Stapley was born in Mesa, Arizona Territory. He graduated from Mesa Union High School in 1914.[1] As a youth, he rejected a chance at playing Major League Baseball so he could serve an LDS Church mission in the southern United States[2] and because he didn't want to play on Sunday,[3] the day Latter-day Saints observe as the Sabbath. Stapley remained physically active throughout his life, his favorite sport being golf.
Stapley was a missionary in the LDS Church's Southern States Mission from 1915 to 1917. After his mission, he was a U.S. marine in the First World War.
A letter sent by Stapley illustrates his views on black people before they were more widely assimilated into the LDS Church. Dated January 23, 1964 and specifically stating he was not speaking for the church or in his position as an apostle, the letter urged Michigan GovernorGeorge W. Romney to back away from certain positions for civil rights, and he called the bill that became the Civil Rights Act of 1964 "vicious legislation."[6] Romney is reported to have accelerated his engagement for civil rights shortly after he received the letter.
Death
Stapley delivered his last conference address in October 1977. The following April conference he was too ill to attend. Stapley died on August 19, 1978, in Salt Lake City, Utah. He suffered cardiac arrest at about noon while walking near his home. He was buried in the Mesa, Arizona cemetery.
At the time of his death, Stapley was the third apostle in line to the presidency of the church. His vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve was filled by James E. Faust.[7]
^"Mesa Commencement at Vance Auditorium". The Arizona Republican. 1914-05-15. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-01-15. The following is the list of graduates...Delbert Stapley...
