked to go to Washington, D. C, with us, to plead our case before the Appeals Board of the War Production Board. In wartime Washington, hotel space was difficult to obtain, often unavailable, and we stayed in the apartment of one of President Moyle's brothers who was absent from Washington at the time. Before we went to our appointment with the Appeals Board to face our very formidable task, President Moyle said in substance: "We are not here on our own errand. This is the Lord's business. If he wants us to succeed, we are entitled to his help, and we need his help. Let's place the problem in his hands." Then, unforgettably, I recall that we poured our hearts out in petitioning for the help on an errand not of our own, but one which we felt would affect the spiritual strength and morale of many of our Father's sons and daughters who were in the Armed Forces, away from friends and family. Then we went before the appointed body, supplying the facts, and Brother Moyle pressed the case with a forthrightness and fearlessness such as we have seldom seen, not asking any favors, but relying on fact and law. The mission was successful as we soon thereafter learned—and we have never forgotten our impression of the man who presented facts with fearless courage, with complete assurance that he was about his Father's business—after he had poured out his heart in a simple pleading prayer "ere he left his room that morning." With these brief comments on some contrasting qualities of character there come to mind two short and significant sentences from a quoted source: "There is nothing so strong as gentleness. There is nothing so gentle as real strength." In presenting these few personal impressions of President Henry D. Moyle of the First Presidency, the Era wishes him well as he will serve the cause and the kingdom, with President McKay and President Clark, with rock-firm faith and conviction he has, with courage, with kindness, with unusual competency. |
First Presidency from left to right:
First Counselor, President J. Reuben Clark, Jr.; Second Counselor, President Henry D. Moyle; President David O. McKay, |
Zobell, Albert L., Jr. "President Henry Dinwoodey Moyle." Improvement Era. July 1959. pg. 543-545.
President Henry Dinwoodey Moyle by Albert L. Zobell, Jr. Research Editor Following a special meeting of the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve in the Church Offices, Friday morning, June 12, President David O. McKay announced the appointment of President J. Reuben Clark, Jr. as his First Counselor and Elder Henry D. Moyle as his Second Counselor in the First Presidency. President Clark who has served as Second Counselor to President McKay since April 9, 1951, now succeeds to the position held by President Stephen L Richards who passed away unexpectedly on May 19, 1959. President Moyle, a member of the Council of the Twelve since April 1947, succeeds President Clark as Second Counselor. President Clark, now eighty-seven years of age, first entered the Council of the First Presidency in April 1933. For eighteen months he served as Second Counselor to President Heber J. Grant and was sustained as First Counselor to President Grant in October 1934. From that date until May 1945, Presidents Clark and McKay served as counselors to President Grant; from May 1945 to April 1951 they served together as counselors to President George Albert Smith. President Clark has now served as a counselor in the First Presidency longer than any elder in this dispensation-more than twenty-six years, serving with President Grant, President Smith, and President McKay. President Clark was born September 1, 1871 at Grantsville, Utah, and is a lawyer by profession. He is the eldest living member of the General Authorities. He is a keen student of Church law and of the life of Jesus the Christ. Much should deservedly be written about President Moyle and his background. Elder Henry Dinwoodey Moyle (his second given name is his mother's maiden name) has a great heritage in the Church—and he has carried it forward. His grandfather, James Moyle, faithful resident of the old Fifteenth Ward on the west side of Salt Lake City, was one of the stone masons who built that great monument to the Pioneers (and the monument to the integrity of the Latter-day Saints to the last generation)-the Salt Lake Temple, and a supervisor of stone work on that landmark. His father, James H. Moyle, was also a stonecutter on Temple Square. He filled a mission in the Southern States, and then went to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to pursue the study of law. With his LL.B. degree issued by the University of Michigan, he delayed his plans of returning home to Salt Lake City and the practice of law long enough in that summer of 1885 to stop at Richmond, Ray County, Missouri, for the express purpose of interviewing David Whitmer, one of the Three Witnesses to the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. At that time, David Whitmer, an elderly man, had not affiliated with the Saints for many years. He bore his testimony concerning the book to Brother James H. Moyle, as he had done to countless others; Brother Moyle recorded the testimony, and the words of David Whitmer, as recorded by James H. Moyle, are often used by students of Church history today. James H. Moyle (the father of President Moyle) was a national figure filling positions of important trust in the administrations of President Woodrow Wilson (where he served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury) and President Franklin D. Roosevelt (as Collector of Customs). Elder Gordon B. Hinckley in the biography James H. Moyle recalls that Sunday evenings there in the East would find him in the branch meetings of the Saints, where he would often humbly act as a deacon in the sacramental service. The late James H. Moyle is also well remembered as a former president of the Eastern States Mission. President Moyle's mother was Alice E. Dinwoodey, a member of a prominent Utah merchant family. But this is the story of President Henry D. Moyle, recently appointed as Second Counselor in the First Presidency. He is a native of Salt Lake City, his birthdate being April 22, 1889. He attended Salt Lake City schools, the old LDS University, and received a degree in mining engineering in 1909 from the University of Utah. That same year he was called to fill a mission in Germany. After obtaining his release three years later, he entered the University of Freiburg, Germany, to study geology for a year. On his return home he re-entered the University of Utah where, after additional studies, he received a degree in science and studied law. He then entered the University of Chicago, and in 1915 he received a degree in law from that institution. Later he studied at Harvard University. Following this, he opened law offices in Salt Lake City, only to interrupt a promising career to serve in the U.S. Army during World War I. He was captain in the Twenty-first Infantry and was an instructor for a year at the officers' candidate school at the Presidio in San Francisco. For another six months he was in charge of the Reserve Officer Training Corps at what is now Utah State University, Logan. Following the war, President Moyle resumed his law practice in Salt Lake City where he had a distinguished career until he was sustained as a member of the Council of the Twelve on an Easter Sunday afternoon in April 1947. His legal career included two years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for Utah, later came the appointment as U.S. Attorney. For a quarter of a century he was a member of the faculty of the law school of the University of Utah. He has been a longtime member of the American Bar Association and the Utah State Bar. He has been prominent in development of the petroleum refining industry in Utah and the Mountain West. He is active in livestock, mining, trucking, and banking enterprises. During World War II he served the country as a government director of the oil industry. In 1943 he was appointed a director of the Petroleum Industry Council, and as chairman of refining for District Four, comprising the Mountain West area. He later became director of the more permanent successor organization, the National Petroleum Council. For ten years, beginning in 1927, he served as president of the Cottonwood Stake in Salt Lake County. Under his direction this stake was one of the first to attempt practices which grew into the Church welfare program. When the general committee was organized in 1936, he was called as a member, becoming the chairman in 1937. This position he now relinquishes as he becomes the Second Counselor in the First Presidency. In the welfare program he has seen that work grow from almost temporary, seasonal projects to a place where the welfare plan is world-wide in scope, caring for the needs of the Saints. Under his direction the welfare program accomplished an enviable record in filling the needs of the Saints in war-ravaged Europe more than a decade ago. More recently the welfare program has been found ever ready in providing for victims of natural disasters, and standing to assist families in the wards and stakes, branches and missions of the Church. Whatever tomorrow may bring, the welfare program stands ready, but today it is a wonderful neighbor-to-neighbor functioning program under the direction of the priesthood of the Church. For eleven years (1936-1947) Elder Moyle traveled throughout the Church assisting in setting up and making strong the welfare program. Then he was called as a member of the Council of the Twelve. For the past twelve years he has been traveling world wide throughout the Church, counseling the members, aiding in the missionary program by meeting with government officials where necessary, and explaining the purpose of the Church. He has received deserved success in many fields of endeavor in his life. Underlying them all has been his first consideration always—the furthering of the Church here in the earth. His Church assignments have been, and are being filled daily by a reservoir of boundless energy and an entire loss of self in devotion to the cause. The announcement of the reorganization of the First Presidency came Friday morning, June 12, during the sixtieth annual June MIA conference. (President McKay had advised President Moyle of the decision Thursday afternoon.) Within hours, the MIA had sustained the new First Presidency. President Moyle married Alberta Wright, the daughter of Elder Charles C. and Clara Scoville Wright, October 17, 1919. President and Mrs. Moyle have four daughters and two sons. They are Mrs. Alice M. Yeates of Idaho Falls, Idaho; Mrs. Marie M. Wangeman of Beverly Hills, California, Mrs. Virginia M. Marsh of Dallas, Texas; Janet Moyle Nielson of Bartlesville, Oklahoma; Henry D. Moyle, Jr., and Richard W. Moyle, residents of Salt Lake City. Elder Richard W. Moyle is currently away from his home, filling a mission in Uruguay. Another son, James H., has been lost in death. |
Alberta Wright Moyle, gracious wife of Henry D. Moyle
Alice Dinwoodey Moyle, mother of Henry D. Moyle.
