FUNERAL SERVICES

IN HONOR

OF

IRA N. HINCKLEY

DECEMBER 16, 1942

LARKIN MORTUARY
12 OCLOCK NOON

NotesMiss Elva Kemp

Officiating: Bishop Roy M. Hill

Brothers, sisters and friends, we have met this day to show our respect to one who has
departed, one we respect and love, Ira N. Hinckley. We will commence these services with a
solo by Evangeline Thomas Beesley following William N. Gardner, who will give the
invocation. The first speaker will be Postmaster I. A. Smoot.

Invocation: William N. Gardner

May I ask that we be united in prayer on this occasion. Our Father who art in heaven,
we, thy children, have met in this capacity to do honor to one of our friends and relatives, and,
our Heavenly Father, while we are thus convened together, unite our prayers that we might have
your spirit to be with us while we pay our last respects to our friend and brother Ira N. Hinckley,
a man whose example has been ideal, a man whose loyalty for his friends, for his family and for
his work has been unsurmounted. Inasmuch as we have met today to pay these last respects, we
pray that we have your influence for good, and, for those who have been left behind, that these
services might give comfort and satisfaction to them. We pray thy spirit may be an inspiration
through the thoughts that might be delivered today. We pray the music might be good and
inspiring. We dedicate ourselves to thee and pray these gifts may be granted to us. In the name
of thy son Jesus Christ, Amen.

Solo: Evangeline Thomas Beesley

*********
1st Speaker: I. A. Smoot
I have one or two messages to read. The Honorable William H. King, brother of Sister
Hinckley, phoned last evening and paid his respect, love and sympathy, but stated he could not
get transportation at this time from Washington, D. C.

(Quote)
Telegram:

Longbeach, California
Dear aunt Lilly and family, at this time of your bereavement and
sorrow we tender our deepest sympathy and love. The years go
by rapidly, and before we hardly know it we shall be reunited
with our loved ones. May He who sees the sparrow fall, assuage

your sorrows and cause your hearts to rejoice in His great love.
Very sincerely,
Harold, Rhoda and family.
(End Quote)
(Quote)
Telegram:

Washington, D. C.
Dear aunt Lilly, you have my love and sympathy in your
great sorrow. Uncle Ira was one of Utahs great citizens,
a happy warrior always battling for the right. All who really
knew him respected and loved him. He was always an inspiration
to me and I will miss him more than I can tell you.
Robert H. Hinckley
(End Quote)

(Quote)
Telegram:

Berkeley, California
We are very sorry not to be with you at this time.
Accept our sincere sympathy.
Wayne and Vera Mayhew.
(End Quote)

Anyone who has been called to occupy the position I have today concludes it a great
honor. In the early settling of Utah, President Brigham Young chose some of his leading men to
preside over newly established communities. Among the men who were chosen to settle
southern Utah in St. George was Erastus Snow. Ira Hinckley, father of this good man (Ira N.
Hinckley deceased), was assigned to the Fillmore section. My grandfather was chosen to go to
Provo and direct the activities of that community. Provo was selected as an educational center
and a university was established. To this university came members of this family year after year
to take advantage of the educational facilities. It was my good fortune to become well
acquainted with members of this family. I know no family more interested in industrial, civic
growth and development than this family; and from them have come presidents of stakes,
professors, doctors all of them leading Christian lives; also, contractors, cattle and mining men.
Many of them have held state and national positions to which they have been elected. I know of

