"A spiritual giant has been laid to rest."

President Marion G. Romney was paid this succint tribute by his long-time associate and friend, President Ezra Taft Benson, at funeral services May 23 in the Salt Lake Tabernacle honoring the man who served as a General Authority for nearly five decades.Thousands gathered on a late spring day to honor President Romney, whose callings as an Assistant to the Twelve, member of the Council of the Twelve and counselor in the First Presidency, extended from the early days of World War II to an era where the Church's scope has become truly international. President Romney passed away at his home May 20, at age 90 after a lengthy illness.

Joining President Benson as speakers honoring the Church leader were President Gordon B. Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency; Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Council of the Twelve; and Elder F. Burton Howard of the First Quorum of the Seventy. President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency, who conducted the services, said, "President Romney's lifetime of service reached across borders and into the hearts and homes of people throughout the world."

Elders Russell M. Nelson and Neal A. Maxwell of the Council of the Twelve offered prayers. Richard J. Romney, President Romney's son, led a family prayer at the mortuary. Another son, George J. Romney, dedicated the gravesite after the services. Music was provided by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

President Romney was fondly remembered by speakers as a devoted student and advocate of the Book of Mormon; as a key figure in the starting and developing of the Church welfare program; as a man of unusual mental capacity and unwavering attachment to his chosen course, yet possessor of a keen sense of humor; and as one who communicated with Deity is such a way that President Benson said of him, "You have never heard a man pray until you have heard President Romney pray."

The prophet's emotions frequently overflowed as he talked of the man with whom he had served for 45 years. In fact, President Benson noted that his relationship with President Romney stretched back to college days, when they competed against each other in basketball. He played for Ricks College, and I for the Oneida Stake Academy," recalled President Benson.

He then described President Romney as "one of the great theologians of the Church," and told of a Patriarchal blessing the long-time Church leader received from his grandfather promising that he would be "mighty in expounding the scriptures."

Of President Romney's well-know work in welfare, President Benson said he "has deservedly been called in the Church, 'Mr. Welfare.' He, with [former Church President] Harold B. Lee, was the first to be called to establish the welfare program as it is known today. . . .

"To that assignment," President Benson continued, "he brought two remarkable traits. First, he had a philosophy that one should work for what he receives. Second, he had a natural compassion and sympathy for those who have met with misfortune."

He quoted President Spencer W. Kimball, who said of President Romney, "All is holy where this man kneels." His prayers, President Benson continued, "were so earnest and his appeals so sincere, none could doubt that the Lord was near to him."

President Benson then talked of a particular love he shares with President Romney - the Book of Mormon. "President Romney loved the Book of Mormon. . . . I personally believe that the success of President Romney is rooted in his diligent study and living of the precepts set forth in that sacred volume of scripture."

President Hinckley, who served with President Romney in the Council fo the Twelve and as a fellow counselor in the First Presidency oover a 30-year period, remembered him as one who could not be moved from his determined course. But, he added, "also with that toughness, one of the most humorous men I ever knew."

He remembered President Romney as a man of intelligence. "He had a remarkable power of concentration as he read and studied," he said. "He was gifted with a rare capacity for scholarship."

Also, he continued, "He similarly studied the gospel. No one among his brethren was an abler student of the Book of Mormon. He read it scores of times. He read it deliberately, carefully; he pondered it, and prayed over it."

As did President Benson, President Hinckley remembered his colleague's prayers. "Brother Romney's prayers were simple yet wonderfully profound. . . . There was no element of sophistication. There was no guile. There was no pretense. . . . Rather, there was conversation. He spoke with God his Eternal Father as if he were facing a friend, talking with him ia a conversation, expressing his feelings and his needs."

He then described President Romney's love for the poor, feelings cultivated through his own adversity-filled younger years. "The poor whom he understood and loved, the poor of the entire Church," President Hinckley declared, "were the beneficiaries of his restless and devoted labors. We all learned to love the poor because of the love we saw in him."

