Frederick Niels Larsen
Frederick Niels Larsen - Previous President of the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
President of the High Priesthood/Prophet
April 6, 2002 (2002-04-06) – April 26, 2019 (2019-04-26)
PredecessorW. Wallace Smith
SuccessorTerry W. Patience
President of the High Priests Quorum
April 8, 2001 (2001-04-08) – April 6, 2002 (2002-04-06)
Personal details
Born(1932-01-15)January 15, 1932
Kansas City, Missouri, United States
DiedApril 26, 2019(2019-04-26) (aged 87)
Independence, Missouri, United States
Alma materGraceland College
Spouse(s)Mary Louise Malott
Children5
ParentsEdward J. Larsen
Lois A. Smith

Frederick Niels Larsen (January 15, 1932 – April 26, 2019) was the President of the High Priesthood of the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the great grandson of Joseph Smith III.[1][2]

Early life

Frederick Niels Larsen was born January 15, 1932, in the house occupied by his grandfather, Frederick M. Smith. The house in Kansas City, Missouri was the home of his parents Edward J. Larsen, a Danish immigrant and Lois A. (Smith) Larsen, daughter of the President/Prophet. The family moved to a 20-acre farm in East Independence in 1937.

Education

Larsen attended eight years at the DeKalb grade school located adjacent to the front yard of the farm home. After one year at the Independence Junior High School and one year at the William Chrisman High School the family moved to Santa Ana, California where Larsen attended Garden Grove Union High School, graduating in 1950.[citation needed]

Larsen attended Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa and the University of Kansas City, Missouri. He concentrated his interests in the field of the Physical Sciences and graduated in 1959 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry.[3]

Work experience

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While attending college he worked in the analytical laboratories of the Lake City Arsenal, the Great Lakes Pipeline Co., Chemagro Corporation, and the Bendix Corporation. He retired from Bendix (now Honeywell Corp.) in 1994 after 35 years of service. Larsen served as a consultant in the field of Polymer Science at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory in Livermore, California in 1975 and 1976. After “retirement” he joined his brother Daniel in a capital venture company, Infinity Inc., and assisted in building wastewater treatment plants in Chanute, Kansas and Cheyenne, Wyoming. Larsen also worked with the City of Independence Police Department’s Crime Scene Unit, where as a Forensic Chemist for at least 5 years he analyzed illicit drugs and methamphetamine labs for the City and the Jackson County Drug Task Force.[3]

Personal life

Larsen married Mary Louise Malott and they had five children, Larry, Linda, Luann, Brian, and Stephen, and ten grandchildren. [3]

Latter Day Saint affiliations

Larsen grew up as a member of Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now known as the Community of Christ).[4][5] Prior to 1996[6] the RLDS church followed the doctrine of Lineal succession, where certain key church positions, such as President of the Church and the Presiding Patriarch, were held by right of lineal inheritance.

As a descendant of Joseph Smith, Larsen had a close association with those leaders in the RLDS Church. He was blessed as a baby and confirmed a member of the RLDS church by his grandfather, Frederick M. Smith; ordained to the office of Priest in 1956 by Israel A. Smith, his great uncle; ordained to the office of Elder by W. Wallace Smith, his great uncle and he and Mary received their Patriarchal Blessings by Elbert A. Smith, a second cousin. Larsen would also serve as the minister of the East Alton and Beacon Heights RLDS branches in Independence.

However, in 1984 he ended his active membership in the RLDS Church. He would begin to attend the Blue Springs Restoration branch and the Conference of Restoration Elders in 1996. The Restoration Branches formed in the 1980s by members of the RLDS church in a reaction against the events of the RLDS 1984 world conference.[7]

Larsen was one of the twelve signers of the “Proclamation and Invitation to the Faithful” in May 1999, which help lead to the creation of the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on April 6, 2000.

On April 8, 2001, Larsen was made a High Priest and set apart as President of the High Priests Quorum of the Remnant Church. In April 2002, Larsen, as a descendant of Joseph Smith, was chosen to become the President of the High Priesthood and sustained as the President of the Church.

Death and succession

Larsen died on April 26, 2019. Following his death, Terry W. Patience became President of the High Priesthood/Prophet/President.[8]

References

  1. ^ "First Presidency Biographies", TheRemnantChurch.com, Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, archived from the original on 2014-11-13, retrieved 2012-10-07
  2. ^ "Frederick Niels "Fred" Larsen Obituary (1932 - 2019) the Examiner". Legacy.com.
  3. ^ a b c "Frederick N. Larsen". The Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
  4. ^ Questions and Answers on Church Name Change
  5. ^ W. Wallace, Smith. "Doctrine and Covenants: Appendix F". Doctrine and Covenants of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Independent RLDS / Restoration Branches. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  6. ^ "Our History - W. Grant McMurray". Community of Christ. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
  7. ^ Hunter, Preston (April 23, 2007), Independent Restoration Branches, Research supported by East Haven University, Adherents.com, archived from the original on October 16, 2003, retrieved April 5, 2010((citation)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ^ "The Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - Presidency". Retrieved 9 July 2019.
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