Russell M. Nelson, oldest-ever president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dies

Source: AP

Updated 3:38 AM EDT, September 28, 2025


SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Russell M. Nelson, the oldest-ever president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died Saturday night at the age of 101, church officials announced.

Nelson died at his home in Salt Lake City, church spokesperson Candice Madsen said in a statement.

Nelson, a former heart surgeon, spent four decades in the highest levels of church leadership after he was selected in 1984 to join a top church governing body called the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He ascended to the presidency in January 2018 when Thomas S. Monson died and in 2024 became the first president of the faith to hit the century mark.

The next president of the faith, known widely as the Mormon church, was not immediately named, but is expected to be Dallin H. Oaks, per church protocol. He is the next longest-tenured member of the church’s governing Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.


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