James H. Moyle, father of Henry D. Moyle.
Brothers and sisters of Henry D. Moyle, seated, left to right: Gilbert D. Moyle, Evelyn M. Nelson, Sara M. Creer.
Standing, left to right: James D. Moyle, Walter G. Moyle, Henry D. Moyle. |
Lee, Harold B. "President Henry Dinwoodey Moyle, Second Counselor in the First Presidency." Relief Society Magazine. August 1959. pg. 498-500.
President Henry Dinwoodey Moyle, Second Counselor in the First Presidency Elder Harold B. Lee Of the Council of the Twelve WHEN a vacancy occurs in one of the presiding councils of the Church, it undoubtedly becomes a concern of the Head of the Church, even the Lord, to inspire the President of his Church to choose the man most nearly qualified to perform the service and to fill the need of the Church at that particular time. ''No man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God as was Aaron," by prophecy and by the laying on of hands by the President of the Church who holds the keys of that authority. With the passing of our beloved friend, and leader. President Stephen L Richards, there was an immediate realization of the void which his death had caused and of the difficulty involved in finding a man qualified to fill the vacancy in the Presidency of the Church. It was to this sacred duty that the President of the Church devoted himself. When to the special conference of youth leaders assembled in the Tabernacle on Temple Square on June 14, 1959, President David O. McKay announced his new second counselor, Henry D. Moyle — which appointment, as the President explained, was inspired "from the proper source'' — the Church realized that, literally, the Lord had put his hand upon the man needed for the work to be done by the hand of his servant. President David O. McKay, and Henry D. Moyle was that man. The call of President Moyle to this high service came as it had come to another man in ancient times through a prophet of another day to whom the Lord had said, ''Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature . . . for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." The Lord knew the heart of this man, also, because he had been proved and tested and had not been found wanting. Pie was indeed the man of the hour! Now, as never before, we are being brought to realize that the Church and kingdom of God is a universal, world-wade organization with new stakes, new temples, and expanding missionary work, seeking new frontiers in distant lands. Our new counselor brings vision and experience gained from extensive world travels and from dealing with varied problems of Church and business at home and abroad. Perhaps no service is dearer to his heart than missionary work, as witnessed by the fact that he, himself, has served as a missionary in Germany in his youth and has a daughter and two sons who have served as missionaries (one presently serving in a South American Mission). These experiences, besides extensive tours of missions in the United States and foreign countries, have given him a broad understanding of the problems of the missionary work to which he has now been assigned in the Presidency. Perhaps only the Lord knows how many missionaries he, himself, has assisted, financially, from his own personal funds as he has traveled throughout the Church. The great Welfare program of the Church has come to its present development under the able chairmanship of President Moyle who has been a courageous and forthright champion of this movement designed by the Lord to bring bread to the needy and succor to the unfortunate. It would not be an overstatement to say that this man whom God delights to honor, has practiced far beyond most men in giving and sharing that with which the Lord has blessed him that his brethren and sisters might be one with him in the kingdom of God. To pay tribute to our new leader, without including his lovely, gracious wife and companion, Alberta Wright Movie, would not be a complete nor adequate appraisal of his strength. She, who has been the inspiration of his life and has given him four lovely daughters and three sons (one having died in infancy), was given to know years before that he would be called as an apostle of the Lord and of the preparation that she, herself, must make to be readied to stand by his side when that time should come. Only a kind Providence and those who intimately know her realize how well she has humbly accepted the high Church responsibilities of her companion as her mission also. As this man of God now becomes better known to the Church as one of the three presiding High Priests forming the quorum of the First Presidency, the membership of the Church will come to feel the great driving power of his soul, which was put in his own words on one occasion as he once said of himself, as he stood on a half-finished project he was promoting amidst great difficulties, ''Well, at least they can never say of Henry Moyle that he never tried." That statement could well be the epitaph of his life. With faith and vision and the courage of his convictions, he counts ''All that is not infinite, too small; and all that is not eternal, too short.'' May the membership of the Church now uphold with their faith and prayers the newly organized First Presidency which now includes Henry D. Moyle, and be willing to follow their counsel in righteousness! |
PRESIDENT HENRY D. MOYLE
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"Henry D. Moyle, First Counselor in the First Presidency." Relief Society Magazine. December 1961. pg. 794-797.
