Elder David B. Haight, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, passed away at 4:15 this morning of causes incident to age. Family members were with him at his home at the time of his passing.
At 97, he was the oldest living apostle. His death comes just 10 days after the passing of Elder Neal A. Maxwell.
Elder David B. Haight was named to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 8 January 1976. Elder Haight had served as an assistant to the Twelve since 6 April 1970.
A noted civic and business leader in California prior to assuming full-time Church responsibilities, Elder Haight served as mayor of Palo Alto, California, from 1959 to 1963. He resigned as mayor in order to accept an appointment as president of the Scottish Mission.
While in the Palo Alto area, Elder Haight was president of the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Merchants Association, a director of the Stanford Area Boy Scout Council and a member of the board of directors of the Red Cross and annual fund chairman. He was also a member of the Rotary Club, director of the Stanford-Palo Alto Hospital and the Channing House Retirement Center and a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Council of Mayors.
His business activities included executive positions with the ZCMI department store in Salt Lake City, district and regional manager in California and Chicago for Montgomery Ward and Company and president of a retail organization in Palo Alto, California. After returning from Scotland, he served as assistant to the president of Brigham Young University.
During World War II he served as a commander in the United States Navy, receiving a special citation from Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Elder Haight served as a member of the Church Board of Education. He was a member of the boards of trustees of Brigham Young University, BYU–Hawaii, BYU–Idaho and LDS Business College. He had been a director of Bonneville International Corporation, First Security Bank, Huntsman Chemical Corporation and Deseret Management Corporation.
Other Church service included callings as a regional representative, president of the Scottish Mission, member of the Priesthood Missionary Committee, president of the Palo Alto California Stake, stake high councilor and bishop's counselor.
David Bruce Haight was born on 2 September 1906, in Oakley, Idaho, a son of Hector C. and Clara Tuttle Haight. His father died when he was 9 years of age, and he was reared primarily by his mother and his older brothers and sisters.
After attending Oakley High School and Albion State Normal School in Idaho, Elder Haight completed his schooling at Utah State University in Logan, Utah.
In 1978 Elder Haight received the "Distinguished Alumnus Award" from Utah State University for his service to the university. On 11 July 1991, the David B. Haight Alumni Center was dedicated on the Utah State University campus. He received an honorary doctorate degree from Brigham Young University in August 1998.
He married Ruby Olson of Salt Lake City on 4 September 1930 in the Salt Lake Temple. Together, they delighted in their three children, 18 grandchildren and 78 great-grandchildren.