Serge J. Lauper church papers, 1930-1985

Series — Multiple Containers

Identifier: MSS 6162 Series 4

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Contains correspondence, directories, scrapbooks, and other materials relating to the wards and stakes Serge J. Lauper served in during his life, dated from 1930 to 1985.

Dates

1930-1985

Creator

Lauper, Serge J., 1901-1994 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from the Serge J. Lauper papers must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.

Biographical History

From the Collection:

Serge J. Lauper (1901-1994) served in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a bishop, a member of the stake presidency, and a patriarch.

Serge J. Lauper was the oldest of ten children born to Emma Elizabeth Wissing and Emile Louis Lauper of Lehi, Utah. Raised in a very economical family, Lauper was intelligent and hard-working, and loved to read.

He served in the Southern States mission from 1925 to 1927. Following his mission, he was sealed to Jean Vernon Gordon, daughter of May Elizabeth Schutt and James Frater Gordon of Alberta, Canada, on April 4, 1930, in the Salt Lake Temple. Four daughters were born to the couple, who spent the majority of their married life in San Francisco, California. In 1929, Lauper gained employment as a salesman with Charles R. Hadley Company, where he remained, with the exception of a few years in the 1950s when he opened his own business, until his retirement in 1966. During that time, Lauper served as a member of the San Francisco Stake Presidency from 1952 to 1959, and later as bishop of the Sunset Ward and then of the Diamond Ward in Oakland, California.

A few years after his retirement, Jean, his beloved wife of forty-eight years, died of a stroke in September 1977. About a year later, Lauper married Winifred Compton Matson, daughter of Josie Nevada Hamilton and Samuel Murchison Compton, in the Oakland Temple on August 15, 1978. The two enjoyed fifteen years of wedded bliss, during which time Lauper served as a sealer in the Oakland Temple, having been ordained a patriarch in 1959, until his wife's death in February 1993. Lauper followed her a year later.