Russell M. Nelson

Russell Marion Nelson, a renowned heart surgeon who became the 17th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died September 27, 2025, in Salt Lake City. He was 101.

Born September 9, 1924, in Salt Lake City, Dr. Nelson rose from a gifted student to a physician who helped usher in modern cardiac surgery. He later led the Mormon Church from 2018 until his death.

A graduate of the University of Utah who did his residency at the University of Minnesota, he worked on early heart-lung bypass technology before serving in the U.S. Army Medical Corps during the Korean War. Having helped develop a new machine to aid with cardiopulmonary bypass, in November 1955, he performed Utah's first successful open-heart surgery, a milestone credited by university and local medical histories.

Called as an apostle in 1984, he served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for decades and became the body's president in 2015. Three years later, he became church president at age 93, later becoming the oldest president in the church's history. As president, he emphasized using the church's full name and announced an unprecedented global temple-building program.

His presidency featured many administrative and cultural changes, including reversing a policy that had restricted baptisms for children of LGBTQ+ parents and adjusting Sunday worship schedules. Nelson remained active publicly into 2025, including delivering remarks during the April general conference.

Before the beginning of his full-time church service, he held academic and clinical posts in Utah and beyond, served as president of the Society for Vascular Surgery, and mentored generations of surgeons.

He married Dantzel White in 1945. After her death in 2005, he married Wendy L. Watson in 2006. Survivors include his wife, Wendy; eight children; and a large posterity that, in recent counts, included 57 grandchildren and about 167 great-grandchildren. Two daughters, Emily and Wendy, preceded him in death.

Remembered as precise, warm, and unflagging, Nelson bridged a life in science with a ministry focused on faith in Jesus Christ. He leaves a global church and a medical legacy that transformed cardiac care.

By Legacy News Staff

(Image: George Frey/Getty Images)