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Carole Mikita reportingLDS Church President Hinckley conveyed a warm personal touch toward all the Latter-day Saints. They considered him a friend.
This is the story of one of those friends who shared a love of faith and good humor with the man he called prophet.
If President Hinckley ever would have needed a personal public relations man, Norman Rothman would gladly have stepped forward. They often shared stories. Both loved faith and family, and their time on earth ended the same day.
So often called "The people's prophet," President Gordon B. Hinckley enjoyed meeting and greeting. Friends and neighbors say he felt comfortable in his own congregation, which met in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.
Annette Rothman, a member of President Hinckley's ward, said, "Every time I would go to church, if Norman wouldn't be there because of the pain in his back or something, President Hinckley would say, 'Where's Norman?'"
Annette Rothman is talking about her husband, Norman. In 2004, they traveled back East to be with President Hinckley as he dedicated a new temple in Manhattan.
At the time Norman Rothman said, "This is my town. It isn't that I don't love Salt Lake City and the prophet, but this, New York, this is where I was born and raised and educated, the son of a New York City cab driver."
Annette Rothman said, "Two weeks ago, President Hinckley came to the ward in a wheelchair. [It was the] first time we'd ever seen him in a wheelchair. And when he saw me, he stood up out of the wheelchair and he said, 'Annette, how's Norman?' I said, 'President, he's still in a coma,' and President Hinckley said, 'You tell him we're praying for him.'"
Then Sunday night while visiting Norman in the hospital, she learned President Hinckley had died.
"Then I leaned over to Norman and I said, 'Sweetheart, I have to tell you something. President Hinckley passed away at 7 o'clock tonight. Now you can go.' Tears came down his eyes, and he died within minutes," she said.
Annette says one thing Norman promised her was that he would never die before President Hinckley, and he kept his word.
Annette Rothman said she and her family have decided to hold Norman's funeral on Saturday afternoon, the same day as President Hinckley's.
