Donald Lafayette Staheli

today my grandpa passed away. as according to Wikipedia, this was him:

Donald L. Staheli

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Donald L. Staheli
Full name	Donald Lafayette Staheli
Born	October 19, 1931 (1931-10-19) (age 78)
Place of birth	St. George, Utah
LDS Church General Authority
Second Quorum of the Seventy
Called by	Gordon B. Hinckley
Start of term	April 5, 1997 (aged 65)
End of term	September 30, 2006 (aged 74)
End reason	Honorably released

Donald Lafayette Staheli (born October 19, 1931) is an American business executive and was a general authority in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1997 to 2006.

Staheli was born in St. George, Utah and was raised in Hurricane, Utah. He received a B.S. degree from Utah State University and then an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. He also served for two years in the United States Air Force.

Staheli was the CEO of Allied Mills and then CEO of Continental Grain. He was the CEO of Continental Grain and the chair of the U.S.–China Business Council at the time of his call to be a general authority. He was also an advisor to the mayor of Shanghai, Zhu Rongji.^[1]

Staheli was serving as president of the LDS Church's Yorktown New York Stake at the time of his call as a general authority. He became a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy in April 1997, when he was living in New Canaan, Connecticut. He served as president of the North America Central Area at the time that the Nauvoo Illinois Temple was dedicated. Staheli was released as a general authority in 2006.

He now serves as the President of the Draper Utah Temple.

according to me:

he a power of intimidation. he was business man first, then family man next. but he was also really great. i loved joking around with him. and giving him a hard time. when we were little he would always be on the floor playing with us, and a more "hands on" grandpa. the church was always a big part in his life. people say (not that i know from a business standpoint) that he was always honest in his dealings. which i wouldn't expect anything less.

in my eyes he is the american dream. he grew up on a farm in a little town outside of st. george called hurricane utah. he ended up marrying his high school sweetheart (they grew up down the street from eachother, and have known eachother their entire lives). he got a PhD from Illonis, and worked his way up to becoming a CEO of a major firm in NYC. = american dream. i always went to him for advise whenever it came to job interviews or anything job related. i remember i was interviewing for my first nyc job, and of course was freaking out. i talked to grandpa, and as i was taking notes on what he was saying, i kept thinking, "well that's great, oh i didn't think of that. oh good." he was such a force to be reckon with. and i will remember our "interviews" always. ha, yeah, no joke. he would randomly have "interviews" with all the grandkids, and apparently his own kids and future son/daughter-in laws. basically he just wanted to see how are lives are going... even sometimes asking in painful ways. haha.

but what i didn't' get to say to him last weekend when me and Callie went down there i wanted to say this:

grandpa. you've always been such an inspiration to me. in the academic world, business world, and in the church. to know that i've got this staheli blood running through me with great ambition is because of you. to know that it is possible to make yourself become an empire of industry is because of you. he is the main reason that i went back to school. if he can get his PhD (he got his master AND PhD in only 3 years! unheard of) i think i can handle just getting my bachelors, then masters.

that's it. love my grandpa. he was a great, inspiring man. he will be missed greatly.