During his talk during the priesthood session last Saturday, President Faust joked about his own longevity, saying: “Please forgive me for saying that I myself feel at times that I am standing on the edge of eternity. At age 85, I am the third oldest of all the living General Authorities. I have not sought this honor. I have just lived for it.”

President Faust noted in his talk that only thirteen apostles have served longer than President Hinckley. As might be expected, that group of thirteen is made up primarily of men who served as president of the church. But there a few on the list who did not. David O. McKay served the longest of any modern church leader, 63 years and 9 months. (I doubt anyone will ever pass him, given the fact that church leaders are not called in their 20s or 30s any longer.) Heber J. Grant and Joseph Fielding Smith both served for more than 62 years. Wilford Woodruff served for 59 years and five months, while Lorenzo Snow and Joseph F. Smith served for more than 52 years.

Franklin D. Richards is next on the list, breaking the string of church presidents. He served for nearly 51 years, but he did not manage to outlive his older colleague, Lorenzo Snow, who was ordained the same day. Ezra Taft Benson, John Taylor, and George Albert Smith round out the top ten. Orson Pratt, Rudger Clawson, and George F. Richards represent the final three in the group of thirteen. President Hinckley is next with 44 years of service (he passed Orson Hyde a few months ago).

Few expected another recent leader, Spencer W. Kimball, to live long enough to serve as president of the church. In March 1972, Elder Kimball, feeling resigned to his declining health, told his cardiologist that he expected to live only a few more months. The cardiologist agreed with him.

Elder Kimball spoke in fatalistic terms during a meeting about that time with his doctors and the First Presidency, commenting, “I am an old man and ready to die. It is well for a younger man to come to the Quorum and do the work I can no longer do.” President Lee, who was serving as counselor to Joseph Fielding Smith, stood up and pounded a desk with his fist, crying, “Spencer, you have been called! You are not to die! You are to do everything you need to do in order to care for yourself and continue to live!”

President Kimball agreed to undergo risky heart surgery in early April 1972. His chances of survival were no more than 50-50, so he arranged his finances in advance. Dr. Russell M. Nelson performed the surgery. The procedure went perfectly, and Elder Kimball eventually resumed his ministry, anticipating that he might serve a few more years.

Ten weeks later, President Smith died, and President Lee, only seventy-three, stepped in to lead the church. It was widely expected that he would serve for a lengthy period. Eighteen months later, however, he suddenly went into cardiac arrest and died (E. Kimball, Lengthen Your Stride, 3-5).

President Kimball, then almost seventy-nine, assumed leadership of the church. His colleagues and others harbored low expectations for his longevity, knowing his medical history (Ibid., 8 ). Still, he was an active and energetic leader from 1974 to 1979.

After that point, his health began to decline in a gradual fashion. He called President Hinckley as a third counselor in the summer of 1981 due to the health problems affecting the three First Presidency members (Ibid., 397-98). During one meeting around that time Presidency Hinckley turned to President Kimball for any comments he wished to make. President Kimball simply said, “I’d like to be released” (Ibid., 402-03). Edward Kimball notes in his biography of his father that there was no precedent for such a move. Even so, President Hinckley largely carried the duties of the First Presidency by himself during President Kimball’s final years.