Joseph B. Wirthlin

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This article is about the Latter-day Saint Apostle Joseph B. Wirthlin. For the Latter-day Saint Presiding Bishop, see Joseph L. Wirthlin.

Joseph B. Wirthlin

Joseph Bitner Wirthlin (born June 11, 1917 in Salt Lake City, Utah) was sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on October 4, 1986, and ordained an Apostle on October 9, 1986, following the death of Church President Spencer W. Kimball.

Wirthlin is the son of Joseph L. Wirthlin, who was also a Church General Authority. He is also a half first cousin of current Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, as their mothers were daughters of Breneman Barr Bitner by different wives; the two cousins grew up in the same LDS congregation. Wirthlin played football as a running back for the University of Utah. His call to the Quorum of the Twelve came very shortly after his call to serve in the presidency of the Seventy. Wirthlin became a General Authority of the Church in 1975, when he was called to serve as an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He was the last individual called as an Assistant to the Twelve before the position was abolished in 1976.

As a young man, Wirthlin seved as a missionary to a mission in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland at the outbreak of World War II. Before his call as a General Authority, he was a prominent business leader in Salt Lake City. He was also president of a trade association in Utah.

Wirthlin currently serves as a member of the Church Board of Education that governs the Church Educational System. He married Elisa Young Rogers on May 26, 1941, in the Salt Lake Temple. She died in August 2006 of causes incident to age.