Henry D. Moyle, First Counselor in The First Presidency ON October 12, 1961, President Henry Dinwoodey Moyle, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, was appointed, ordained, and set apart as First Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., on October 6, 1961. President Moyle had served as Second Counselor in the First Presidency since June 14, 1959, at the time of the passing of President Stephen L Richards. At that time Elder Harold B. Lee wrote for The Relief Society Magazine: President David O. McKay announced his new Second Counselor, Henry D. Moyle— which appointment, as the President explained, was inspired from the proper source — the Church realized that, literally, the Lord had put his hand upon the man needed for the work to be done. . . ." President Moyle, a leader of great spirituality, broad experience, and wise judgment, was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, April 22, 1889, a son of James H. Moyle and Alice E. Dinwoodey, true representatives of the pioneer heritage. He was educated in Salt Lake City schools, received his bachelor of science degree from the University of Utah, a law degree from the University of Chicago, and did graduate work at the University of Freiburg. He served three years as a missionary in Germany and was a captain of infantry in the First World War. He was United States District Attorney for Utah and was active in many business interests. For ten years he presided over Cottonwood Stake in Salt Lake County, where his vigorous leadership in the Welfare Program resulted in his appointment in 1936, by the First Presidency, as a member of the General Church Welfare Committee, and a year later he became chairman. His long devotion to missionary work has been of inestimable value in spreading the gospel message throughout the world. As President Moyle declared in his October 1961 Conference address: ''. . . you cannot be close to missionary work without being conscious of and without acknowledging the fact that the Lord has touched the hearts of men all over the world and made them responsive to the humble testimonies of the elders. . . ." The testimony of President Moyle is at once humble and yet spiritually resplendent, and so inspirational that it has touched the hearts of the entire Church. In 1919 President Moyle married Alberta Wright, a gracious and beautiful woman, who has been a true helpmate and an inspiration and comfort to President Moyle. Sister Moyle, in her travels with President Moyle, has become known and loved by thousands of Relief Society women, who have been up lifted and blessed by her faith and her lovely spirit. President and Sister Moyle have had three sons, two living, and four daughters. Henry D. Movie, Jr. is President of the recently organized French East Mission; Richard is a student at the University of Utah; Alice Moyle is married to Kenneth W. Yeates, Jr.; Marie is the wife of Frank G. Wangeman; Virginia is Mrs. Howard J. Marsh; and Janet is Mrs. Veigh J. Nielson. President and Sister Moyle have twenty-four grandchildren. The sisters in all the stakes and missions of the Church rejoice in the appointment of President Moyle as First Counselor in the First Presidency, and their prayers are with him and his lovely family. Relief Society women throughout the world may well be directed by President Moyle's counsel to be always aware of the Heavenly Father's nearness ''and the blessings which we receive. . . ." The sisters of the Church are grateful for the faith and inspiration expressed by President Moyle in his Conference address of Saturday, September 27th, in which he declared: "We know without any question of a doubt that the blessings which descend upon us as a people are directly commensurate with our faithfulness. . . ." |
PRESIDENT HENRY D. MOYLE
PRESIDENT HENRY D. MOYLE AND HIS FAMILY
Upper picture, seated, left to right: President Henry D. Moyle; Janet Moyle (Mrs. Veigh J. Nielson); Virginia Moyle (Mrs. Howard J. Marsh); Sister Alberta Wright Moyle (wife of President Moyle). Standing, left to right: Marie Moyle (Mrs. Frank G. Wangeman); Alice Moyle (Mrs. Kenneth W. Yeates, Jr.); Henry D. Moyle, Jr. Richard Wright Moyle.
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Hinckley, Gordon B. "Henry Dinwoodey Moyle 1889-1963." Improvement Era. October 1963. pg. 840-843, 888-891.
