James A. Cullimore
Born: 17 January 1906
Called as Assistant to the Twelve: 6 April 1966
Called to the First Quorum of the Seventy: 1 October 1976
Became Emeritus General Authority: 30 September 1978
Died: 14 June 1986
Called as Assistant to the Twelve: 6 April 1966
Called to the First Quorum of the Seventy: 1 October 1976
Became Emeritus General Authority: 30 September 1978
Died: 14 June 1986
Talks on Church WebsiteApr 1971 - Marriage Is Intended to Be Forever
Oct 1971 - Confession and Forsaking: Elements of Genuine Repentance Apr 1972 - The Importance of a Personal Testimony Oct 1972 - Home Teachers--Watchmen Over the Church Oct 1973 - To Be in the World but Not of the World Apr 1974 - Justice and Mercy Oct 1974 - Gifts of the Spirit Oct 1975 - Family Home Evening Apr 1976 - The Book of Mormon Apr 1978 - Grieve Not the Holy Spirit, Lest We Lose It Image source: Improvement Era, November 1967
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Image source: Relief Society Magazine, June 1966
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Biographical Articles
Improvement Era, June 1966, James A. Cullimore
Relief Society Magazine, June 1966, James A. Cullimore Appointed Assistant to the Council of the Twelve
Improvement Era, November 1967, James A. Cullimore, Assistant to the Council of the Twelve
Ensign, August 1986, Elder James A. Cullimore Dies
Relief Society Magazine, June 1966, James A. Cullimore Appointed Assistant to the Council of the Twelve
Improvement Era, November 1967, James A. Cullimore, Assistant to the Council of the Twelve
Ensign, August 1986, Elder James A. Cullimore Dies
Zobell, Albert L., Jr. "James A. Cullimore." Improvement Era. June 1966. pg. 488-489.
James A. Cullimore BY ALBERT L. ZOBELL, JR. RESEARCH EDITOR The newest assistant to the Council of the Twelve, who was sustained at the general conference on April 6, is James Alfred Cullimore, a dynamic leader who has spent his adult life as a businessman in the mission areas of the Church. Wherever his business life has taken him, his "Father's business" has also been an important part of his activity. For nearly thirty years the Cullimore home has been in Oklahoma City. There he served as branch president for fourteen years, followed by nine years as president of the West Oklahoma District. He was sustained as the first president of Oklahoma Stake October 23, 1960, serving just two and a half months before being called as president of the Central British Mission on December 27, 1960. In January 1964 he was called to the priesthood welfare committee, and since then, during the two quarters of the year that are designated stake welfare conferences, he has left his home nearly every weekend to meet with the Saints in their conferences throughout the Church. Elder Cullimore was born January 17, 1906, at Lindon (near Pleasant Grove), Utah, a son of Albert Lorenzo and Luella Keetch Cullimore. His great-grandfather had been an English convert to the Church in 1837, in the time and the area that Wilford Woodruff had phenomenal success in missionary endeavor. The family emigrated to the United States in 1850, and his great-grandfather Cullimore worked as a stone mason in Philadelphia to obtain money to come to Pleasant Grove the following year. Elder Cullimore served as assistant scoutmaster at Lindon in 1924 before being called that December to the California Mission, where he labored in southern California as a district president. Having never been able to return to San Diego and the many scenes of his mission as a young district president, he was overjoyed to find that he was to be assigned to San Diego Stake welfare conference for April 16-17. At Brigham Young University, where he was student body president, he courted Grace Gardner of Spanish Fork, a daughter of Henry A. and Grace Brockbank Gardner. "My wife is the best part of our combination," he says. "She is now the stake Relief Society president in Oklahoma Stake." They were married in the Salt Lake Temple June 3, 1931, and traveled to New York City, where he had a scholarship for graduate studies at the New York University School of Retailing. He began his long experience as a furniture buyer in 1932 with Gimble Brothers, New York City, and later held the same position with Mandel Brothers of Chicago. After a period in Sioux City, Iowa, he became the buyer and home furnishings merchandise manager for Browns in Oklahoma City in 