Daughter of former church President Gordon B. Hinckley remembers President Nelson

SALT LAKE CITY — For Kathleen Barnes Walker, daughter of former Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President Gordon B. Hinckley, hearing the news of President Russell M. Nelson's death brought back familiar emotions.

"It was a very déjà vu moment for me," she said. "It brought back so many memories of that time when my own father died and what it does to a family. You don't only lose a father, but you lose a prophet."

President Gordon B. Hinckley led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for nearly 13 years, until his death in January 2008. He was succeeded by President Thomas S. Monson, followed by President Russell M. Nelson, who became president in 2018.

During her father's leadership, Walker often traveled on church assignments with him, his wife, Sister Marjorie Hinckley and then-Elder Nelson.

"He loved little children," Walker said of President Nelson. "Wherever we went, he sought out the children. He would get down on their level, and he would talk to them — eyeball to eyeball. He had a great capacity to relate to children."

Walker remembers a frightening moment in Nicaragua, when she was riding in a car with Elder Nelson just behind her parents' vehicle, which was in an accident.

"He jumped out of the car, went up to check to see if they were OK. They had no injuries except just shards of glass embedded in my mother's sweater," Walker said. "We were so grateful that day to have Dr. Nelson with us in that moment of really great fear and anxiety."

Walker said her father and President Nelson shared a close friendship and a mutual commitment to the church.

"They had a great love for one another," she said. "I think dad always admired this extremely gifted man, who literally gave up his career, his fame (and) his innovations in the medical industry. He gave it all up for the Lord."

"He was a brilliant man — we all know that. But he had a gift of languages," she said. "When we would go to these foreign countries, he would learn or develop a little talk in the language of the country, and he would practice it on the plane. It so thrilled the people to hear him speak in their language — it was such a gift that he shared with the world."

And now, as the church looks ahead to the leadership of President Dallin H. Oaks, Walker said the adjustment will be felt in many ways.

"It was a very somber time for us," she recalled of when her father became the prophet.

"You're not only the president of the church — you really are the president of the world. Your field is the world. And it's a very heavy load to carry," she said.

"These are extremely troubling times," she said. "It's tender, this time of transition. I really love the Oaks family, and I wish them well in every way, because this will be very different for them."

President Russell M. Nelson's public viewing will be held after General Conference on Monday, Oct. 6, with funeral services the following day.

Under typical succession protocol, senior apostle Dallin H. Oaks is expected to become the next president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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