President Nelson was set apart as the 17th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at age 93.
President Nelson served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for 34 years before becoming Prophet.
President Nelson was born in Salt Lake City to Marion C. and Edna Anderson Nelson on September 9, 1924.
President Nelson was baptized at age 16. During his youth, President Nelsons parents had not been active in the Church but they never discouraged his participation in Church.
President Nelson graduated first in his class from medical school at age 22. He receiving doctoral degrees from the University of Utah, University of Minnesota, and advanced work in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.
He helped pioneer the development of the artificial heart-lung machine, a means of supporting a patient’s circulation during open heart surgery.
“In other words,” President Nelson said, “you don’t wish for a blessing; you work for a blessing and you make it possible. I often taught my team with whom I was working: This patient has been praying for success, and he’s got a family praying for success. All of those prayers won’t do a bit of good if you make a single mistake, so you’ve got to do your job perfectly in order for this patient to have a possibility of having the blessing they seek.”
President Nelson’s wife Danztel died on February 12, 2005. They were married almost 60 years when she passed away.
The Nelson posterity of 10 children and 57 grandchildren now includes 167 great-grandchildren.
In 2006, President Nelson married Wendy L. Watson. President Nelson’s son, Russell Nelson Jr., said the family saw “an immediate change” in President Nelson’s countenance. “The sadness was gone and it did us all good to see that happiness back.”
A man of perfect pitch that plays the organ during quorum meetings, President Nelson often addresses Latter-day Saints in their native tongues and is “the best writer in the Quorum of the Twelve,” said President Oaks.
There were many changed made to the Church during the leadership of Russell M. Nelson. When speaking of these changes Elder Holland said: “To paraphrase Ralph Waldo Emerson, the most memorable moments in life are those in which we feel the rush of revelation,” near the conclusion of the April 2018 general conference, in which the prophet introduced several notable changes. “President Nelson, I don’t know how many more ‘rushes’ we can handle this weekend. Some of us have weak hearts. But as I think about it, you can take care of that too. What a prophet!”
Russell M. Nelson passed away on September 27, 2025. He was 101 years old, and died of natural cuases.
“He was just the gentlest and sweetest person you could ever hope to associate with.” —President Dallin H. Oaks.
“I’ve heard surgeons that he trained comment on how effective he was at teaching them to be surgeons,” President Oaks said. “And I’ve seen him as the master teacher teach the servants of the Lord in the same way.”
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