1937. He entered business for himself in 1946. Always active in the Church, he served as Timpanogos Stake Sunday School superintendent while a BYU student, as a district Sunday School board member in New York, and as branch president at Sioux City, before going to Oklahoma. Over the years, unnumbered missionaries and servicemen found the Cullimore home always open to them, a place where they could always find a wonderful meal and good, strengthening conversation. He told them how he, too, had longed for a home in the stakes of Zion; but just as a stake was being organized in New York, he went to Chicago; and when a stake was considered there, his employment opportunities took him elsewhere. A stake was finally organized in Oklahoma City with him as its first president, but he was soon to be called to be a mission president in the British Isles. During their early years in Oklahoma, the Cullimores had wondered if they should return to the West to rear their son and two daughters. World War II prevented such a move. While touring the Central States Mission after the war, Elder Joseph F. Merrill of the Council of the Twelve heard the problem and counseled: "This is where the Lord wants you. Teach your children well and then send them to BYU to school, and they will marry in the Church. Things will work out well for you." Within days Elder Cullimore had leased a building in Oklahoma City and was on his way to opening his own furniture store. He had learned long ago that the Lord works in very natural ways and circumstances: if one plans well, he will succeed. The business was a great success at once, and he felt the promise of an apostle of the Lord had much to do with it. Of the call to the Central British Mission in 1960, he says: "In Oklahoma it was unusual for someone to be called on a mission and to leave a business for three years. People still talk about it; we received a great deal of favorable publicity. My call did much to contribute to the image of the Church in Oklahoma. And it made many strong business friends." General conference was to open Wednesday, April 6, 1966. He had planned to miss the first day's sessions, but was to come by air on Friday for the weekend sessions. Tuesday afternoon, April 5, he received a long-distance telephone call that President McKay desired to see him immediately. There were no planes out of Oklahoma City that afternoon, but that evening he flew to Denver, where he stayed overnight. At five o'clock the next morning he was on a flight to Salt Lake City. There he heard President McKay say to him: "The Lord has revealed to me that you are to be an assistant to the Council of the Twelve." To hear such words! Only those who are called to such positions can understand his feelings at that moment. He was sustained by the general conference at the morning session, April 6. President McKay set him apart April 8. His appointment brought to twelve the number of assistants serving. He is the twenty-second high priest called to serve in this capacity since assistants to the Twelve were first called at the April 1941 general conference. The previous Sunday, Kelvyn Henry Cullimore, their son, had been sustained as a counselor in the Oklahoma Stake presidency. Their older daughter, Luella, is the wife of Bishop H. Dale Payne of the Calgary 3rd Ward, Calgary North Stake. Their younger daughter, Nancy, will be graduated from BYU this June. "We have lived away from Utah a long time," states Elder Cullimore, a giant of a man by spiritual and all other measurements. "But it has been a choice experience. It has been a challenge to all of us, all of the time, to live up to our standards." The Improvement Era joins the Church in welcoming Elder Cullimore to his new calling. The church membership will truly be enriched and blessed as he meets with them in their stake conferences and in his other assignments. |
James A. Cullimore, new assistant to the Council of
the Twelve, with his wife, Grace Gardner Cullimore. Elder Cullimore, an Oklahoma City businessman, is a former member of the priesthood general church welfare committee. Luella C. Payne, wife of a bishop in Canada
Kelvyn Henry Cullimore, second counselor of Oklahoma Stake
Nancy, a student at Brigham Young University
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"James A. Cullimore Appointed Assistant to the Council of the Twelve." Relief Society Magazine. June 1966. pg. 408-409.
