Lex Mormonum: The Oaks Years

[Green Monstah]

Old GN would call me a stringpuller, but this is the church administration I’ve been dreading. That said, he’s a smart guy who is probably not nearly out of touch as I accuse him of being.

Bring your President Oaks-related topics here for discussion, preferably in a numbered-list format. And don’t forget to close your quotes.

[Northwestcoug]

In the spiritual high after returning from my mission I picked up his book "The Lord's Way". Even in that heightened state I couldn't get past a couple of chapters

Back when he was younger I heard him give a couple of talks at the Marriott. In that setting I found him very engaging and even funny. But those advancing years and the mantle of the first presidency seemed to wear on him, as those conference talks always seemed to drone on. And don't get me started on those Roman numerals when his talks were published in the Ensign!

[YOhio]

In the spiritual high after returning from my mission I picked up his book "The Lord's Way". Even in that heightened state I couldn't get past a couple of chapters

Back when he was younger I heard him give a couple of talks at the Marriott. In that setting I found him very engaging and even funny. But those advancing years and the mantle of the first presidency seemed to wear on him, as those conference talks always seemed to drone on. And don't get me started on those Roman numerals when his talks were published in the Ensign!

I love this passage from an address he gave to the BYU student body back in 1975.

Arriving at law school in Chicago with two little babies, we moved into a fifty-five-dollar-a-month apartment in a converted army barracks and proceeded to live a very meager but happy existence during the three years that followed. My scholarship paid my tuition, but all other living expenses were paid from my small earnings as an officer in an artillery battery in an Illinois National Guard and from borrowed funds. Like some of you, our parents had the means and the willingness to help us more than they did, but we wanted to make our own way. We rarely ate any kind of meat except liver and hot dogs, which we had no more than several times a week, but on special occasions we did get some of the less expensive cuts of chicken or hamburger. Our three-room apartment was heated by an oil-fired space heater whose small attached tank had to be filled manually several times each day from storage drums out on the street. When our two daughters were ages two and three, the old one dipped her little cup down into the oil tank on the back of the heater, took a large drink of clear fuel oil, and then shared in generously with her younger sister. Bad results followed, and June had to rush them to the local hospital to have their stomachs pumped. Several weeks later the little girls climbed up into our medicine cabinet and seized a bottle of candy-flavored cough syrup that included some sedative drug. Cooperatively alternating their draws at the bottle, the two finished its contents, with predictable results. June grabbed one child under each arm and rushed for the hospital again. After their stomachs had been pumped, the nurse told June that would be ten dollars each. The total of twenty dollars would be a terrible drain on our funds, and June argued with the nurse, pointing out that the last time she brought the girls in to have their stomachs pumped she had been charged only five dollars each. The nurse made appropriate record of that fact, and within a week we were visited by a Chicago public health nurse, who made some very pointed inquiries about the storage of our harmful substances and our fitness as parents. In the meantime, one of my playful law school classmates was heard to tell a group that Dallin and June Oaks wouldn’t drink anything but their daughters would drink everything.

My favorite play activity with the little girls was “daddy be a bear.” When I came home from my studies for a few minutes at lunch and dinnertime, I would set my books on the table and drop down on all fours on the linoleum. Then, making the most terrible growls, I would crawl around the floor after the children, who fled with screams, but always begged for more. “Daddy be a bear” was our favorite game. While I was in my third year of law school a prominent Milwaukee law firm invited June and me to come up at their expense to interview me for a job. As part of the process they had me interviewed by a psychologist, an unusual practice with law firms but standard with that one. As part of his examination this professional asked me to tell him what I saw in some weird ink-blots I had never seen before but which I now know to be a Rorschach test. In the first set of blots I saw nothing but two bears on their hind legs fighting. I couldn’t see anything in the second one. The third was clearly a mother bear in the woods followed by a cub, and I so advised the interviewer. After two more blots that meant nothing to me I saw another familiar subject, a bear peering around a large bush. When I described that to the psychologist, he looked at me intently, put down his pencil, and said, “Now, Mr. Oaks, suppose you tell me about your thing about bears.” So I told him about “daddy be a bear.” He just shook his head, made some notations on a paper, and sent me back to the law firm. I must have passed the test because the firm raised the proposed starting salary by a thousand dollars per year when they received his report. Remember that if you have to take a Rorschach test in Milwaukee. I never did know what that fellow was driving at until I talked to another law student who took the same test. When he told me what he saw in those ink-blots I was shocked. Even if I’d seen that stuff I surely wouldn’t have admitted it to a gentleman.

