New temple presidents
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The following have been called to serve as temple presidents and matrons. They will begin their service about Nov. 1. They have been called to a three-year term of service.
A list of all temple presidents and their respective assignments was published in the Church News on Aug. 11, 2007.
Merrill Joseph Bateman, 71, Rock Canyon Ward, Provo Utah Edgemont South Stake; Provo Utah Temple, succeeding President Carl William Bacon. President Bateman's wife, Marilyn Scholes Bateman, will serve as temple matron. A member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, he has served in the Presidency of the Seventy, as president of Brigham Young University, Presiding Bishop of the Church, regional representative, stake president and bishop. He is former owner of Commodity Information Inc. and BJO Capital Management Inc. He was born in Lehi, Utah, to Joseph Frederic and Belva Smith Bateman.
Sister Bateman, a visiting teacher, has served in a stake Relief Society presidency, and as stake Young Women president and temple ordinance worker. She was born in Logan, Utah, to Harold Burnham Scholes and Orale Wayman Scholes Carver.
Calixto Cruz Maldonado, 68, San Marcos 2nd Ward, Tula Mexico Stake; Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico Temple, succeeding President Wilbur Thayne Wagner. President Cruz's wife, Margarita Montoya Gutierrez de Cruz, will serve as temple matron. He has previously served as a counselor in the Mexico City Mexico Temple presidency, district president, bishop, high councilor, temple ordinance worker and missionary. A retired chemist with the Federal Commission of Electricity in Mexico, he was born in San Marcos, Hidalgo, Mexico, to Pedro Cruz Romero and Juana Maldonado Trejo de Cruz.
Sister Cruz, a visiting teaching coordinator and single adult teacher, has served as an assistant to the matron of the Mexico City Mexico Temple, ward Relief Society president and counselor, ward Primary president, temple missionary, temple ordinance worker and seminary teacher. She was born in San Marcos, Hidalgo, Mexico, to Daniel Montoya Gutierrez and Margarita Gutierrez Sanchez de Montoya.
Robert Frank Orton, 71, Bonneville 1st Ward, Salt Lake Bonneville Stake; St. George Utah Temple, succeeding President Harold Harrison Hiskey. President Orton's wife, Joy Eveline Orton, will serve as temple matron. A member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy, he has served as president of the Romania Bucharest Mission, district president, branch president, stake and ward Young Men president and high priests group leader. Formerly president of the Utah Trial Lawyers Association and Honorary Consul for the Government of Romania to the State of Utah, he was born in Reno, Nev., to H. Frank and Gwen Riggs Orton.
Sister Orton, a ward Relief Society secretary, served with her husband while he presided over the Romania Bucharest Mission, and as a counselor in a stake Primary presidency, ward Primary president, stake cultural arts specialist and Relief Society teacher. She was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Carl Bernard and Mildred Eveline Winder Dahlberg.
Wayne Skeen Peterson, 67, Cottonwood 13th Ward, Salt Lake Cottonwood Stake; Nauvoo Illinois Temple, succeeding President David Bitner Wirthlin. President Peterson's wife, Joan Alice Jensen Peterson, will serve as temple matron. A member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy, he has served as president of the California Oakland Mission, regional representative, stake president, high councilor and bishop. A retired land developer and owner of Homeland Properties, he was born in Ogden, Utah, to Rulon Powell and Naomi Skeen Peterson.
Sister Peterson, a Relief Society teacher, served with her husband while he presided over the California Oakland Mission, and has served as a ward and stake Relief Society president and ward Primary president. She was born in Logan, Utah, to Ronald Victor and Delores Schiess Jensen.
Ralph Conrad Schultz, 69, Ensign 2nd Ward, Salt Lake Ensign Stake; Portland Oregon Temple, succeeding President Nicholas Peery Collins. President Schultz's wife, Carolyn Lake Schultz, will serve as temple matron. A member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy, he has served as president of the Colorado Denver South Mission, stake president, bishop, stake Young Men president, stake Sunday School president and high councilor. A retired attorney, he was born in North Bend, Ore., to Ralph Conrad and Dorothy Pearl Bushong Schultz.
Sister Schultz, a ward family record extraction specialist, served with her husband as he presided over the Colorado Denver South Mission, and served as stake Relief Society president, stake and ward Young Women president, ward Primary president and temple ordinance worker. She was born in Eugene, Ore., to Ralph Ball and Helen Florence McDonough Lake.
Von Loyd Sorensen, 72, Wells Ward, Elko Nevada East Stake; Guadalajara Mexico Temple, succeeding President Robert Savage Gabbitas. President Sorensen's wife, Marian Potter Sorensen, will serve as temple matron. He has served in the Mexico Guadalajara Mission presidency, as the Chile Area welfare director, bishop, branch president and high priests group leader. The retired owner/manager of Sorensen Livestock Inc., he was born in Hurricane, Utah, to Loyd and Alta Hinton Sorensen.
Sister Sorensen has served as stake and ward Primary president, ward Young Women president and as a Relief Society, Primary and seminary teacher. She was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Emerson Henry and Ruth Lillian Potter.