no member who possesses more of these abilities and virtues than my good brother Ira N.
Hinckley, oldest son of President Hinckley. He was richly endowed with honor and fidelity, was
honored by State and Federal Governments. As a public statesman there was none better. He
was a man of business. He was an educated man. He had a great faith in Utah, in her unlimited
resources, in developing these resources. He was especially interested in mineral resources
because this brought him into the great outdoors with an opportunity to study nature. He was a
man of strong convictions and fearless in applying them. There was no compromise for what he
thought was right. Devoted to his friends and those in need, he gave freely of his talents and
means. He never failed to help a friend in need. He was a devoted father and husband, an ideal
family man. He married the sweetheart of his youth and they have been sweethearts ever since.
It was an inspiration and a joy to be in their home. There was always good will and refinement
present. His greatest characteristics were his devotion to his church and family. Ira Hinckley
believed that life is eternal and that we lived before we came into this work; that God is the
father of our spirits; that we were born to learn the difference between good and evil; that death
came into the world because of a law; and universal resurrection will come to all sons and
daughters of Adam; that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that Jesus was the Christ. He
believed in the words of the great prophet Alma.
Excerpt The Book of Mormon. Alma 11; Par. 42-46
Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall
loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death.
The spirit and the body shall be re-united again in its perfect form; both limb and joint
shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to
stand before God knowing even as we know now and have a bright recollection of all our guilt.
Now this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both
male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of
their heads be lost; but everything shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the
body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father,
and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether
they be good or whether they be evil.

Ira Hinckley believed this doctrine firmly. He was a church man, was devoted to the
church and held many positions in the church. I have, in my lifetime, proved that as a friend in
time of need Ira N. Hinckley was the best one. I love Ira Hinckley and I love his family. I
believe in this doctrine myself. I have knowledge that life is eternal. This is just part of the great
plan of God that these wonderful friendships and contracts made in this life will be ours in the
hereafter if we work for them. He believes that the Kingdom of God had been established to
bring peace to the world. It wont be an Atlantic or a Pacific charter. It will be the gospel of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints -- and that is going to come. Ira Hinckley believed this. I
talked with him about it. He thinks wickedness will be done away with and that, through the
gospel of Jesus Christ, we can exalt ourselves to a higher state of exaltation. It is the purpose of
the gospel to do this. He believed in doing right to his fellow man.
I pray that you will bless his lovely wife, that you will comfort and bless her and her
family and that they will walk in the illustrious footsteps of their father. I pray in the name of
Jesus, Amen.
*****************
Bishop Hill:
The next to take part will be President of the Salt Lake Stake, Wilford A. Beesley; Alvin
Keddington, solo I Am A Pilgrim; Steven L. Richards.
*****************
Speaker: Wilford A. Beesley
When one passes middle life and watches the years come and go, he soon begins to
realize that there are, perhaps, on the other side even more of his friends than live here.
Likewise, such an individual spends much of his time in giving reflection to the beliefs of his
life. He makes a search, an analysis of his past life to determine if he can establish a relationship
to the old scheme of things, past and present. Self-discovery is perhaps the real kernel in the
philosophy of the gospel plan. When that discovery will come in a mans life, none can tell. To
some it comes early in life. To others it comes in the declining years of ones life. To Saul of
Tarsus it seemed to come overnight when he discovered himself and Saul of Tarsus became Paul
the great Apostle. Soon self-discovery came after months and months of riotous living, and the
wasting of his time upon the material things of life; but when the discovery came, he about-faced
and said, Lord, I will return. Self-discovery occurs when a man begins to differentiate

between essentials and non-essentials, when he prepares for the certainties of life and gives less
time to those which are uncertain. There is certainty about the coming and the going of the
seasons. The winter follows the summer time and then comes the spring. These have been
certainties throughout the history of the world. The animal creature prepares by instinct for the
coming winter, by storing food, by hibernation, by change in coat of fur. These are provisions of
nature. Men ordinarily prepare themselves for the things they know will come. Do men prepare
for death? Some do. Some dont and yet death is a certainty, if every there were one. And if
death is a certainty, what about life? The one who said, As in Adam all die, also said, So in
Christ shall all be made alive. Some speak of death as the end of life. To him who believes, it
is the beginning of life eternal life. To the man of faith, resurrection and immortality are very
definite certainties. The word of God is a certainty to such a man. Heaven and earth shall pass
away, but my work shall not pass away. Some men place all their interests and direct all their
efforts to the accumulation of uncertainties. Mortal life is uncertain. It is snuffed out in the
twinkling of an eye. One of our close friends in our church service, Mrs. Roselle, returning
home to a Christmas with her family crashes in the airplane accident just rehearsed in our papers.
How uncertain is life! What a tragic death! Lands, houses, cattle and sheep, stocks and bonds
how uncertain! Fire, floods, depressions, depreciations, obsolescence constantly destroying the
things of uncertain value. Mammoth enterprises with untold missions totter and fall under the
hand of depression. Even modern civilization at the present time hangs in the balance. Nations
rise and fall. How uncertain their existence is today. Said the writer of Ecclesiastes, Vanity of
vanities, all is vanity! What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun!
One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; but the work of the Lord abideth
forever. Ira N. Hinckley believed the work of God as a certainty. In his youth he discovered
himself, thanks to a noble parentage and an inborn love of the truth. He began in his boyhood to
prepare for the certainties of life and never deviated therefrom. Through-out the eighty-two
years in which God was pleased to allow him to remain upon the earth, no man ever supplicated
his Maker with greater humility of thought and expression. Yet one felt, as he listened to him
pray to God, how independent he was and what strength of purpose he displayed. I prize his
friendship and that of his family. He entered this life alone. He leaves it today with wife and
children sealed to him for all eternity. He has indeed been added upon. God bless his memory

