Miracle and Disaster

Hugh B Brown

Then Elder Spencer Kimball, who’d been the folks’ supervisor when in Paris, came to Pappy’s hospital bedside in Salt Lake to assure him that the Brethren felt he’d earned an honorable release. Pappy responded, “Please don’t release me. I’ve got to go back. If I don’t, the people in Pau will never forgive themselves.” It was on their account, you see, that they had been on the highway (with young missionary Mitt Romney at the wheel, incidentally), when a tipsy driver came over a hill in his Mercedes, on the wrong side of the road.

Spencer W Kimball

Gordon B Hinckley

Thomas S Monson

Eventually, as it worked out,¹ we arranged for Valerie and Rick (then approaching 3) and me to accompany Pappy back to Paris, so that he could finish his assignment and comfort the Pau people.

Marion G Romney

David O McKay

¹From Pappy’s account, as he appended it to Mammy’s journal (pp 109-110):

“…two days after the funeral Ruth and I flew to Utah, and two days later Richard joined us. As soon as he left the plane, he suggested that he and Valerie and Ricky return to France with me. I was hesitant to have him leave his last year at Harvard, but it was certainly a wonderful idea from my point of view.

We presented the proposal to President Brown, who was in favor of it and sent us to see the Missionary Committee. Elders Kimball, Hinckley, Monson, and Romney gave their approval and also gave me a blessing—assisted by Richard and Brent—that the surgery on my wrist, set for July 2, would be successful. That was a rich experience.

The day before the operation, President Brown took us to see President McKay (Richard had already left for Boston). As President Brown began to explain the circumstances and the suggestion, President McKay interrupted him and said that he had already approved it…