L. Tom Perry

Perry was born in Logan, Utah, to Leslie Thomas Perry and his wife, Elsie Nora Sonne. Perry, Utah is named for Perry's ancestor, Gustavus Adolphus Perry and his family, who were among the first settlers in that area.

From the time of Perry's birth until he was eighteen, his father was bishop of their LDS ward in Logan. From 1942 to 1944, Perry served as an LDS missionary in the Northern States Mission, headquartered in Chicago. After returning from his mission he joined the United States Marine Corps and was assigned to the 2nd Marine Division. During the Second World War, Perry was part of the American forces that landed on Saipan, and remained there for about a year. While there he participated in the construction of an LDS chapel on the island. He was among the United States troops sent to occupy Japan after the war. While in Nagasaki, Perry coordinated a group of Marines to help rebuild a local Protestant church.

Perry graduated from the Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University) in 1949 with a B.S. in finance.

Perry's first job out of college was with a retail business in Idaho. He was later involved in business jobs that took him to Washington, California, New York, and Massachusetts.

Perry was in the retail business during his time in Boston, Massachusetts. He became a fan of the Boston Red Sox and threw out the first pitch at a Red Sox game on May 8, 2004.

In addition to his mission to the Northern States, Perry has served in the LDS Church as an early-morning seminary teacher, as a counselor in a bishopric, high councilor, counselor in a stake presidency, and as president of the church's Boston Massachusetts Stake.

Soon after his call to the Quorum of the Twelve (c. 1975)

Perry was called as a general authority and Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1972. The death of church president Harold B. Lee created a vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve when Spencer W. Kimball, who had been serving as quorum president, became church president. Perry was sustained as a member of the Twelve on April 6, 1974, and was ordained an apostle on April 11, 1974.

In 2004, Perry was asked by church president Gordon B. Hinckley to serve as president of the church's Europe Central Area, headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, a position normally held by a member of the seventy. This made Perry one of the most senior officials of the church ever to be stationed away from Salt Lake City. While serving in this capacity, Perry initiated a more proactive institute program that emphasized meeting the social and intellectual needs of young single adult church members.

Perry married Virginia C. Lee in the Logan Temple on July 18, 1947. They had three children together. Perry's son, Lee Tom Perry, is an academic and is currently dean of the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University. Virginia Perry died of cancer in December 1974. Their daughter, Barbara, died of cancer in 1983.

In 1976, Perry married Barbara Dayton.

In April 2015, Perry was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. In May 2015, the church reported the aggressive cancer had spread and Perry died the following day, on May 30, 2015. At the time of his death, he was the third most senior and oldest living apostle in the church. His funeral was held on June 5, 2015. Perry was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, next to his first wife, Virginia and his daughter, Barbara.

Books

• Humanitarian Award for Service to Others (2014) – Catholic Community Services of Utah (L. Tom and Barbara Perry)