George P. Lee

George Patrick Lee (March 23, 1943 - July 28, 2010 ) was the first Native American General Authority in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . He was a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy from 1975 until his excommunication in 1989.

Early life

Lee was born in Towaoc, Colorado . His parents were Mae K. Lee (Asdzą́ą́ Łichííʼ ^{language of the Navajo} ) from the Tódíchʼíiʼnii ^{language of the Navajo} clan and the medicine man Peter Lee (Hastiin Jaanééz Yee Biyeʼ ^{language of the Navajo} ) from the "Under the Flat Roof House" clan. Lee was one of seventeen children from his parents' marriages. He was first called Ashkii Yázhí ^{language of the Navajo} (little boy). Later he got the holy name Ashkii Hoyáanii ^{language of the Navajo} (boy who behaves well and is good).

When he was twelve years old, Lee became one of the first children to be placed with white parents by the LDS Church. He was transported to Orem , where he lived with the family of Glen and Joan Harker. He lived there for seven years and only returned to his actual Navajo family during the summer holidays. Lee graduated from Orem High School in 1962.

Early adulthood

Lee attended Brigham Young University , where he earned a bachelor's and later a PhD in education administration. He then attended Utah State University , where he earned a master's degree . Lee was a teacher at the Rough Rock Demonstration School and later became President of the Ganado Campus at Diné College , a university for American Indians in Arizona . He married Katherine Hettich and they were the parents of seven children.

Church service

After Lee graduated from high school, he served as a missionary for the LDS Church on the Navajo Nation Reservation . This was formerly called "Southwest Indian Mission" by members of the Church.

Prior to serving as a General Authority, he held a number of roles on behalf of the priesthood . He has served as elders quorum president, branch president, district president, and president of the Holbrook Mission .

On October 3, 1975, appointed President of the Church , Spencer W. Kimball , the 32-year-old Lee to be a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy to be. This is a responsibility of responsibility throughout the Church. He was the first General Authority of Native American origin in LDS history.

Excommunication and conviction for crime

On September 1, 1989, the LDS Church announced that Lee had been excommunicated for "apostasy and improper behavior for a member of the Church." He was the first General Authority to be excommunicated since 1943. After portraying Lee, he was excommunicated for disagreement with the President of the Church , Ezra Taft Benson , over the role of Indians in the Church. When he became president, Benson ended the program of giving Native American children to white parents. Lee argued that this program was important to his personal progress and that Kimball treated the Indians differently than his successor. Lee also alleged that the First Presidency charged him with practicing polygamy , behaving immorally, and spreading false teachings. Lee published letters he wrote to church leaders to the news agencies. The church did not publicly comment on the letters as the details of an excommunication are never publicly explained.

In 1993, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that Lee attempted to sexually abuse a little girl. This is said to have been the reason for his excommunication. Lee denied this, however. However, on October 12, 1994, the Tribune reported that Lee was alleged to have pleaded guilty in court.

On July 27, 2007, Lee was arrested in Washington County for failing to register on the Utah Sex Criminal Database . Police reported that he had not registered since 2001 and that he lived in an area where some young children were living nearby. Lee was transported to a Utah prison and had to pay $ 5,000 bail for his release. The procedure took several months because of Lee's health problems. On March 19, 2008, the case against Lee was officially closed. On March 29, 2009, Lee was deleted from the sex criminal database.

death

Lee died in Provo on July 28, 2010 after a "long battle with mental health problems." He has been described as "one of the truly tragic characters in modern Mormon history."

Publications

• George P. Lee, Silent Courage: An Indian Story: The Autobiography of George P. Lee, a Navajo , Deseret Book: Salt Lake City (1987).

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Mormons Oust First Indian in the Hierarchy , The New York Times , September 3, 1989.
2. ^ ^{A b} Peggy Fletcher Stack and Kristen Moulton, Ousted LDS leader dies , Salt Lake Tribune , Aug. 3, 2010.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Elder George Patrick Lee of the First Quorum of the Seventy , Ensign , Nov. 1975, pp. 136–37.
4. ^ Disciplinary action taken Sept. 1 against general authority . The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. September 9, 1989. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 28, 2014. 
5. ^ Press coverage of Lee's Excommunication Ambivalent . Pp. 47-49. August 1989.
6. ↑ The Lee Letters . Pp. 50-55. August 1989.
7. ^ Salt Lake Tribune , October 12, 1994.
8. ↑ ^{a b} St. George Spectrum , July 29, 2007.
9. ↑ Rebecca Palmer, Ex-LDS officially arrested in sex-registry probe , Deseret Morning News , July 31, 2007, p. B5.
10. ^ Stephanie Coots, New Sex Offender Program Nets Fourth Arrest , July 30, 2007.
11. ↑ Ben Winslow Ex-LDS official's case is dropped by court , Deseret Morning News , March 19, 2008.
12. ↑ George Patrick Lee , lapahie.com.
13. ↑ Dan Metcalf Jr., Former LDS general authority George P. Lee passes away ( Memento of the original from August 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , abc4.com, July 30, 2010.