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/dalli...ody-president/

[YOhio]

If President Oaks can discern Lavell’s greatness back in 1972, I'm pretty confident he can handle the future of the Church.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I thought his story of learning about the death of his father when he was a child and how his grandfather stepped up was incredibly moving.

[Green Monstah]

If President Oaks can discern Lavell’s greatness back in 1972, I'm pretty confident he can handle the future of the Church.

An excellent point.

[tooblue]

Many years ago he visited for a Stake Conference. I will do my best to tell the story as I understand it told to me first hand. A couple in the Stake we know well had a teenage son with long, flowing black hair that reached beyond his shoulders. The mother is Chinese, and the father Caucasian. Mom was not happy with her son's hair.

At the end of the conference, as President Oaks was greeting and shaking hands with people, the mother approached him with her son. She asked President Oaks, "What do you think of his hair?" He placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder and said, "What a great head of hair—I'm envious."

Before moving on to greet others, President Oaks added, "But you will cut it when you go on a mission," to which the boy replied, "Of course." President Oaks then smiled and moved on. Mom was not impressed, the boy beamed.

[Copelius]

Many years ago he visited for a Stake Conference. I will do my best to tell the story as I understand it told to me first hand. A couple in the Stake we know well had a teenage son with long, flowing black hair that reached beyond his shoulders. The mother is Chinese, and the father Caucasian. Mom was not happy with her son's hair.

At the end of the conference, as President Oaks was greeting and shaking hands with people, the mother approached him with her son. She asked President Oaks, "What do you think of his hair?" He placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder and said, "What a great head of hair—I'm envious."

Before moving on to greet others, President Oaks added, "But you will cut it when you go on a mission," to which the boy replied, "Of course." President Oaks then smiled and moved on. Mom was not impressed, the boy beamed.

Bring back facial hair. I heard the talking ladies on KSL when I tuned in driving back from an appointment to see who the counselors were say that his biography says that he actually paused when offered the BYU job because it meant shaving his beard. Gives me hope.

[LVAllen]

This past Sunday we went over his conference talk in Elders Quorum. I quickly lost interest in the discussion and, instead, went down a rabbit hole on President Oaks' family.

His grandparents on both sides were farmers with not a lot of material wealth. One day, his Grandpa Harris told him to take nails out of some boards, stack the boards, and straighten the nails so they could be reused. When he complained, saying new nails would only be 15 cents, his grandpa told him that he'd never had 15 cents to spend on nails.

When his parents met (at BYU!), it was remarkable that his mom had met someone who's family poverty exceeded her own. His mom got her bachelors degree in 1927, and worked as a school teacher in order to help her siblings pay for college.

His Dad got married at the age of 27, finished his medical degree at 29, worked for 3 years with his brother, 6 years on his own as an ENT, and died of tubercolosis at the age of 37, leaving a 7 year old, a 4 year old, and a 15-month old. That crushed his mom, and she never remarried. She tried to go back to school for her masters 6 months later, leaving the kids behind, and couldn't finish out the semester when she realized she was forgetting their names. She did get her Masters degree from Columbia 6 years later. Later in life, she served on the Provo City Council and as Assistant Mayor. Her kids, the grandkids of dirt-poor farmers, each graduated from BYU and served missions. One became a lawyer/justice/Prophet, another a doctor(ophthamalogist)/General Authority Seventy, and the last worked for the church in public affairs.

His brother passed away from cancer last year. There is a foundation in the name of his mother that is dedicated to providing scholarships to single women with minor children in the home.

[falafel]

This past Sunday we went over his conference talk in Elders Quorum. I quickly lost interest in the discussion and, instead, went down a rabbit hole on President Oaks' family.

His grandparents on both sides were farmers with not a lot of material wealth. One day, his Grandpa Harris told him to take nails out of some boards, stack the boards, and straighten the nails so they could be reused. When he complained, saying new nails would only be 15 cents, his grandpa told him that he'd never had 15 cents to spend on nails.

When his parents met (at BYU!), it was remarkable that his mom had met someone who's family poverty exceeded her own. His mom got her bachelors degree in 1927, and worked as a school teacher in order to help her siblings pay for college.

