SALT LAKE CITY — Three members of the First Quorum of the Seventy were granted emeritus status today and released from full-time service as General Authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For their years of service to the Church, Elder Angel Abrea, Elder William R. Bradford and Elder Cree-L Kofford received expressions of gratitude from Latter-day Saints gathered in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City and in meetinghouses throughout the world.
Released as members of the Second Quorum of the Seventy and given a vote of thanks for their service as General Authorities of the Church were Elder Duane B. Gerrard, Elder J. Kent Jolley and Elder D. Lee Tobler.
The first General Authority from Argentina, Elder Angel Abrea was sustained to the First Quorum of the Seventy in 1981. Since that time, his assignments have included work for the Church’s temple and missionary departments, executive administrator for Peru and Bolivia, and president of the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple. He was president of the Mexico North Area and served in area presidencies in Mexico, Central America, South America North, Utah South, North America Southwest, and the Philippines. Prior to his call to full-time Church service, Elder Abrea worked as a CPA in Buenos Aires.
Elder William R. Bradford was named a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy in 1975 while serving as president of the Chile Santiago Mission. During his long tenure as a General Authority, Elder Bradford has served as area president of the Asia, Utah North, South America North, North America Central and Central America areas and most recently as a counselor in the North America Northwest area presidency. Before his service as a General Authority, he worked in agriculture, owning a company that grew and shipped fruit in Texas, Mexico and Central America.
Elder Cree-L Kofford was called as a General Authority in April 1991, serving first as a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy and later sustained to the First Quorum of the Seventy in 1994. Most recently president of the Utah North area of the Church, Elder Kofford served as president of the Asia and North America Northeast areas and in area presidencies in North America West, the Pacific, and North America Southwest. Prior to his call as a General Authority, he served as a regional representative, president of the New York New York Mission, stake president and bishop. Before his call to serve the Church full time, Elder Kofford was an attorney, working as managing partner in a law firm.
Elder Duane B. Gerrard has served as a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy since April 1997. His most recent assignment was as a counselor in the presidency of the North America West area. He previously served as president and as a counselor in the Philippines area presidency, providing ecclesiastical supervision and training for leaders in that country. Elder Gerrard is a former Area Authority Seventy, regional representative, stake president, high councilor and bishop. He is a retired pilot and former systems manager of flight safety for Delta Airlines.
Elder J. Kent Jolley was sustained as a member of the Church’s Second Quorum of the Seventy in April 1997. Since that time he has served as president of the Brazil South Area and as a counselor in the North America East area presidency. Prior to his call as a General Authority he served the Church as a mission president, stake president’s counselor, stake high councilor and bishop. Professionally he worked as an attorney, county prosecuting attorney and real estate developer.
Elder D. Lee Tobler has been a member of the Church’s Second Quorum of the Seventy since April 1998. He has served as a member of the Europe West and the North America Northwest area presidencies. Most recently he was president of the Europe Central area. Elder Tobler had previously served the Church as an Area Authority Seventy, stake president, stake president’s counselor, and bishop. At the time of his call to full time Church service, he was executive vice president, chief financial officer, and a member of the board of directors of the BF Goodrich Company.
Four new Area Authority Seventies whose callings had been previously announced were sustained at the conference: José A. Castro, 37, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; William K. Jackson, 47, New Delhi, India; Paul V. Johnson, 49, Sandy, Utah; and Jay L. Sitterud, 56, Highland, Utah.
Released from part-time service as Area Authority Seventies were: Henry F. Acebedo, Blair S. Bennett, Craig A. Bullock, Raimondo Castellani, Christopher N. Chukwurah, Lawrence R. Fuller, Rubén G. Gápiz, Harvey L. Gardner, Francisco G. Giménez, John A. Grinceri, Shih An Liang, Emmanuel O. Opare Sr., Alain A. Petion, Claudio D. Signorelli, R. Lloyd Smith, Tomás Valdés and Chung Hei (Patrick) Wong.
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