Mary Ellen W. Smoot
| Mary Ellen W. Smoot | |
|---|---|
| 13th Relief Society General President | |
| April 5, 1997[1] – April 6, 2002[2] | |
| Called by | Gordon B. Hinckley |
| Predecessor | Elaine L. Jack |
| Successor | Bonnie D. Parkin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mary Ellen Wood August 19, 1933 Ogden, Utah, United States |
| Home town | Clearfield, Utah, United States |
| Spouse(s) | Stanley M. Smoot |
| Children | 7 |
Mary Ellen Wood Smoot (born August 19, 1933) was the thirteenth Relief Society General President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1997 to 2002.
Personal life
Mary Ellen Wood was born in Ogden, Utah, and raised in Clearfield, Utah. Her parents, Melvin G. and LaVora Wood, had both been LDS missionaries. Her mother went on a mission to California in 1915, her father served in Texas.[3][4] Her father managed a canning factory, her mother hired all of the female workers.[3] She was born fifth in a family of six daughters.[5][4]
In 1952, she married Stanley M. Smoot in the Salt Lake Temple. Smoot and her husband are the parents of seven children.[5] The family lived for many years in Centerville, Utah, before moving to Kaysville, Utah.[6] She sits on the advisory board of the West Ridge Academy.[7]
Smoot holds a
LDS Church service
In 1983, Smoot and her husband moved to
At the church's April 1997
The purpose of the Relief Society, according to Smoot, is to "make sure the needs of the women within the boundary of our congregation (members of the LDS Church) are cared for."[15] Under her leadership the Society participated in international humanitarian efforts, such as making and sending over 38,000 thousand homemade quilts to relieve the suffering of refugees fleeing the Kosovo War, families left homeless by the 1999 İzmit earthquake, and elsewhere.[16][17] She has been politically active in family-related causes, serving in leadership positions in the World Congress of Families, to promote Christian family values.[18][19] Nevertheless, the focus of her presidency was on the helping the Relief Society's 4.4 million members share insight and inspiration with one another.[20]
Under her leadership, the Relief Society was the fastest growing women's organization in the world.
Smoot is profiled in the 2011 book Women of character: Profiles of 100 prominent LDS women. In 2016, she headed a committee that produced a history of Centerville, Utah, entitled Centerville Utah: Our American Hometown.[6]
Publications
- Mary Ellen W. Smoot and Mary Ellen Edmunds (2000). Sweet is the Work: How Relief Society Helps Bring Women to Christ (Salt Lake City, Utah: ISBN 1-57345-790-6
Notes
- ^ "New Leaders Called, Three New Quorums of Seventy Formed", Ensign, May 1997.
- ^ "New General and Area Authorities, Relief Society Presidency Sustained", Ensign, May 2002.
- ^ ProQuest 288769758.
- ^ a b "Allene Wood Whitesides (obituary)". Standard-Examiner. 22 February 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- ^ ProQuest 394865703.
- ^ ProQuest 1819343163.
- ^ "West Ridge Academy Advisory Board". West Ridge Academy web site. West Ridge Academy. Archived from the original on 2009-09-08.
- ^ "Mary Ellen Smoot". byui.edu. Brigham Young University, Idaho. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ^ ProQuest 288748076.
- ^ a b "Pres. Smoot receives award for exemplary womanhood from BYU". Deseret News. 17 July 1998. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- ProQuest 288832993.
- ProQuest 351333297.
- ProQuest 288818397.
- ProQuest 281159346.
- ProQuest 419505993.
- ProQuest 268731698.
- ^ ProQuest 288891014.
- ProQuest 232639910.
- ProQuest 288906161.
- ^ ProQuest 354271764.
References
- “Mary Ellen Wood Smoot: Relief Society General President,” Ensign, May 1997, p. 108.
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