PRESIDENT HENRY DINWOODEY MOYLE 1889-1963 BY GORDON B. HINCKLEY OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run that ye may obtain. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; So fight I, not as one that beateth the air: (1 Cor. 9:24, 26.) These words from Paul, perhaps more than any other scripture, characterize the life of President Henry Dinwoodey Moyle. They became a repeated theme as he spoke to missionaries in many parts of the world. "All are in the race, but only one receiveth the prize," he was wont to say. He believed in excellence. He believed in achievement. He ran with the competition wherever he found it, and "not uncertainly." He fought for the causes in which he believed, "not as one that beateth the air." Now the fight is over. The prize is won. He passed away quietly in his sleep in the early morning of September 18, 1963, at the age of seventy-four, having been born in Salt Lake City, April 22, 1889. In his office hangs a painting of the Master calming the stormy sea. It is titled, "Peace, Be Still." It is characteristic of the man, and his life and death. Wherever he went the impact of his tremendous personality and the strength of his trained mind soon began to stir the quiet and shake the lethargic. He was a champion, a crusader, a clear-thinking, unequivocating exponent of any cause he espoused, unrelenting in his advocacy. And then one night, at the close of a strenuous day, came rest, and a sleep without an awakening in mortality. "Peace, be still." Paul was his favorite writer, and Paul wrote his epitaph when he wrote his own: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. . . ." (2 Tim. 4:7-8.) His restless strength was an inheritance from strong forebears. His character was the blend of a remark- able inheritance. The Moyles came from Cornwall where England reaches a rough finger into the Atlantic. The storms of centuries have lashed its rocky surface, testing its strength, but also leaving a green and rugged beauty. The Moyles were stonemasons, strong of body, independent in thought, hard-working, and courageous. More than a century ago two Mormon missionaries knocked at the home of John Rowe Moyle and asked for the privilege of holding a meeting. They were invited in. To the people of the community this was like opening the door to the plague. But John Moyle, President Moyle's great-grandfather, was moved by convictions and not by popular sentiment. The family was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. James, one of the boys and the grandfather of President Moyle, wrote of the occasion of his baptism: "I covenanted with the Lord that I would serve Him through good and evil report. It was the turning point of my life." The Dinwoodeys were drawn from Lancashire. Henry Dinwoodey, President Moyle's maternal grandfather and whom he somewhat resembled physically, was born in the shadow of the mills, the smokestacks, and the pitheads that mark this great industrial area of England. Left fatherless at the age of thirteen, he became an artisan in the manufacture of fine furniture. The substantial business in Salt Lake City that bears his name is the lengthened shadow of his pioneer enterprise. Good fruit comes of good stock. This fact of life was clearly evident in the nature of Henry D. Moyle. His father, James H. Moyle, was a giant of a man in his physical bearing and in his achievements. He was one of Utah's first lawyers. He was a dynamic force in politics. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under appointment from President Woodrow Wilson and as United States Commissioner of Customs under appointment from President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was obedient to the call of the priesthood, and at an age when most men are in retirement, he was asked to preside over the Eastern States Mission of the Church. While serving in this capacity he helped begin the great annual pageant at the Hill Cumorah, "America's Witness for Christ." The figure of Moroni, which stands atop the hill, bears the likeness of this man who presided over the mission at the time it was sculptured. Henry Moyle's mother was Alice Dinwoodey, a woman of refinement, of artistry, with a love for the beautiful. From her came a priceless endowment of faith, of humor, of simple and unaffected graciousness, of appreciation for thoroughness in planning and good craftsmanship in execution. His mind was educated. He commented on one occasion: "At one time my father was afraid I would never go to the university, and then he was afraid I would never get through going." Altogether he spent nine years in university training. In 1909 he received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Utah in mining engineering. He then served a mission to Germany, and following his release in 1912, he enrolled in the university of Freiburg where he took a year's study in geology. Upon returning to Salt Lake City, he again entered the University of Utah and took out another degree in science. He then went on to the University of Chicago Law School, and from there to Harvard to complete his law studies. Law became his profession. He built an enviable practice on the merits of his ability. He was recognized as an aggressive protagonist and an unyielding defender. He regarded himself as an equity lawyer. He disliked rigidity in the law as in all else. For twenty-five years he taught principles of equity at the University of Utah. These were of his very nature. Judgment, in his opinion, should be based on morals, ethics, and circumstances, rather than unyielding and impersonal rules. It was characteristic of his entire life. He recognized the need for law and order, but above these was the application of Christian love and an appreciation of human worth. When questions of discipline arose in the affairs of the Church, he constantly pleaded that our responsibility is to save and not to condemn. The law was but one of many interests, and he excelled