Florence Smith Jacobsen (April 7, 1913 – March 5, 2017) was an American religious leader associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who served as the sixth General President of the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association (YWMIA) from 1961 to 1972.
Harold I. Hansen (1914-1992) was a major theatre professor at Brigham Young University (BYU) and the director of the Hill Cumorah Pageant from 1937 to 1977, excluding the years during World War II in which it was not held.
Hansen was born in Logan, Utah. Hansen did his undergraduate education at Utah State University. He then received an offer of a graduate assistantship at the University of Idaho to continue studies in drama, but at the urging of David O. McKay he accepted the call he had already received to serve in the Eastern States Mission. Hansen had very much hoped to serve in Denmark. It was while a missionary in the Eastern States mission that Hansen first served as director of the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Although pageants had been produced at the Hill Cumorah the previous two years, 1937 was the first year that H. Wayne Driggs' script, which would be the basis of the pageant until 1987, was used. Thus as the first director Hansen essentially had to figure out the ways to move from the script to actual production that would remain the main outline of the production for the next half-century, or ten years beyond his retirement as director.
It was also there that he met Betty Kotter, also serving as a missionary in the mission, who he later married. They were actually married at the flagpole on the Hill Cumorah on July 16, 1940, just before a production of the Hill Cumorah Pageant, and about a year after Hansen had finished his mission. Harold would later claim this was where he and Betty first met, but she claimed the story he told of their first encounter was largely made up. They were sealed in the Logan Temple the following month.
After his mission Hansen earned a master's degree in drama at Iowa State University. His thesis was on the history of drama as supported by religious institutions in the United States. From 1941 to 1942 Hansen was a seminary and institute instructor with the Church Educational System. He then performed at The Cleveland Play House until 1945 when he joined the faculty of Michigan State University. He then returned to Utah State University where he joined the Drama faculty and earned a Ph.D. in 1949 with the subject of his doctoral dissertation being a history of Mormon Theatre. In 1952 Hansen was recruited by Brigham Young University president Ernest L. Wilkinson to replace T. Earl Pardoe as head of the Drama department. From his start at BYU Hansen was producing cutting edge shows. During his first season he managed to perform both The Glass Menagerie and Death of a Salesman. The reason this was exceptional is that at the time both shows were still running on broadway. In many ways the biggest BYU production done by Hansen was Sand in their Shoes, a musical about the Mormon Pioneers with text by Don Oscarson and music by Crawford Gates.
While head of the BYU Theatre Department Hansen oversaw the implementation of graduate studies in 1960 and the move to suitable space in the Harris Fine Arts Center in 1965. Hansen remained the head of the BYU Theatre Department until 1979.
While working at BYU Hansen was also involved as the co-owner and co-director with Lael Woodbury of the Ledges Theatre in Grand Ledge, Michigan from 1960 to 1967. They had previously from 1947 to 1952 run the Proscenium Players, also in Grand Ledge, from 1947 to 1952. From the end of World War II until 1977 Hansen had also served as director of the Hill Cumorah Pageant. In 1977 Hansen was replaced as director of the Hill Cumorah Pageant by Jack Paul Sederholm, who had studied at BYU and was then chair of the communications art department at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. Sederholm had served for 12 years previously as Hansen's chief assistant.In 1967 BYU Press published a book authored by Hansen with the same title as his doctoral dissertation.Hansen and his wife Betty were the parents of four daughters.
The Harris Fine Arts Center has a rehearsal hall named for Hansen.
Kendall Day Garff (July 18, 1906 – March 14, 1997) was a Utah businessman who owned several automobile dealerships along the Wasatch Front.
Bernard Park Brockbank, Sr. (May 24, 1909 – October 11, 2000) was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1962 to his death. Brockbank was an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve from 1962 to 1976 and a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy from 1976 to 1980. One of his major contributions was heading the Mormon Pavilion at the New York World's Fair in 1964 and 1965.
Elizabeth Fetzer Bates (March 30, 1909 – November 20, 1999) was an American Latter-day Saint musician, most noted for being the author of the children's songs "Book of Mormon Stories" and "Pioneer Children Sang As They Walked".
Wendell Jeremy Ashton (October 13, 1912 – August 31, 1995) was an American journalist and author. He was a publisher of the Deseret News and director of the Public Communications Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was the elder brother of church apostle Marvin J. Ashton.
Stanley Smith Stevens (November 4, 1906 – January 18, 1973) was an American psychologist who founded Harvard's Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory, studying psychoacoustics, and he is credited with the introduction of Stevens's power law. Stevens authored a milestone textbook, the 1400+ page Handbook of Experimental Psychology (1951). He was also one of the founding organizers of the Psychonomic Society. In 1946 he introduced a theory of levels of measurement widely used by scientists but whose use in some areas of statistics has been criticized. In addition, Stevens played a key role in the development of the use of operational definitions in psychology.A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Stevens as the 52nd most cited psychologist of the 20th century. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the United States National Academy of Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society.
Joseph Richey (March 30, 1931 – April 4, 1995) was an American basketball player. He was an All-American at Brigham Young University (BYU) and later played in the Amateur Athletic Union.
Joe Richey, a 6'1 (1.85 m) forward from St. Johns, Arizona, played at BYU from 1950 to 1953. Richey was a three-year starter and led the Cougars to berths in both the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and NCAA tournament as a sophomore in 1951. While the Cougars bowed out in the second round in the NCAAs, they won the NIT – defeating Dayton 62–43 in the final. This team is regarded one of the best in BYU history.As a junior and senior, Richey led the Cougars in scoring at averages of 14.6 and 17.6 points per game respectively. He was known for his quickness and was a strong rebounder for his size, averaging 6.5 rebounds per game for his career. As a senior in the 1952–53 season, Richey again led the Cougars to the NIT, though this time the Cougars stay was a short one, ending with a first round loss to Niagara. Richey was named a second team consensus All-American at the conclusion of the season. Richey finished with 1,178 points for his BYU career.Joe Richey was drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers in 1953. He instead played for several years in the AAU for Kirby's Shoes entry in the league.
After his playing days were over, Richey became a paving contractor. He also remained active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, becoming an Elder. In 1992, Richey was diagnosed with leukemia. He lived for three more years, during which time he performed a Mormon mission in Birmingham, England. Joe Richey ultimately died of leukemia on April 4, 1995.
Lynn Mathers Hilton (November 3, 1924 – August 12, 2020) was an American politician who served as a member of the Utah State Legislature. He was also known as an academic professor, businessman, Middle East explorer and author of many books related to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Franklin Lars "Jake" Flake (August 4, 1935 – June 8, 2008) was an American politician who served as a Senator in the Arizona State Legislature from 2005 until his death. Previous to his term as State Senator, he served as a Representative in the Arizona Legislature, including a stint as Speaker of the House.