Dates

• Existence: 1883 - 1952

Biography

Abel S. Rich (1883-1952) was a mayor, Utah state senator, stake president and a mission president for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Toronto, Ontario.

Abel Sargent Rich was born September 16, 1883, near Paris, Idaho to Abel G. Rich and Mary Jane Innes. On June 18, 1908, he married Alice Redd in Salt Lake City. They later had six children. After working as an agricultural teacher at the high school in Brigham City, Rich was hired to go across the street from the school to open the second released-time seminary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He continued to work there for thirty-six years, during which time he taught Boyd K. Packer (who later filled a prominent leadership position in the Church) his first seminary class and was serving as principal of the seminary when Packer took a position there as a teacher himself. Rich was elected as mayor of Brigham City, Utah, in 1928 and served until 1930. From 1935 to 1938 Rich served as the mission president of the Canadian mission of the Church. In 1941, he was elected as a Utah state senator representing the 1st Utah Senate District and remained in that position until 1943.

Rich passed away on August 14, 1952.

Citation:

The Daily Herald, via WWW, 28 January 2015 (Abel S. Rich taught Boyd K. Packer's first seminary class; was the seminary principal when Packer returned to teach his first seminary class)

Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center, via WWW, 28 January 2015 (Abel S. Rich was an agriculture teacher who was hired to go across the street from the high school in Brigham City to an adobe home in order to open the second released-time seminary)

Family Search, via WWW, 29 January 2015 (Abel Sargent Rich was born 16 September 1883 near Paris, Idaho to Abel G. Rich and Mary Jane Innes; married Alice Redd (1879-1968), daughter of Lemuel Harrison Redd and Keziah Jane Butler, 18 June 1908 in Salt Lake City; had six children; was a seminary teacher and principal for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for thirty-six years; was also a mayor, Utah state senator, Stake president and a mission president in Toronto, Ontario)

Brigham City History Project, via WWW, 29 January 2015 (Abel S. Rich was elected as mayor of Brigham City in 1928 and served in that position until 1930)

Wikipedia, via WWW, 29 January 2015 (Abel S. Rich served as a Utah state senator from 1941-943 in the 1st Utah Senate District). Find A Grave, via WWW, 29 January 2015 (Abel S. Rich passed away on August 14, 2015)

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