with dynamic enthusiasm in all of them. He possessed tremendous physical vitality. His mind was flexible and alert. He had the self-discipline to unite both, and used his strength to achieve remarkable accomplishments. He detested mediocrity. He pleaded with young men to live above it. In speaking to them of their possibilities he put a solid pedestal under their feet and a new star before their eyes. "You can do anything you want to do," was a frequently repeated statement as he spoke to missionaries. Life is an opportunity to be lived with enthusiasm and with seriousness, and not to be frittered away. Such was his philosophy. To a group in Amsterdam he declared on one occasion: "Life is a serious thing. If there is any one thing you can learn on your missions, in addition to a testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is to learn the seriousness of life." He so lived it. Whether as a young missionary in Germany, as United States Attorney pleading a cause of justice, as an executive building a new business, as an apostle testifying of the divinity of the Lord, he was unrelenting, consistent, and persuasive in his advocacy. His law practice led naturally to widely ranging business interests. These included transportation (with directorships of one of the major railroads and one of the great trucking firms of the nation); oil (he with his brothers and close friends organized three refining companies, and built them into highly successful and prosperous businesses, he also served as consultant to one of the great refining corporations of America); ranching and livestock (he served as president of a large firm owning thousands of acres of choice range land in the high valleys of Utah and Wyoming); mining (with training in geology, mining and law, he handled extensive mining litigation in the West); and banking, insurance, and finance (he was at home with men in these fields all over the nation). His sound judgment and his business acumen became an invaluable asset to the Church in the administration of its affairs. Following the pattern of his father, he took an active interest in the affairs of government, and made a significant contribution to civic affairs. In World War I, he was commissioned a captain of infantry. In World War II, with the very life of the nation depending on the availability of gas and oil, he was appointed a director of the Petroleum Industry Council, and chairman of refining for district four, which included the Mountain West area. He was later named a director of the National Petroleum Council. Oil executives over the nation became his intimate friends and respected him for his judgment, his dynamic handling of problems, and the goodness of his life. Water also became a challenging interest to him. He fully realized that the growth of the West depended on conservation of water and its best use. Governor George D. Clyde has said of him: "As a member of the Utah State Water Board, he rendered great service to the people of Utah." He has, in very deed, been a self-sacrificing public servant in times of national stress and in meeting the continuing needs of the people. But with all of this activity, two other interests were paramount in his life—his Church and his family. He loved both with a loyalty that could never be doubted. He knew that the things of earth are transient, but that the associations and values of Church and family are eternal. From the time he was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood in the old Twelfth Ward in Salt Lake City, to the evening of his death, he was a Latter-day Saint, true and faithful. At the age of twenty he was called to the Swiss-German Mission. His first field assignment was in the great city of Zurich, Switzerland. While he was yet scarcely able to speak the language, he led the mission in proselyting. He became proficient in the German tongue and never lost the use of it. He loved the people of Germany and Switzerland among whom he labored. They were held in affection by him all of his life. Next to America, the land of his birth, he loved the German-language countries of Europe. Although he had traveled over a major part of the earth, he chiefly enjoyed going back to Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. This in itself is a commentary on his effectiveness as a missionary, for we learn to love most those we serve best. It was heart-warming to see him with the German-speaking members of the Church. It was fascinating to witness the eager response of these people as he spoke to them in Deutsch. In the missionary department of the Church is an old record book from which the leather binding is peeling. It contains the mission president's confidential appraisal of Elder Henry D. Moyle. It reads under date of December 30, 1911: "Qualifications as a speaker, Very good; as a writer, Good; as a presiding officer, Very good; knowledge of the Gospel, Good; Has he been energetic, Very!" From 1927 to 1937, he served as president of Cottonwood Stake. During this time the tragic depression of the thirties overwhelmed the nation and much of the world. The answer of the Church in meeting the needs of the people was the welfare program organized in 1936. Henry D. Moyle was named a member of the general committee, and a year later was designated its chairman. Here again his dynamic leadership was apparent. With his close associates, Elders Harold B. Lee and Marion G. Romney, now of the Council of the Twelve, he led this work from feeble beginnings to the tremendous stature it has reached today. Scores and hundreds of projects scattered over the earth, producing food and clothing, preserving, conserving, and creating are testimony of this leadership. Small wonder it is that when Charles A. Callis of the Council of the Twelve passed away in the spring of 1947, Brother Moyle was called by President George Albert Smith to fill the vacancy in the Quorum. He was in New York City on business when General Conference