His Dad got married at the age of 27, finished his medical degree at 29, worked for 3 years with his brother, 6 years on his own as an ENT, and died of tubercolosis at the age of 37, leaving a 7 year old, a 4 year old, and a 15-month old. That crushed his mom, and she never remarried. She tried to go back to school for her masters 6 months later, leaving the kids behind, and couldn't finish out the semester when she realized she was forgetting their names. She did get her Masters degree from Columbia 6 years later. Later in life, she served on the Provo City Council and as Assistant Mayor. Her kids, the grandkids of dirt-poor farmers, each graduated from BYU and served missions. One became a lawyer/justice/Prophet, another a doctor(ophthamalogist)/General Authority Seventy, and the last worked for the church in public affairs.

His brother passed away from cancer last year. There is a foundation in the name of his mother that is dedicated to providing scholarships to single women with minor children in the home.

Thanks for the info.

[frank ryan]

I like hearing these tidbits

[Omaha 680]

This past Sunday we went over his conference talk in Elders Quorum. I quickly lost interest in the discussion and, instead, went down a rabbit hole on President Oaks' family.

His grandparents on both sides were farmers with not a lot of material wealth. One day, his Grandpa Harris told him to take nails out of some boards, stack the boards, and straighten the nails so they could be reused. When he complained, saying new nails would only be 15 cents, his grandpa told him that he'd never had 15 cents to spend on nails.

When his parents met (at BYU!), it was remarkable that his mom had met someone who's family poverty exceeded her own. His mom got her bachelors degree in 1927, and worked as a school teacher in order to help her siblings pay for college.

His Dad got married at the age of 27, finished his medical degree at 29, worked for 3 years with his brother, 6 years on his own as an ENT, and died of tubercolosis at the age of 37, leaving a 7 year old, a 4 year old, and a 15-month old. That crushed his mom, and she never remarried. She tried to go back to school for her masters 6 months later, leaving the kids behind, and couldn't finish out the semester when she realized she was forgetting their names. She did get her Masters degree from Columbia 6 years later. Later in life, she served on the Provo City Council and as Assistant Mayor. Her kids, the grandkids of dirt-poor farmers, each graduated from BYU and served missions. One became a lawyer/justice/Prophet, another a doctor(ophthamalogist)/General Authority Seventy, and the last worked for the church in public affairs.

His brother passed away from cancer last year. There is a foundation in the name of his mother that is dedicated to providing scholarships to single women with minor children in the home.

I didn't know his brother died. Merrill Oaks was president of the Winter Quarter Temple when my wife and I worked in the baptistry for a couple years while living in Omaha. He and his wife are such wonderful people. Then Elder Dallin Oaks came for a conference once and had a special session with Merrill just for temple workers. I saw a side of President Oaks in that meeting that I had not seen before. He was so jovial and informal joking back and forth with his brother. Merrill appeared to get real satisfaction out of making his brother laugh at the pulpit. I think about that meeting often whenever I hear people complain about how overly serious President Oaks is.

[Northwestcoug]

I didn't know his brother died. Merrill Oaks was president of the Winter Quarter Temple when my wife and I worked in the baptistry for a couple years while living in Omaha. He and his wife are such wonderful people. Then Elder Dallin Oaks came for a conference once and had a special session with Merrill just for temple workers. I saw a side of President Oaks in that meeting that I had not seen before. He was so jovial and informal joking back and forth with his brother. Merrill appeared to get real satisfaction out of making his brother laugh at the pulpit. I think about that meeting often whenever I hear people complain about how overly serious President Oaks is.

I’m telling you, I spent 30 minutes looking for the 1992 byu devotional where he was genuinely funny and engaging. I still remember the joke, about a man towing 2 tons of birds on a trailer with an axle only rated for 1 ton; it killed!

Alas, I could not find it and share it here.

[Jeff Lebowski]

One of my son's best friends in HS was DHO's grandson and he was constantly at our house. We chatted about his grandpa a lot and he said it made him laugh when people said he seemed uptight because he was the life of the party in private - always cracking jokes and ribbing people.

I interact with his dad (DHO's son) regularly in my calling. Chill guy. Great sense of humor.

[PaloAltoCougar]

i had a few brief interactions with DHO early in his tenure as BYU President and can confirm he is a very funny and fun-loving guy. Three other students and I were tasked with writing BYU's new student orientation handbook, then called Beginning ... BYU, and were told to incorporate BYU's centennial celebration. With DHO;s approval, the cover included this picture of Benjamn Cluff standing before a class of Brigham Young Academy students:
a3db63f11e6afc9ae8bd23d04b417568.jpg

Inside the cover, we placed this photo of President Oaks (this was in '74), mimicking the photo from the previous century. The students include a few future general authorities. i'm seated in the front row close to the chalkboard. DHO loved it.

BYU re-do.jpg