Richard R. Lyman

Richard R. Lyman
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
April 7, 1918 (1918-04-07) – November 12, 1943 (1943-11-12)
End reasonExcommunicated for unlawful cohabitation
LDS Church Apostle
April 7, 1918 (1918-04-07) – November 12, 1943 (1943-11-12)
ReasonDeath of Hyrum M. Smith
End reasonExcommunicated for unlawful cohabitation
Reorganization
at end of term
Mark E. Petersen ordained
Personal details
BornRichard Roswell Lyman
(1870-11-23)November 23, 1870
Fillmore, Utah Territory, United States
DiedDecember 31, 1963(1963-12-31) (aged 93)
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Alma materUniversity of Michigan
Spouse(s)Amy Brown Lyman

Richard Roswell Lyman (November 23, 1870 – December 31, 1963) was an American engineer and religious leader who was an apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1918 to 1943.

Lyman is often noted as the most recent LDS Church apostle to have been excommunicated. In 1943, J. Reuben Clark, the first counselor in the LDS church's First Presidency and the church's de facto leader due to church president Heber J. Grant's poor health, became aware that Lyman had for a number of years been in an intimate relationship with a woman he had earlier been assigned to counsel. The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles convened a disciplinary council to hear the case and Lyman's explanation, after which he was immediately excommunicated. Lyman was rebaptized in 1954 at age 83, and his full priesthood blessings were restored posthumously in 1970.[1]

  1. ^ Janet Peterson and LaRene Gaunt, "Faith, Hope, and Charity: Inspiration from the Lives of the General Relief Society Presidents," Covenant Communications, Inc., 2008, p. 155.