James A. Cullimore Appointed Assistant to the Council of the Twelve At the opening session of the 136th Annual General Conference of the Church, April 6, 1966, James Alfred Cullimore, a devoted and experienced Church leader, was appointed as an Assistant to the Council of the Twelve, making a present total of twelve Assistants to the Council. Elder Cullimore was born in Pleasant Grove, Utah, January 17, 1906, and was graduated from Pleasant Grove High School. At Brigham Young University, he was president of the senior class, and president of the student body. In these positions his outstanding qualities of leadership and his remarkable executive ability were evident. He received his Master's degree from the New York University School of Retailing. He was married in the Salt Lake Temple, June 3, 1931, to Grace Gardner of Spanish Fork. They have two daughters, Luella and Nancy, and a son Kelvyn. Church service began at an early age for Elder Cullimore and has continued throughout his life. During his mission in California (1925-27), he was made a district president. He was Timpanogos Stake Sunday School superintendent, branch president in Sioux City, Iowa, and in the Oklahoma City Branch. Later, he became district president in the West Oklahoma District, Central States Mission, a position he held for nine years. In 1960 he was sustained as the first president of Oklahoma Stake. Shortly after this appointment, he was called to be president of the Central British Mission, where he served for two and a half years. During his presidency, many outstanding accomplishments were made, including the completion of the building of the Merthyr-Tydfil meetinghouse in time for its dedication by President David O. McKay, whose mother and her ancestors had lived in that area of Wales. Also, during his presidency, the distribution of The Book of Mormon increased from fifty to 300 a week, converts increased, and the gospel was made known to thousands by a vigorous and well-directed program which was carried to many new cities and villages where Church organizations had not previously functioned. His great ability in leadership and management has served him well in business. He has been associated with Gimble Brothers of New York City and also Mandel Brothers in Chicago. In Oklahoma, during the past twenty years, he has established one of the largest furniture firms in the state, and, in 1960, he was given the Fourth Annual Alumni Achievement Award by the New York University School of Retailing Alumni Association. Elder Cullimore's outgoing and optimistic personality invites confidence and respect, and his influence among his associates in Church and community activities is uplifting and inspirational. The General Board of Relief Society and the Relief Society members in the stakes and missions of the Church are pleased and gratified that Elder Cullimore has been made a General Authority, and they welcome his gracious and accomplished wife. In his address as a new General Authority, Elder Cullimore expressed humility in his calling and said ". . . only by virtue of the strength I receive from the Lord can I become a good servant.” |
Elder James Alfred Cullimore
Elder Cullimore and His Family Standing at the back: Elder Cullimore; seated at the left: Grace
Gardner Cullimore; at the right: Nancy Marie Cullimore; inset at left: Kelvin Henry Cullimore; at right: Grace Luella Cullimore Payne (Mrs. Dale Payne). |
"James A. Cullimore, Assistant to the Council of the Twelve." Improvement Era. November 1967. pg. 53.
JAMES A. CULLIMORE Assistant to the Council of the Twelve For years James Alfred Cullimore had been leading and counseling members of the Church —as branch president at Sioux City, Iowa, and at Oklahoma City; as president of the West Oklahoma District; and then, beginning October 23, 1960, as president of the new Oklahoma Stake. The Cullimore home was always a haven where missionaries could find a good meal and recharge their spiritual batteries with quiet talk upon the great principles of the gospel. But when, in December 1960, Elder Cullimore was called to preside in the Central British Mission, the people of Oklahoma City, who knew him only as an eminently successful man who had built a thriving furniture business, could hardly understand how he could turn away from personal affairs to accept a church appointment of several years' duration. He did, however, and the stature of the Church grew in Oklahoma. He was sustained as an Assistant to the Council of the Twelve April 6, 1966, and again the image of the Church grew in the Midwest. Elder Cullimore was born January 17, 1906, at Lindon, Utah, a son of Albert L. and Luella Keetch Cullimore. In December 1924 he was called to the California Mission. He returned to study at Brigham Young University, where he was student body president. He married Grace Gardner in the Salt Lake Temple June 3, 1931. They went to New York City, where he had a scholarship for graduate studies at the New York University School of Retailing. He began his long experience as a furniture buyer in 1932 with Gimble Brothers, New York City, and held the same position with Mandel Brothers, Chicago. In 1937 he became the buyer and home furnishings merchandise manager for Browns in Oklahoma City. During their early years in Oklahoma City, the Cullimores had wondered if they should return to Utah to rear their son and two daughters. World War II prevented such a move. While touring the Central States Mission in 1946, Elder Joseph F. Merrill of the Council of the Twelve heard the problem and said: "This is where the Lord wants you. Teach your children well and then send them to BYU to school, and they will marry in the Church. Things will work out well for you." Within days, Elder Cullimore had leased a building in Oklahoma City to open his own furniture store, which soon prospered. Branch president, district president, stake president, mission president, Church welfare committee man, friend! Elder Cullimore is all these and more as he daily goes about the work of the Lord. |