and retain in the hearts of those who love him his humility, his love and longing for eternal
happiness, I sincerely pray in Jesus name, amen.
******************
Solo: Alvin Keddington, I am a Pilgrim.
******************
Speaker: Steven L. Richards
I came on from Seattle last evening on a delayed train. As I reached Ogden I bought a
paper and it told of the passing of Brother Hinckley. I really know of no qualifications that I
have to speak on this occasion other than my profound respect and great admiration for the
Hinckley family. I, however, am very grateful for the opportunity of expressing my sincere
sympathy to Sister Hinckley and her family, and I know that my associates in the Presidency and
the Council of the Twelve would be glad to have me convey their sympathy and their love. The
Hinckley family, I am sure, has made an inestimable contribution to the communities in which
we live and to the great work with which many of us are associated. I have known many of the
members of the family intimately and I have always been impressed by their sincerity and by
their exceptional intelligence and their ability to give support to a cause. It was my good fortune
to be associated for many years with Brother Bryant S. Hinckley. I came to admire him and love
him greatly for his talent, ability and great devotion. Brother Alonzo Hinckley, as many of you
know, was one of our Council. I have been with him, I have labored with him in Councils of the
church and I know of no man with a more sincere devotion, a great faith, a man of implicit trust
than Brother Alonzo Hinckley had. I have had the pleasure of associating for quite a number of
years with Brother Gordon Hinckley, a nephew of Brother Hinckley, passed away. I find in him
those same traits that I perceived in his uncles and running throughout the family. It is my good
fortune to have included within our own family group one of the nephews of Brother Hinckley
whom we prize beyond expression. So that my own experience with this wonderful family Dr.
Hinckley, who presided over one of our Stakes, and those with whom I have had close
association has served to build up within me a very deep admiration, a deep love for these
people, and I know that all who have a similar experience to my own have had the same regard
for them. They are prized as a family by the church to which they have given so much of their
energy, their time and ability, and by the Stakes and communities in which they have lived. I am
very grateful that Sister Hinckley and her family can call upon their high conceptions of life for