convened. President Smith telephoned him. President Moyle returned immediately and was sustained by the membership of the Church in his sacred calling. He immediately turned over his business to others, locked his desk, and never went back. This was the nature of the man. In 1959, following the death of President Stephen L Richards, President McKay presented the name of Henry D. Moyle to become Second Counselor in the First Presidency. With the death of President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., in 1961 President Moyle was sustained First Counselor in the First Presidency. During the four and a quarter years of his service in the highest council of the Church, the strength of his personality and the ardor of his faith have been felt across the Church with an impact seldom equaled. He has become an example to the entire membership in his unyielding loyalty to President McKay. He has never spared his strength or time in furthering the work. He has lifted his voice in testimony in the great cities and the small hamlets of the nations of the world, in humble cottages and in great halls. There has never been a word of equivocation, a shadow of doubt in his witness of the reality of God, of the divine Sonship of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the factuality of the restoration of the gospel. His driving power of persuasion, his logic, his gift as a trained advocate have all been employed with deep sincerity in testifying of these things. Coincident with his coming into the First Presidency, he was named chairman of the missionary committee. Building on the substantial foundation laid by his predecessors, he proceeded to put the weight of his faith and strength into this program. There were approximately five thousand missionaries in the field at the time. Today there are twelve thousand. He toured the missions. He testified, he pleaded, he urged, he challenged. Mine was the opportunity to travel with him in many parts of the world. In twenty-three days during July of 1962, we held daylong meetings with all of the missionaries in the twenty-one missions of Europe and the British Isles. I bear witness of his unrelenting drive, of his untarnished devotion to this great work, of his unforgetting love for the young men and women who are in the world as ambassadors of the Lord and witnesses of his truth. During this period, 267,669 converts came into the Church. President Moyle's memory will be preserved in their lives and in the lives of the generations who come after them because of the part he played in this great work. His nature was not all robust strength. He had a gentle side that was enriching to know and rewarding to be near. His life was not without disappointment. He knew the meaning of sorrow. Prayer was his solace. He talked to the Lord as "one man speaketh with another." Prayer was his comfort, prayer and a few who loved him dearly. First among these was his treasured companion. She was the sweetheart of his life. It was evident; his manner reflected the depths of his affection. He married Alberta Wright October 17, 1919. The years that followed brought the next precious of his possessions, his sons and daughters, able and faithful men, beautiful and gifted women, who loved their father. What a family they are! No man could have a greater treasure, and this for all eternity. His cup was filled, yes, to overflowing. He drank deeply. He loved life—the storms of it, the peace of it, the tall mountains, the quiet valleys. He knew them all. He was a forceful part of them. In an old notebook, written in his bold, sure hand we found these words: "No fonder hope, no higher ambition, no more lofty goal can be imagined than Eternal Life in the kingdom of our Father with those we love." MILESTONES MARK LIFE OF SERVICE Some milestones in the life of President Moyle: 1889—Born April 22 in Salt Lake City, a son of James H. and Alice Dinwoodey Moyle. 1909—Graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in mining engineering. Called as a missionary to Germany. 1912—Released from mission, entered the University of Freiburg, studied geology one year. 1913—Returned to Salt Lake City, entered the University of Utah to study science and law. 1915—Received a degree in law from the University of Chicago, later studied at Harvard University. Admitted to Utah State Bar Assn. Joined the law faculty of the University of Utah, where he served 25 years. 1916—Began private law practice in Salt Lake City. 1918—Discharged from the US Army after serving as a captain in the 21st Infantry. Named US attorney for Utah and served two years. 1919—Married Alberta Wright October 17 in the Salt Lake Temple. 1927—Sustained as president of the Cottonwood Stake, a position he held for ten years. 1936—Named a member of the original general church welfare committee. 1937—Appointed chairman of the general welfare committee. 1940—Nominated to run for governor of Utah on the Democratic ticket, but was defeated at the state convention. 1943—Called to the Petroleum Industry Council to head refining committee for Rocky Mountain District No. 4. Later served on the successor organization known as the National Petroleum Council. 1947—Sustained April 6 as a member of the Council of the Twelve, ordained April 10, 1947, by President George Albert Smith. 1954—Returned to Salt Lake City on March 24 from a four month tour of Europe, where he met all mission presidents, reported favorable progress of Swiss Temple construction. 1955—Participated in dedication of Swiss Temple, September 11. 1956—Attended March 11 dedication of the Los Angeles Temple. Left Salt Lake City in April on a four month tour of South America, Central America, and Mexico. 1958—Delivered baccalaureate address at Utah State University, June 6. Attended dedication of the London Temple, September 7. 1959—Was cited on his 70th birthday by fellow workers for more than 21 years as chairman of the Church general welfare committee. 