Farewell, Faust.

James E. Faust 1920-2007

James E. Faust, Second Counselor in the First Presidency of the LDS church (Mormons), passed quietly away early yesterday morning. This is significant to me as there was never a time in my life that he wasn't a high-ranking leader in my church. His conference talks were always gentle yet firm, and sparkled with the luster of truth.

From the article,

"Jim Faust was a great warrior for truth and goodness, who knew no shortcuts," said LDS Apostle M. Russell Ballard on Friday. "He was a great example to us all."

And,

Faust's life was best understood by "his adherence to principles and the priority assigned to his family that permeated his being," wrote the late Apostle Neal A. Maxwell in a 1995 biographical essay in the church's monthly magazine, The Ensign, after Faust's call to the church's governing First Presidency.

Maxwell related how Faust and his family had a special family home evening in 1972 when he was first called as a general authority in which he told his children that he could not succeed as a general authority unless he was a good father.

A similar family meeting took place in the Faust home in 1995 when he was called to the First Presidency, although this one involved 22 grandchildren, too.

"Accompanying his fixed priorities is immense integrity," Maxwell wrote. "Those who know him understand that President Faust will not yield to mere pressure, but he can be persuaded by principles."