comfort and solace. It would be very unfortunate, indeed, if they were to be deprived of these
great blessings when they so much need them. And I can think of nothing in these times, which
does bring the help that these philosophies of life give to us. We cant give each other faith.
That is not within the possibilities. I remember once a young man, a lawyer, came to me. He
was a young man whom I admired very much. He said he would like to join our church. I told
him I was delighted to hear it. I knew him to be a superior young man, but I told him he might
be required to do some things he hadnt contemplated. I said, People do not join our church
merely as a matter of preference. Not until they have become acquainted with its teachings and
doctrines and not until they have subjected themselves to the necessary sacrifices to give them
faith and understanding of it. I told him I couldnt give him faith. I couldnt give him a
testimony. He would have to secure that for himself. That while the tenets of our religion would
aid him, yet he could not be entirely satisfied merely upon the grounds of reason only. That it
would be essential to subject himself to those methods which are necessary to obtain an abiding
faith; and to that end it would be necessary to become humble; that he was to seek through
prayer the conviction that God lives; that a spirit would come from within him and that the truth
of the work would follow and be made manifest to him. He said, That is about the strangest
thing I ever hear. I assumed if I had merely the disposition to join your church I would so be
accepted. He said, I will think about it. He never came back to me. I am sure he never had
in mind when he came to me that it would be essential to do the things we all know is essential to
do those things to secure what lies at the foundation of our work. It is essential to place oneself
in cooperation with the spirit that is one of the essentials of this great work. It is essential to
have faith. It is essential to employ those methods by which faith comes. Sometimes it seems
faith is a very illusive thing. It is a paradoxical thing to obtain. After all, we dont try to get
faith unless we have some confidence in its acquisition. We cant get it unless we apply those
methods which indicate it will come. I give you my assurance that if those methods are applied
faith will come. It must be a great comfort to Sister Hinckley at this time to know she and her
husband have been united in an unusual compact of marriage which binds them together, not
only for this life but forever. It seems to me that if Joseph Smith had never done anything other
than to give to the world that beautiful concept of marriage, by that token alone he would be
entitled to all mens regard. In his concept the ones that have come down to us our heaven is
little better than a projection of our home into eternity, and all the beliefs we hope for in a life

hereafter is epitomized in the association which make up our homes. It has always seemed rather
strange to me that no one proceeding his time, with all the Christian interpretations we have had
and with respect to the time during which Christianity has been at home in a large portion of the
world, no one had ever set forth the ideas and concepts comparable to those which came from
this latter day prophet. In that concept lies our greatest hopes and also our greatest comfort.
When we think there is nothing in this life that we enjoy very much without the companionship
of our loved ones, it is but natural that we should repose our confidence in our life to come that
gives a continuation of these associations and makes it possible always to have our loved ones
with us. It is true, this tie that binds man and woman together for time and all eternity is to be
consummated only through faithfulness and subscription to those high principles which underlie
this lofty status. In no other way can a family enjoy a continuity of their association. I am sure
the good family I have the honor of addressing today believes in those principles and subscribes
to them and have taken pains to place themselves in a way to obtain the great and just benefits
that arise from this association. I am glad to give Sister Hinckley and her family my personal
assurance that I know the comfort which comes from the spirit of God is available to those who
seek for it. I have had the experiences that justify me in making those statements. I know and
am perfectly certain that in comparable experiences to which I have had, manifestations
completely satisfying my soul, that the truth of these great concepts is shown. I want my dear
friends to have that comfort today. God bless them and keep them safe, all of them, until the
happy day of reuniting, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
************
Steven L. Richards also announced there was a message from President Grant sending love and
sympathy; that President Grant fully intended to attend but was confined to his bed.
************
Solo: Alvin Keddington, Thy Will Be Done
Speaker: Nephi L. Morris
A fitting tribute has been paid to this very honorable man. Universally he seemed
esteemed and loved by those who had contact with him in life. It was my good fortune to have
associated with him for nearly a quarter of a century in ecclesiastical capacities and in such
relationships we usually know each other pretty well. I think this very beautiful service is
entirely to his liking. He might be a little embarrassed, however, if he heard a few of the good

things said of him. Among the virtues to which illustration has not been made was the
immaculate purity of this mans character. I never met anyone who impressed me as being more
pure in spirit, in heart and desire than Brother Hinckley. And among the Beatitudes is one
devoted to the reward of the pure in heart. The assurance is that they shall see God. Purity is
indispensable to a close communion with our heavenly Father. I have been impressed with his
purity all through my acquaintance and association with him. I can testify sincerely to the
truthfulness of all said of Brother Hinckley as fully confirmed by a knowledge of his life and
character. I wouldnt attempt to say much because what should have been said has been said,
and I wholeheartedly endorse the sentiments of the songs Brother Keddington has rendered so
effectively. There is a small composition here by William Croswell Doane, a Bishop of the
Episcopal church, which I would like to read.
DEATH AND LIFE
By Bishop William Croswell Doane
We are so stupid about death. We will not learn
How it is wages paid to those who earn,
How it is a gift for which on earth we yearn,
To be set free from bondage to the flesh;
How it is turning seed-corn into grain,
How it is winning Heavens eternal gain,
How it means freedom evermore from pain,
How it untangles every mortal mean.
We are so selfish about death. We count our grief
Far more than we consider their relief,
Whom the great Reaper gathers in the sheaf,
No more to know the seasons constant change;
And we forget that it means only life, -Life with all joy, peace, rest and glory rife,
The victory won, and ended all the strife,
And Heaven no longer far away and strange.
Their Lent is over and their Easter won.
Waiting till over Paradise the sun
Shall rise in majesty, and life begun
Shall glow in glory, as the perfect day
Moves on to hold its endless, deathless way.
--The Boston Evening Transcript

