Overview
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints publicly announced that two volunteer senior missionaries died while on assignment and that private family services have taken place.
- Elder Richard D. Gordon, 76, a longtime BYU educator from Providence, Utah, died in Johannesburg from complications of a heart attack while serving at a BYU–Pathway Worldwide education center with his wife.
- Elder John A. Johnson, 70, of Klamath Falls, Oregon, died while serving as an employment center missionary in the Oakland/San Francisco mission; published accounts do not specify his cause of death.
- The church’s announcements and obituaries detail the missionaries’ recent deployment dates, past service and family backgrounds and note that at least one funeral was held in the missionaries’ hometown.
- The reports place these deaths in the context of the church’s global program, which includes more than 90,000 missionaries and tens of thousands of senior volunteers who serve in nonproselytizing support roles.