He was the great-great-grandson of Hyrum Smith and served as a Church Patriarch for 32 years.
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Eldred G. Smith, who served for 32 years as Mormonism's "Presiding patriarch," died Thursday evening in Salt Lake City. At 106, Smith was the faith's oldest living and longest-serving LDS general authority.
Smith's position as church patriarch was created by Mormon founder Joseph Smith in 1833. The LDS prophet chose his father as its first occupant and next his brother Hyrum. From then on, the office, charged with giving "Patriarchal blessings" to all adult and teen members, passed down the generations to various male descendants in the Smith family. Photos
Eldred Smith, a great-great-grandson of Hyrum Smith, was patriarch from 1947 until 1979, when LDS leaders determined the church no longer needed a presiding patriarch because every stake (a group of congregations similar to a diocese) had its own. So they made Eldred Smith an emeritus general authority, but allowed him to continue to provide some blessings, each one a personalized spiritual road map. Source 4
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