OGDEN, Utah — At the dedication of a building named in his honor, President David O. McKay was praised by one of his successors for his integrity, love of learning and love of teaching.

Photo by Tom Smart

President Gordon B. Hinckley and his wife, Marjorie, greet Alan C. Ashton during dedication of David O. McKay Education Building at Weber State University. Brother Ashton, former president and chief executive officer of WordPerfect, is President McKay's grandson.

President Gordon B. Hinckley gave an address Nov. 13 at a ceremony naming Weber State University's education building in honor of the ninth president of the Church. The building houses graduate and undergraduate programs and will be used by some 800 students currently enrolled. Also speaking at the ceremony were Rodney H. Brady, former president of Weber State University and currently chief executive officer of Deseret Management Corporation, and Alan C. Ashton, one of President McKay's grandsons and former president and chief executive officer of WordPerfect.

In his address, President Hinckley said: "It is appropriate now that we name this beautiful and serviceable structure the David O. McKay Education Building. It does him honor. It rewards his love for this institution. It immortalizes his good name. It becomes an instant reminder to every student who attends this school of the importance of integrity, of the importance of honesty, of the importance of virtue, of the importance of work, of the importance of beauty."

He described his long acquaintance with the Church's ninth president that began in the 1930s.

"I knew and loved President David O. McKay, and was the beneficiary of his kindness. I have known his family and have so greatly appreciated them. I am pleased that [family members] LuJean and Edward and Robert and Emma Rae are here today. They are my friends.

"I have been with President McKay many places in the far reaches of the earth," said President Hinckley.

"On the occasion of his 82nd birthday at a hotel in Bern, Switzerland, his son, Dr. Edward McKay, and I were given the opportunity to toast the president. On that occasion as a young man, I said, 'It is a great span and a most eventful one from 1873 to 1955. It is a marvelous evolution from a boyhood in Huntsville to a citizen at home in every great city in the world. It is a most remarkable step from ignorance of Mormonism as it was regarded in the 19th century to an honored place among great men everywhere you go. Tonight we pay tribute and honor to you—a man loved by his people, a man respected by the world, a man honored by the Lord. To you we drink a toast, and say God bless and keep you with us.'

"That toast, given in 1955, almost 46 years ago, I could repeat today with this change, 'God bless and keep your memory ever green within us.' "

Within President David O. McKay's character "were unfolded physical and mental strength and energy, a love for young people and a great desire to see them make something of their lives, a robust appreciation for the humorous coupled with a stern sense of discipline, a dedication to learning and an appreciation for hard work," said President Hinckley.

"If there is anyone who might be called the patron saint of Weber State University it is David O. McKay. He first came here when it was the Weber Stake Academy, a very small and modest Church institution. He was not the first scholar, the first teacher, nor the first principal, nor the board member. But he left a mark and an imprint upon this institution such as no one else of whom I know has done."

President Hinckley described President McKay's life.

"From his boyhood days David O. McKay was marked as a leader and destined to become a citizen of the world. He grew up with the hard and rigorous regimen of a farm boy. He grew strong in body, chopping and hauling wood, in plowing and planting, in irrigating and harvesting. With all of that he had great love for learning. He attended this institution. He attended the University of Utah. He distinguished himself there. He majored in English Literature, as we might say today. He became acquainted with the great poets and writers of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. The cadence of their language filtered into his very soul and became a part of him for the remainder of his life.

"He received as an indicator a call to serve his Church in the British Isles in August of 1897. Arriving in Liverpool he was assigned to labor in Scotland. There he was assigned to labor in Stirling.

"Here he and his companion one day decided to visit the ancient castle. They had a day of fun and recreation, but without missionary work. On the way back to their digs they passed a house under construction. This story is known to everyone almost, but it is worth retelling.

"Over the front door was a stone with carving on its face. David McKay went up closer to read what it said. The words he read had an everlasting impact upon his life— 'What e're Thou Art, Act Well Thy Part.'

"That was his day of decision. That was the critical turning point of his life. He determined that wherever he served he would serve well."

After returning from his mission, he attended the University of Utah and afterward became principal of Weber Academy. His personal efforts to obtain funds sustained the school in very hard times.

"As we have heard, the school had outgrown its facilities," said President Hinckley. "He could not get money from the board of education. They simply did not have it. He raised that money with his faculty and had the glorious opportunity of seeing that building completed."

He stayed on as principal for two years after being called to the Quorum of the Twelve in 1906 at age 32.

"I don't know how he did it," said President Hinckley. "He was trying to cover two consuming responsibilities at the same time. During the week he was at the school. Weekends he was at a conference somewhere. He kept it up for two years and then in 1908 resigned as principal of the school. An article in the school paper stated:

" 'Fortunate, indeed, are the students who have been registered in his classes, for when he taught religion he gave truths he believed and had proved in practice.

" 'His lessons in literature were interpreted in the light of love and charity for all mankind, and his moral teachings had behind them all the force of a perfect moral life.' " (Highlights in the Life of President David O. McKay, by Jeanette Isabella McKay Morrell, p. 55.)