Pres. Hinckley enjoys birthday with family at childhood farm
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Returning to the farm where he grew up on the east side of Salt Lake City, President Gordon B. Hinckley topped off a typically busy day on his 82nd birthday June 23.
President Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency, and his wife, Marjorie P. Hinckley, gathered with about 25 family members for a barbecue on the back lawn at the home where one of their daughters, Jane Dudley, now resides with her family."This is where Dad grew up, and where my brothers, sisters and I were raised," Sister Dudley said. "Dad still has an orchard beside our house; he still prunes the trees and plants new ones. He likes to walk among the trees to check on how they're doing, and he enjoys working in a garden he has out here.
"He loves to come home on his birthday and have a party, and we love to be together. We like to laugh, and we have a wonderful time. Our whole family looks for any excuse to get together."
Sister Dudley said President Hinckley's birthday was made more special this year because it doubled as a welcome home party for one of his grandsons, Jeff Barnes, who just returned from a mission to Poland.
Earlier in the day on his birthday, President Hinckley addressed new mission presidents and their wives at a seminar in the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. The new mission presidents sang "Happy Birthday," to which he responded, "I was born in 1910 so I am 82 years of age. I can scarcely believe it - I don't feel it. I have been blessed by the Lord in a remarkable way, and I am profoundly grateful." (Please see related story on page 4.)
That afternoon, President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency, and members of the office staff and others who work with President Hinckley, held a small social in the office to note the birthday.
President Hinckley was born June 23, 1910, in Salt Lake City, a son of Bryant S. and Ada Bitner Hinckley.
