A chronological listing of the death-dates of our apostles
Time elapsed since Apostle Deathdate Age at death previous apostle's death 01 David W Patten 25 Oct 1838 38 years 10 months 1st apostle to die 02 Hyrum Smith 27 Jun 1844 44 years 05 months 05 years 08 months 03 Joseph Smith 27 Jun 1844 38 years 06 months minutes 04 Oliver Cowdery 03 Mar 1850 43 years 05 months 05 years 08 months 05 Willard Richards 11 Mar 1854 49 years 09 months 04 years 00 months 06 Jedediah M Grant 01 Dec 1856 40 years 09 months 02 years 09 months 07 Lyman E Johnson 20 Dec 1856 45 years 02 months 19 days 08 Parley P Pratt 13 May 1857 50 years 01 month 05 months 09 Lyman Wight 31 Mar 1858 63 years 10 months 10 months 10 Luke S Johnson 09 Dec 1861 54 years 01 month 03 years 09 months 11 Thomas B Marsh Jan 1866 66 years 01 month 04 years 01 month 12 John E Page 14 Oct 1867 68 years 08 months 01 year 09 months 13 Heber C Kimball 22 Jun 1868 67 years 00 months 08 months 14 Ezra T Benson 03 Sep 1869 58 years 06 months 01 year 02 months 15 Joseph A Young 05 Aug 1875 40 years 10 months 05 years 11 months 16 George A Smith 10 Sep 1875 58 years 02 months 36 days 17 Amasa M Lyman 04 Feb 1877 63 years 11 months 01 year 06 months 18 Brigham Young 29 Aug 1877 76 years 03 months 07 months 19 Orson Hyde 28 Nov 1878 73 years 10 months 01 year 03 months 20 Orson Pratt 03 Oct 1881 70 years 01 month 02 years 10 months 21 William E M'Lellin 24 Apr 1883 77 years 03 months 01 year 07 months 22 Charles C Rich 17 Nov 1883 74 years 03 months 07 months 23 John Taylor 25 Jul 1887 78 years 08 months 03 years 08 months 24 Erastus Snow 27 May 1888 69 years 06 months 10 months 25 Albert Carrington 19 Sep 1889 76 years 08 months 01 year 04 months 26 John E Boynton 20 Oct 1890 79 years 01 month 01 year 01 month 27 Daniel H Wells 24 Mar 1891 76 years 05 months 05 months 28 William B Smith 13 Nov 1894 82 years 10 months 03 years 08 months 29 Abraham H Cannon 14 Jul 1896 37 years 04 months 01 year 08 months 30 Wilford Woodruff 02 Sep 1898 91 years 06 months 02 years 01 months 31 Franklin D Richards 09 Dec 1899 78 years 08 months 01 year 03 months 32 George Q Cannon 12 Apr 1901 74 years 03 months 01 year 04 months 33 Lorenzo Snow 10 Oct 1902 87 years 06 months 01 year 06 months 34 Brigham Young, Jr 11 Apr 1903 66 years 04 months 06 months 35 Abraham O Woodruff 20 Jun 1904 31 years 07 months 01 year 02 months 36 Marriner W Merrill 06 Feb 1906 73 years 04 months 01 year 08 months 37 George Teasdale 09 Jun 1907 75 years 07 months 01 year 04 months 38 Moses Thatcher 21 Aug 1909 67 years 06 months 02 years 02 months 39 John Henry Smith 13 Oct 1911 63 years 01 months 02 years 02 months 40 John W Taylor 10 Oct 1916 58 years 05 months 05 years 00 months 41 Francis M Lyman 18 Nov 1916 76 years 10 months 39 days 42 Hyrum Mack Smith 23 Jan 1918 45 years 10 months 01 year 02 months 43 Joseph F Smith 19 Nov 1918 80 years 00 months 10 months 44 Anthon H Lund 02 Mar 1921 76 years 10 months 02 years 04 months 45 John W Young 11 Feb 1924 79 years 04 months 02 years 11 months 46 Charles W Penrose 15 May 1925 93 years 03 months 01 year 03 months 47 Orson F Whitney 16 May 1931 75 years 10 months 06 years 00 months 48 James E Talmage 27 Jul 1933 70 years 10 months 02 years 02 months 49 Anthony W Ivins 23 Sep 1934 82 years 00 months 01 year 02 months 50 Alonzo A Hinckley 22 Dec 1936 66 years 08 months 02 years 03 months 51 Melvin J Ballard 30 Jul 1939 66 years 06 months 02 years 07 months 52 Matthias F Cowley 16 Jun 1940 80 years 10 months 11 months 53 Reed Smoot 09 Feb 1941 79 years 01 month 08 months 54 Sylvester Q Cannon 29 May 1943 65 years 