Sustained to the First Council of the Seventy on April 6, 1968, at age 43, he served in that position until 1975. From October 3, 1975, to October 1, 1976, he served in the Presidency of the Seventy, at which point he was called to be a General Authority Seventy. He served in that calling until he was given emeritus status on October 1, 1994.
At the time of his call, he was the only General Authority who had been baptized as an adult.
During his time as a General Authority, Elder Rector completed various assignments, including interim president of the Italy Rome Mission in 1969, the first mission president to preside over the Alabama Florida Mission from 1971 to 1972, mission president of the California San Diego Mission from 1977 to 1979, counselor in the Young Men General Presidency from 1986 to 1988, First Counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency from 1991 to 1992, and in the Area Presidencies of the North America Southwest Area, South America North Area, and North America Central Area. From October 1991 to August 1994, Elder Rector served as Assistant Executive Director of the Family History Department. He was also the managing director of the Genealogical Department from 1979 to 1988. He spoke in general conference seven times. (Browse his conference talks.)
He married Constance Daniel on October 12, 1947, and together they have nine children. He studied at Murray State Teachers College and at the University of Southern California, enlisted in the Naval Reserve Aviation Cadet program in 1942, and became a naval aviator and was commissioned an ensign in 1945. Although he was released from active duty in 1947, just three years later, in 1950, Elder Rector returned to being a Navy pilot with the outbreak of the Korean War, and he remained on active duty until 1958.
Elder Hartman Rector Jr.
“I knew the book was true before I had finished 2 Nephi—Nephi had converted one more—and began to attend church in the old Valencia Park Ward in San Diego,” he said in his last general conference address in October 1994. “Because of my preparation for deployment, I was not able to study and attend church as I wanted to and longed for the time when I could.”
While on an aircraft carrier headed to Japan, he read the standard works of the Church and said he “was like a starving man who had found food and drink for the first time. I loved it.”
While traveling he was able to study with other Church members, and upon his arrival in Japan, he received permission to be baptized—despite not meeting the requirement of the time to investigate the Church for one-year’s time—after much persisting. He was baptized a member of the Church on February 26, 1952. His wife was baptized that same year on March 1, and upon his return the couple was sealed in the Mesa Arizona Temple in May 1953.
Nearly two decades after his baptism, he was called by President David O. McKay to be a member of the First Council of the Seventy. At the time, he was the first convert to be called as a General Authority since John Morgan, who had been called 86 years previously.
Hartman Rector Jr. was born on August 20, 1924, in Moberly, Missouri, to Hartman Rector and Vivian Fay Garvin. Preceding him in death is his wife, Connie, who passed away in February 2015.
“I have found the gospel to be very simple but also very profound,” he said in his final conference address. “Once we have sufficient faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that we believe He has paid for our sins, then we will repent. And no one truly repents until they believe in Christ” (“Endure to the End in Charity,” Oct. 1994 general conference).
Funeral Services will be Saturday, November 17, 2018, 11:00 a.m. at the Cascade Stake Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, located at 481 East Center Street, in Orem, Utah.
Friends and family may visit on Friday, November 16, 2018, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Walker Sanderson Funeral Home, 646 East 800 North, in Orem, and prior to services at the meetinghouse on Saturday.
Interment will be in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. Condolences may be offered to the family online at www.walkersanderson.com.
Obituary written by John Rector:
Hartman Rector, Jr. died of natural causes on November 6, 2018 in Provo, Utah, at the age of 94. He was closely attended by several of his children at the time of his passing. He was an extraordinary man whose life made an indelible mark upon uncountable numbers of people around the world. Indeed, the world will not quite be the same without him.
Hartman Rector, Jr. was born on August 20, 1924 on a farm outside Moberly, Missouri. He was the youngest child of Hartman Rector, Sr. and Vivian Faye Garvin. His two older sisters were Mary Margaret and Marjorie. From early on, he displayed the optimism and happiness that would be defining characteristics of his long life. Before graduating from high school in Moberly, Missouri, he met his soul mate, Constance Kirk Daniel, also of Moberly, whom he would marry a few years later, after he had joined the navy. By the time of the Korean War, Hartman had become an aviator stationed on the aircraft carrier USS Philippine Sea. As a squadron captain, Hartman flew over one-hundred “night attack” sorties over Korea, on one occasion, having to ditch his beloved but badly damaged Douglas A1 Skyraider into the Sea of Japan.
During the war, both Hartman and Connie joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Hartman while at sea, and Connie on base back in San Diego). After the war, and some time living in Hawaii, the couple—now with four children in tow—moved to Washington, D.C. (the Pentagon) where Hartman was transferred to implement a world-wide program for training pilots. It was during this time that David O. McKay picked Hartman out of obscurity to become the first convert General Authority of the Church in 83 years. The family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1968, where Hartman’s long tenure as a General Authority began. Before becoming “Emeritus” in 1994 at the age of 70, Hartman served for over 26 years in the First Council/Quorum of the Seventy. As a Seventy, his callings included serving as mission presidents in Italy; Tallahassee, Florida; and San Diego, California. He also served in the Area Presidency of the South America/North missions. It was during this long stretch of mission-related service that Hartman’s unique influence—his love of humanity, perennial optimism, boundless energy, interpersonal warmth and openness, self-confidence, authentic Southern demeanor, and heart-warming sense of humor—impacted the lives of so many people. Hartman and Connie were also the authors of several books, the best known of which were the No More Strangers series, which sold several hundred thousand copies, quite a feat in those days. Hartman’s omnipresent emphasis on enhancing the reach and effectiveness of missionary work culminated in his own seminal work, Already to Harvest, which became a staple training manual for missionaries around the world for decades.
After becoming Emeritus, Hartman continued an active life of service well into his eighties, traveling with Connie to many parts of the world to speak informally (including to Israel fifteen times) whether to church groups or to fund-raise for various causes—seeming to respond to any request made to speak or be present, so long as it involved inspiring others to be better people. Indeed, this will be the lasting legacy of this great man—encouraging others to become better disciples of Jesus than they were before.
Hartman was preceded in death by his beloved wife Connie (2015), and his son Daniel (2002). He is survived by 8 of his 9 children: Joel Kirk Rector, Kathryn Garven Fales, Laura Constance Aston, Linda Ball, Lila “Pie” Tueller, Tuvae Rector, John Marcus Rector, and Lucinda Morey. He has 51 grandchildren, and 60 great grandchildren. Hartman is also survived by nephews Mark and Michael Armstrong, and Joelyn Andrews, his niece. Funeral services will be held at the Cascade Stake Center (481 E. Center Street, Orem, UT) at 11:00 a.m. Family and friends may visit, Friday, November 16, 2018, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m., Walker Sanderson Funeral Home, 646 East 800 North, Orem and prior to services 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. at the church. Grave-side and interment services will be held at the Salt Lake Cemetery, near the upper wall along 11th Avenue, in Salt Lake City.
Military Rites to be performed by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Condolences may be expressed to the family online at www.walkersanderson.com
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