President Ballard Remembered as a ‘Courageous Warrior for Truth’

At his funeral in the Tabernacle on Temple Square on Friday, November 17, 2023, President M. Russell Ballard was remembered by friends and family as a devoted disciple of Jesus Christ and a man fervently focused on his family.

“It would be impossible to measure President Ballard’s impact for good during his sojourn in mortality,” said the First Presidency in a statement read by its First Counselor, President Dallin H. Oaks. “As a young missionary to Great Britain, as a mission president in Toronto and as a General Authority, he has traversed the globe many times, teaching and testifying of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His gospel. He has been a courageous warrior for truth!”

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The First Presidency and others noted President Ballard’s nearly 50 years of dedicated full-time Church service, his leading role in creating the original version of “Preach My Gospel” and his gifts as a leader, unifier, problem solver, counselor and mentor.

“President Ballard and I sat beside one another in the meetings of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for almost 33 years,” President Oaks said. “President [Henry B.] Eyring knew President Ballard intimately for about 40 years. President Nelson knew President Ballard longer than either one of us! Each of us loved this man, we were inspired by his fervent testimony, we learned from his many great leadership qualities, and we were blessed by his influence throughout the Church.”

President Jeffrey R. Holland, President Ballard’s successor as leader of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said his association with President Ballard began in the fall of 1990. Elder Holland was a new General Authority Seventy in the Church’s Europe North Area and President Ballard was his first contact.

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As he “wept” and “pled for peace and reassurance” that he would succeed in his assignment, Elder Holland said he heard a voice.

“Jeffrey, this is my work, not yours, so you rejoice in the arrangements I choose to make,” the voice said. “I deserved that,” Elder Holland said, “but then I heard the unbelievable: ‘Russell Ballard will be one of the best friends you will ever have in this world. You will enjoy his company and seek his counsel for the rest of your life.’”

“That brief, unforgettable, unexpected answer to prayer has been more than fulfilled in every detail a thousand times over — far more than I can possibly say this morning,” Elder Holland said.

President Ballard visited or called every day during President Holland’s recent five-week hospital stay.

“How do you thank a man for that?” President Holland said. “I have since tried to do so, in part with reciprocal visits and calls to him every day during the last two or three weeks of his life. And thanks to this remarkable family, I got to kiss his cheek for the last time just hours before he passed.”

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Elder Quentin L. Cook, another colleague in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said it was a joy to join President Ballard and President Holland on a journey two years ago to the British Isles. (Elders Holland and Cook served together in British Mission — the same mission President Ballard was in 12 years earlier.) Elder Cook said his time preparing both versions of “Preach My Gospel” (2004 and 2023) with President Ballard was “one of the highlights of my life.”

“President M. Russell Ballard was a mentor to each of us in the Quorum and many, many others,” Elder Cook said. “He was a warm bridge builder with a great sense of humor and was kind to everyone. He was wise and tried to keep things simple. He was inclusive and invited everyone into his circle. He exhibited great character and integrity in every aspect of his life. His personal testimony of the Savior was strong and unwavering. I am eternally grateful to have been blessed by the power of his testimony.”

Two of President Ballard’s seven children also spoke. Son Craig said President Ballard was serving others until his final hours.

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“Two days before he passed, he was convinced he was going into the office on Monday,” Craig said. “The last blessing he gave was to someone when he was a patient in the hospital. That’s just who he was.”

“Before he passed away, he would often tell us, ‘I still have a few things to do,’” added Holly Clayton, a daughter.

“Dad moved our souls,” Craig said. “He taught us how to live and share the gospel of Jesus Christ through his 88 general conference talks and countless other sermons. My dad didn’t just preach the word, he lived it every day. He really loved people around the world and helped them progress wherever they were along the covenant path.

That was especially true in his role as a father. Another of the many blessings he gave was to Holly a few years ago after she was diagnosed with cancer.

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“Dad was devastated,” Holly said. “He called the family together to fast and pray for me. I was in a world of fear and uncertainty. When the evening of the blessing came, he laid his hands upon my head and offered up a sweet prayer, pleading with the Lord for a blessing of strength, peace and healing for me.”

President Ballard’s devotion to his family was shown in other important ways, Holly said. For example, when a daughter with a baby was about to drive back to San Diego from Utah alone (her husband was deployed in the Navy), he made sure she returned safely.

“When it came time to head back, Dad didn’t want her to drive home alone,” Holly said. “He was assigned to a stake conference that weekend, but He told her, ‘I found someone to take the conference and I am driving you home.’”

Holly said Barbara, her mother and President Ballard’s wife (who died in 2018), was everything to him.

“He counted himself the luckiest man in the world to have won her heart,” Holly said. “He would consistently remind us that his best sales job was winning her over. Sometimes, in the last few years, he would even tease us that if mom was in heaven without him too long, she might find someone else she liked better! Mom has always been, and still is, his queen.”

“We aim to live up to the example of our father and our beautiful mother,” Holly concluded. “To each of his seven children and their spouses, Dad was always a father first and foremost, and each of his 43 grandchildren knew him best as their grandpa. …

“We love you, Daddy! Take Mama dancing!”

After the funeral, a private burial service took place at the Salt Lake City Cemetery.