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Carole Mikita Reporting...Brigham Young University is creating an endowed chair in social work in the name of Marjorie Pay Hinckley, wife of LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley.
The announcement of this special honor comes on the Hinckley’s' 66th wedding anniversary.
Hundreds of family and friends of President Gordon and Sister Marjorie Hinckley gathered to celebrate two occasions: the announcement of an endowed chair in her name in social work, and the recognition of the couple's 66th wedding anniversary.
The Hinckley’s were married in 1937 in the Salt Lake Temple. They raised five children and now touch the lives of 25 grandchildren and 29 great-grandchildren.
Marjorie Pay Hinckley/Nov. 1998: "I THINK ANY MARRIAGE, TO BE SUCCESSFUL, YOU HAVE TO BE FIERCELY LOYAL TO EACH OTHER, FIERCELY LOYAL. AND I THINK THAT'S HAPPENED WITH US."
What the Hinckley’s mixed with that love and loyalty, is a sense of humor about one another.
Marjorie Hinckley/Nov. 1998: "I SAY HOW DID A NICE GIRL LIKE ME, GET IN A MESS LIKE THIS? (laughs)"
Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley/The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints/Oct. 1998: "I CALLED THE ZCMI BEAUTY PARLOR TO FIND OUT WHICH DRYER SHE WAS UNDER (many laughs)"
But it is Sister Hinckley's concern for those less fortunate, for those with troubled lives that helped create a new area of study at BYU.
Virginia Pearce, the Hinckley's daughter, has a master's degree in social work. She acknowledges her mother's encouragement to study in this field.
Virginia Pearce/ Hinckley daughter: "WOMEN AND CHILDREN, WHO IN THIS KIND OF A WORLD ARE NEEDING HELP...SO, NOT ONLY HAS SHE TALKED AND TALKED AND TALKED THOSE KIND OF WORDS... SHE'S WALKED THAT WALK, THAT'S BEEN HER LIFE... "
Marjorie Pay Hinckley/ BYU Endowed Chair in Social Work: "I HAVE KNOWN THE FRUSTRATIONS OF BEING A WIFE AND MOTHER... BUT I HAVE ALSO KNOWN THE JOYS. LIFE IS NOT EASY, BUT IT'S WORTH IT."
Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley/ The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: "SHE HAS SORT OF TAGGED ALONG IN MY SHADOW ALL THESE YEARS. AND IT'S TIME SHE MOVED OUT INTO THE SUNSHINE."
Through the example of one woman's life, and the strength of a marriage, a university now hopes to add to a legacy of caring.
President Hinckley also has an endowed chair at the University of Utah in British Studies.
