Robert Hales’ Cause of Death: How Did Mormon Leader Die?

Elder Robert Hales has died at the age of 85, according to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. What was Hales’ cause of death?

According to the Mormon Newsroom, Hales “died at 12:15 p.m. Sunday in the hospital at age 85 from causes incident to age. He was surrounded by his wife and family at the time of his passing.” According to The Salt Lake Tribune, Hales “had been in the hospital for several days… undergoing treatment of pulmonary and other conditions.”

He was already in poor health by 2011, the newspaper reported, and was using an oxygen tube.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported, “That lifetime of dedication to the faith he loved — including various leadership posts in his local Mormon congregations, more than 40 years as an LDS general authority and 23 years as an apostle — ended at 12:15 p.m. Sunday, when Hales died at age 85.” The newspaper added, “His passing came moments after the morning session of the faith‘s 187th Semiannual General Conference.”

In addition to his family, according to The Salt Lake newspaper, “Russell M. Nelson, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, was also at Hales’ side.”

“Elder Hales was sustained on April 2, 1994, to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and received his call as a general authority on April 4, 1975. As a general authority, he first served as an assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and later as a member of the Quorum of the Seventy. He was Presiding Bishop of the Church from April 1985 until his call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1994,” the Mormon newsroom said.

“He lived his testimony,” said President Henry B. Eyring, a member of the First Presidency, in a press release on the Mormon newsroom. “He knew God. He knew the Savior, and he loved the Savior. … And he behaved as if God was close, Heavenly Father was close.”

Hales is survived by his wife and two sons.

“Robert Dean Hales was born in New York City on August 24, 1932. He was a graduate of the University of Utah and held a master of business administration degree from Harvard. He also served in the U.S. Air Force as a jet fighter pilot. He married Mary Crandall, and they have two sons,” reported the Mormon newsroom.