Teachings of the Living Prophets Dallin Harris Oaks

Elder Oaks’s mother, Stella Harris Oaks, was a big fan of the work of artist Cyrus Dallin. She was present at the unveiling of The Pioneer Mother, a monument in Springville, Utah made by Dallin three weeks before Elder Oaks was born.

Born 12 August, 1932 in Provo, Utah. Two siblings. He is the oldest. At 8 years old his father died from tuberculosis.

It was while Dallin was broadcasting high school basketball games as a Freshman at BYU that June Dixon, a drill team senior from Spanish Fork, first saw him; in her words, “Dallin stood around until I was introduced.” At the next game, Dallin asked to take June home. Their dating and courtship blossomed, and they married a year later.

Six children. In 1970 he was called as the President of BYU. In 1981 he was sworn in as a Utah Supreme Court Justice. Presidents Ford and Reagan considered him as a US Supreme Court Justice candidate. Called as an Apostle in May of 1984 (upon the death of LeGrand Richards and Mark E. Peterson) June Dixon died 21 July 1998; he married Kristen McMain 24 August 2000 in the Salt Lake Temple.

He accompanied President Monson to gift U. S He accompanied President Monson to gift U.S. President Barack Obama with five leather-bound volumes of Obama’s family history.

Those who know him best say that he is very organized, and that he loves to work. Elder Oaks has often quoted his motto, “Work first, play later.” His family jokes that it is really “Work first, play never.” “I don’t do anything for fun. I just have fun at what I do.”

June said that he wakes at 4am (because we are commanded to “cease to sleep longer than is needful”) and reads three or four newspapers a day—along with Church magazines, an assortment of legal journals, and other books or periodicals. If he thinks he’s going to be waiting at a stoplight, he will often pick up something to read. Elder Oaks once said: “Time is a stewardship, and my goal is simply not to waste any.”

Who knows him? Met him? Associated with him?