1959—Called by President David 0. McKay, June 13 to serve as Second Counselor in the First Presidency to fill vacancy created by the death, May 19, of President Stephen L Richards, who was succeeded as First Counselor by President J. Reuben Clark, Jr. 1959—Was set apart June 18 as a member of the First Presidency in special ceremony in the Salt Lake Temple. President McKay officiated. Later was released as general welfare committee chairman and placed in charge of the missionary program of the Church. 1959—Cited by Consolidated Freightways, Inc., for service. 1960—Made a special trip in December to Europe to meet with mission officials and check on London Temple tax matters. 1961 — Was baccalaureate speaker June 2 at Brigham Young University commencement in Provo. Given honorary degree of doctor of humanities June 2. 1961—Named a member of the board of directors of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad July 17. 1961—Named First Counselor in the First Presidency October 12 to fill the vacancy created by the death of President J. Reuben Clark, Jr. 1961—Toured the missions of the Church in Europe for five weeks. Returned before the end of the year and reported extensive growth of the Church. 1962—-Delivered the baccalaureate address May 3 at Utah State University graduation rites. 1962—Spent the month of July touring 21 missions of the Church in Europe. 1963—Represented the Church in February in its tax suit with the British Government, appearing before the House of Lords. Also toured several European missions before returning to Salt Lake City. 1963—Was presented the Utah National Guard Minuteman Award March 1 for "outstanding service" to the Guard. 1963—Passed away at Deer Park, Florida, while inspecting church property there, September 18. 1963—-Funeral services held in Salt Lake Tabernacle under the direction of President David O. McKay, September 21. |
President and Sister Henry D. Moyle at home.
President Moyle at the time of the dedication of the Bern, Switzerland chapel.
President Moyle was one of the forceful speakers of the Church.
President Moyle as he appeared when he was sustained a member of the First Presidency in 1959.
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"In Memoriam--President Henry Dinwoodey Moyle (1889-1963)." Relief Society Magazine. November 1963. pg. 804-806.
President Henry Dinwoodey Moyle (1889-1963) In Memoriam It was with a sense of deep loss that the General Board of Relief Society learned of the peaceful but sudden passing of President Henry Dinwoodey Moyle, First Counselor in the First Presidency, on Wednesday, September 18, 1963. President Moyle was in Deer Park, Florida on Church business at the time of his death. His devoted wife who has faithfully and fully supported him throughout his long and distinguished career was in Deer Park with him. President Moyle's life has been active and purposeful. He utilized all the advantages offered him as a young man to attain an education and studied in the United States and in Germany in the fields of mining engineering, geology, and law. He served for twenty-five years as a member of the University of Utah law faculty. He lived what he advocated. He took out three years of his youth to fill a mission in Germany. The German people always held a special place in his heart. He was eminently successful in a variety of businesses and openhanded with the means which he acquired. He was extremely generous to Relief Society when the Relief Society Building was being planned, but stipulated that his and his wife's large contribution should not be publicized. He took an interest in the welfare of others and was a driving power in any cause he espoused. At the April 1947 Church conference President Moyle was sustained as an apostle of the Lord. This high calling followed ten years of service as president of Cottonwood Stake and visiting the stakes of the Church for eleven years as a member of the General Church Welfare Committee over which he had presided as chairman since 1939. In his April 1947 conference address, President Moyle made significant forecasts of what he hoped to accomplish in his dedication to the work of the Lord. Now, sixteen years later, one can judge of the selflessness with which he abided by his statements of purpose and belief: ... so far as my Heavenly Father will give me the power to act I shall do so, and all that I have and am belongs to my Heavenly Father. . . . To me that which the Presidency of this Church have said and say now, is as much the law and the gospel as anything that has ever been said or written before for our guidance. . . . It shall be my hope and my desire that ... I may be an honor and a credit to my family and my people and be able to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and to bear this testimony throughout the world. On the death of President Stephen L Richards, in 1959, President Moyle was called as Second Counselor in the First Presidency, and, in 1961, on the death of President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., President Moyle was named First Counselor. The General Presidency of Relief Society has been closely associated with President Moyle over the years through the Church Welfare Program. For a number of years it was their privilege to meet twice weekly with the Welfare Committee over which he served as chairman. President Moyle has been a good friend and wise advisor to Relief Society and has delivered instructional and inspirational addresses to the membership gathered from all over the world at Relief Society Annual General Conferences. He had a great and Expansive soul. His desire and practice were to help his brother and, even though his health has not been robust, he never spared himself in filling assignments or meeting requests that came to him in great number to serve his Church and fellow men. He died as he lived doing the work of the Master. Truly it would seem he never tasted death and it was sweet to him. |