He upbraids us for our stupidity about death, especially when in the immediate spirit of death.
How it is a gift for which on earth we yearn to be set free from the bondage of the flesh. I have
conversed with Brother Hinckley on this subject. I know he longed for freedom from the
restrictive limitations under which mortals live. He had a soul which wanted to soar into a
higher realm, high aspirations, holy desires. I know he longed for the time when the fullness of
life should come to him. It has come at the right time and in a kind way. I am so thankful he did
not suffer long agonies as so many do. His life was finished and now the honor and reward has
come to be set free from the bondage of the flesh. He has gone to reap that reward which he has
cultivated fourscore years and more. It is justice. I think I remember his father, a very fine,
steady and noble man that stood high in the community and in the estimation of all who knew
him. I think his mothers name must have been Noble. And nobility must have been one of her
outstanding characteristics. No father could have transmitted all the qualities that his family
possessed. I sincerely hope that Sister Hinckley and her family will be conscious of Brother
Hinckleys concern in them. He has reaped his reward, entered the other world and gone to the
Bar of Judgment where an assignment will be given to him to mingle with those of his own kind.
He will be engaged in good works. He was very industrious. There was nothing idle or
procrastinating about him. He was always busily engaged and will now have a greater
opportunity with the mortal shackles removed. His interest in his family will continue, as
Brother Richards has said, and in that family relationship of family ties throughout the end of
years, time and eternity was established here.
My testimony is that what has been said is true. Brother Hinckley has gone to his reward. There
is no further occasion for anxiety about him. He has earned and will be repaid. If his posterity
tread the paths he had tread, they may increase his honors. With you, I pray for family
consolation, for their peace and well-being in every way. I am sure the spirit of death will not
abide in their home unnecessarily. It will be the spirit of light. I hope they will be consoled in
this great bereavement. With you, I join in that prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
*****************
Speaker: Bishop Roy M. Hill
Brothers and sisters, I am happy to add my few words to the fine tributes that have been
paid to Ira Hinckley today. He deserves it. Being a member of our ward, I know it is true
everything that has been said about him. He has been very faithful in our ward since my

acquaintance with him, and I know there is no doubt he has come to his reward and salvation. I
know his family. Sister Hinckley will rejoice in that grand meeting when she meets Brother
Hinckley in the Grand Council.
I have a thought that will express my thoughts better than I can express them myself.

SOMETIME, SOMEWHERE
You gave on the way a pleasant smile
And thought no more about it.
It cheered the life that was sad the while,
That might have been wrecked without it.
And so for the smile and fruitage fair
Youll reap a crown sometime, somewhere.
You spoke one day a cheering word
And passed to other duties;
It warmed a heart, new promise stirred,
And painted a life with beauties.
And so for the word and its silent prayer
Youll reap a palm sometime, somewhere.
You lent a hand to a fallen one,
A life in kindness given;
It saved a soul when hope was gone
And won a heart for heaven.
And so for the help you proffered there
Youll reap a joy sometime, somewhere!
These are my sentiments regarding Brother Hinckley. We will now have a solo from Sister
Evangeline Thomas Beesley, One Sweetly Solemn Thought, after which the services will be
brought to a close by Irvin S. Noall, of the Presidency of the Salt Lake Stake. The pallbearers
are high priests from the 22nd Ward, of which Brother Hinckley was a member. The grave will
be dedicated by Samuel E. Hinckley.
In behalf of the family, we want to thank all those who have taken part and for the wonderful
flowers that have been presented.