11 months 02 years 03 months 55 Rudger Clawson 21 Jun 1943 86 years 03 months 24 days 56 Heber J Grant 14 May 1945 88 years 06 months 01 year 11 months 57 Charles A Callis 21 Jan 1947 81 years 08 months 01 year 08 months 58 George F Richards 08 Aug 1950 89 years 06 months 03 years 07 months 59 George Albert Smith 04 Apr 1951 81 years 00 months 08 months 60 Joseph F Merrill 03 Feb 1952 83 years 05 months 10 months 61 John A Widtsoe 29 Nov 1952 80 years 10 months 10 months 62 Albert E Bowen 15 Jul 1953 77 years 08 months 08 months 63 Matthew Cowley 13 Dec 1953 56 years 04 months 05 months 64 Adam S Bennion 11 Feb 1958 71 years 02 months 04 years 01 months 65 Stephen L Richards 19 May 1959 79 years 11 months 01 year 03 months 66 J Reuben Clark 06 Oct 1961 90 years 01 month 02 years 05 months 67 George Q Morris 23 Apr 1962 88 years 02 months 06 months 68 Henry D Moyle 18 Sep 1963 74 years 05 months 01 year 05 months 69 Richard R Lyman 31 Dec 1963 93 years 01 month 03 months 70 David O McKay 18 Jan 1970 96 years 04 months 06 years 01 month 71 Richard L Evans 01 Nov 1971 65 years 07 months 01 year 09 months 72 Joseph Fielding Smith 02 Jul 1972 95 years 11 months 08 months 73 Harold B Lee 26 Dec 1973 74 years 09 months 01 year 06 months 74 Hugh B Brown 02 Dec 1975 92 years 01 month 01 year 11 months 75 Alvin R Dyer 06 Mar 1977 74 years 02 months 01 year 05 months 76 Delbert L Stapley 19 Aug 1978 81 years 08 months 01 year 03 months 77 N Eldon Tanner 27 Nov 1982 84 years 06 months 04 years 03 months 78 LeGrand Richards 11 Jan 1983 96 years 11 months 02 months 79 Mark E Petersen 11 Jan 1984 83 years 02 months 01 year 00 month 80 Bruce R McConkie 19 Apr 1985 69 years 08 months 01 year 03 months 81 Spencer W Kimball 05 Nov 1985 90 years 08 months 07 months 82 Marion G Romney 20 May 1988 90 years 08 months 02 years 06 months 83 Marvin J Ashton 25 Feb 1994 78 years 10 months 05 years 09 months 84 Ezra Taft Benson 30 May 1994 94 years 10 months 03 months 85 Howard W Hunter 03 Mar 1995 87 years 03 months 09 months 86 Neal A Maxwell 21 Jul 2004 78 years 00 months 09 years 05 months 87 David B Haight 31 Jul 2004 97 years 11 months 10 days 88 James E Faust 10 Aug 2007 87 years 00 months 03 years 00 months 89 Gordon B Hinckley 27 Jan 2008 97 years 07 months 06 months 90 Joseph B Wirthlin 01 Dec 2008 91 years 06 months 10 months 91 L Tom Perry 30 May 2015 92 years 10 months 06 years 06 months 92 Boyd K Packer 03 Jul 2015 90 years 10 months 01 month 93 Richard G Scott 22 Sep 2015 86 years 11 months 02 months 94 Robert D Hales 01 Oct 2017 85 years 01 month 02 years 01 month 95 Thomas S Monson 02 Jan 2018 90 years 04 months 03 months 96 M Russell Ballard 12 Nov 2023 95 years 01 month 05 years 10 months Interesting notes:
- From David W Patten to M Russell Ballard, we have had 96 apostles die in a span of 185 years and 01 month (October 25, 1838 to November 12, 2023). Thus, the average length of time between the deaths of our latter-day apostles is 1 year and 11 months.
- Not until the year 2015 had three apostles passed away in the same calendar year (Elders Perry, Packer, and Scott passed away within 4 months of each other in 2015). In the early 1950’s, we had six apostles die in the span of 3 years and 5 months (Elders George F Richards, George Albert Smith, Marriner W Merrill, John A Widtsoe, Albert E. Bowen, and Matthew Cowley).
- Twice we had two prophets pass away sequentially, with no other apostles passing away in the interim (Presidents Smith and Lee, and Presidents Benson and Hunter).
Click here to return to the Apostles Menu page
Click here to return to the Main Menu page