Died May 14 Utahns Mourn Passing of President Grant, Church Leader and Distinguished Citizen Utah mourns the passing of one of her most distinguished citizens. Heber J. Grant was the first native of the commonwealth to reach the highest office in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. With one possible exception, he was the only man of active business experience to have occupied that position. Monday evening, May 14, 1945, midway between the 88th and 89th milestones of his journey through life, his earthly pilgrimage ended. He had served as one of the general authorities of his religious organization for almost 63 years longer than anyone else 26 years of which he had been president of the church in which he was born and reared. His birth and boyhood, his training and temperament, his pertinacity and picturesque personality, all combined to make him an ideal executive for the ecclesiastical body over which he presided. Under his guidance it expanded and prospered in all its interests and objectives. Tall, slender, bearded, gray and grave, of striking appearance and patriarchal bearing, President Grant might have stepped forth from an illustrated page of the Old Testament. Had he lived in those far distant days he would have seemed, and no doubt felt, at ease and at home in the tents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He would have taken high rank among the potentates and prophets of olden times as a shrewd and sagacious director of temporal affairs, a rigid disciplinarian in spiritual matters, a methodical chronicler of passing events, an indulgent but observant father to his people and a valiant crusader against the mockers of Jehovah and His commandments. Modern minded, well groomed and up to date he will be remembered, yet it would have required no great stretch of imagination to picture him leading the children of Israel through the wilderness, counseling with tribesmen of Canaan about their flocks and herds, hurling anathemas at idolators from the foot of Sinai, driving the chariot of Jehu toward Jezreel, swinging the sword of Gideon against the Midianites, smiting the walls of Jericho in righteous wrath, or marching at the head of triumphant legions singing Hosannas to the Highest. President Grant was a devoted son of the state and a tireless, efficient worker for the religious organization he served long and well in almost every capacity, in this and other states, on this and other continents. Thoroughly grounded in the history and teachings of his church, conversant with its social, material and ecclesiastical relations and ramifications, he was especially fitted to develop the plans and purposes of his predecessors. Keeping in close touch with all activities and departments of the church, President Grant visited its various branches from time to time, preaching a gospel of thrift and salvation, dedicating chapels and tabernacles, assisting in the solution of local problems, giving advice and encouragement for the edification of his followers. In the central offices of the general authorities, notwithstanding the exacting and multitudinous duties which drew heavily on his energy and vitality, he was uniformly courteous and cordial in greeting his many callers, regardless of creed, race or social standing. Serenely sure of himself and of his mission on earth, without a single doubt concerning the divine origin of his sect or the truth of the doctrines he taught, President Grant was extremely earnest and emphatic in conversation or discourse. This air of certitude, devoid of compromise or concession, led some to consider him dogmatic and dictatorial. Closer association revealed that, underneath the dignity of his person and position, he was very democratic, approachable and amiable. A militant champion of his people, a fluent and forceful expounder of the gospel in which he believed, he gave an impression that he was more patient than tolerant in the face of opposition. While conceding the rights of others to worship or to doubt as they pleased, he seemingly contemplated with surprise, sorrow or solicitude congenial souls who failed to see the light as it appeared to him. Generous, enterprising and public spirited in all movements pertaining to general welfare ; active and helpful in any cause he espoused; he was familiar with fiscal affairs throughout the land, and enjoyed agreeable relations with many financial leaders long before he became the head of his church. As a director in numerous commercial and industrial concerns, including those in which he was personally interested with those he represented as trustee in trust, he was never a figurehead, but always made his presence felt, his opinions heard and his suggestions respected. Heber J. Grant was intensely loyal to his friends and would go out of his way to render them a service. A lover of sacred music, he learned to sing long after reaching middle age. He was fond of the simple, sententious rhymes of Edgar Guest, with whose little volumes, appropriately inscribed in his faultless script, he often remembered associates on appropriate occasions. Amazingly frank and outspoken, a stranger to subterfuge and secrecy, he would have failed as a diplomat; but these very qualities won for him the lasting affection of his people and the confidence of all who really knew him. He has left a record of work well done and of duties faithfully performed.