President Romney's style of leadership, President Hinckley said, was unique. "He spoke quietly, methodically, reasoning as he went along. He always knew his objective. He could not be turned from it. He quietly plowed his furrow, and when others of us saw it, we noted that it was straight because he had kept his eye on his goal."

Elder Packer spoke with great emotion and affection for his former president of the Council of the Twelve in a story-filled tribute.

He recalled: "He [President Romney] said on one occasion, 'When the issues are determined, of this we may be sure, to make the proper choice on any issue is of far more importance to us personally than is the immediate outcome of the issue upon which we make the decision. The choices we make will affect the scope of our agency in the future. As of now, we have the right decision. What we have tomorrow will depend on what we decide today.'"

Elder Packer shared a personal experience he had with President Romney: "Not too long after a long meeting. It was late, and we both were very tired and said nothing to one another. As we were driving up Fourth South, he suddenly turned to me and said, with some enthusiasm: 'Boyd, when I think that in a few years, 25 at the outside, I will be on the other side with Ida, that we will be together and the frailties we know here will be gone and that we will not be separated again, I am filled with such joy that I can hardly contain myself.'

"And so it is," Elder Packer continued, "that our beloved leader has gone through the veil, and that reunion has taken place."

He concluded with a poignant story from President Romney's final days: "Just a day or two before he passed away, when he had been enfeebled with age and really not able to say a word for many weeks, he was stirred by some major physical change in his constitution and by other influences as well, and for the first time in weeks he spoke, saying very audibly over and over again, 'Joseph, Joseph.'

"There is no Joseph in the Romney family, and I can see this great, venerable leader of ours, this man of great mind and powerful spirit, now rejoicing in the presence of those who have gone before in the leadership of this Church and the kingdom of God."

Elder Howard, who worked closely with President romney over a period of of more than 25 years and has written a soon-to-be-published biography on the Church leader, provided other glimpses into his life and personality.

"He was a believer," said Elder Howard. "His soul early on was touched by the Holy Spirit to the degree that he found it impossible to be indifferent to the gospel of Jesus Christ."

Elder Howard shared the feelings of a mission president whose mission had been visited by President Romney in 1969. President Romney, Elder Howard quoted the mission president, was a kind, gracious and considerate man who studied the scriptures in almost every spare moment, who wrote his wife every day, who liked simple things and bore a strong testimony wherever he spoke.

President Romney, Elder Howard said, was a counselor in the First Presidency when President Kimball urged members of the Church to plant gardens. Brother Romney went home and "dug up more of the lawn next to his garage," Elder Howard recalled, "telling Ida that he wanted to be the first one in the neighborhood to do what the prophet had asked him to do."

Elder Howard then closed with the words of President Romney's own testimony, shared with fellow members of the Twelve at a Thursday morning meeting some years ago:

"I know that this is God's work. I know that Jesus is my Redeemer. I know it with as much certainty as I shall know it when I meet Him. I know as well as Joseph Smith knew, that Jesus and the Father appeared to him. I have no desire in life which supersedes my desire to magnify my calling. . . ."

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Highlights in life of President Romney

Sept. 19, 1897 - Born in Colonia Juarez, Mexico.

1912 - Responsible for family in exodus to El Paso, Texas.

1920 - Graduated from Ricks College.

1920-23 - Filled mission to Australia.

Sept. 12, 1924 - Married Ida Jensen in Salt Lake Temple.

1926 - Graduated from University of Utah.

1930-41 - Became county and district prosecuting attorney.

1935 - Called as bishop of 33rd Ward; involved in welfare.

1935 - Elected to one term in Utah State Legislature.

1938 - Called as president of Bonneville Stake.

April 6, 1941 - Sustained as first Assistant to the Twelve.

Oct. 4, 1951 - Sustained to the Council of the Twelve.

July 7, 1972 - Sustained as second counselor to President Harold B. Lee.

Dec. 30, 1973 - Sustained as second counselor to President Spencer W. Kimball.

Dec. 2, 1982 - Sustained as first counselor to President Spencer W. Kimball.

Nov. 10, 1985 - Became president of the Council of the Twelve.