Menu
Archives

'Determination' describes his life 'mother always taught us to be of service, to help'

Pedaling about 100 miles a day, Ben B. Banks and his sons rode their bicycles for three days from Salt Lake City to southern Utah's Lake Powell. The journey was neither a race nor an endurance test, but the father refused to concede to his sons any claim of athletic superiority. He matched their pace, revolution for revolution, mile after grueling mile.

"On that bicycle trip I noticed the raw determination of my father," said his eldest son, Ben E. Banks. "We were in better shape than he was, but we never beat him. It didn't matter if the wind was blowing or if it was raining - he just kept going. He is competitive, against himself more than against others,and he is determined to finish something once he has started it."That recollection of a father's outing with his six sons aptly describes the character and nature of Elder Ben B. Banks, who was sustained April 1 to the newly created Second Quorum of the Seventy.

Elder Banks, who observed his 57th birthday just three days after he was sustained as a General Authority, is an almost constant blur of motion. Now winding up his final weeks as president of the Scotland Edinburgh Mission - a tenure that is being cut short because of his new calling - he keeps missionaries stretching to match his stride, not only spiritually but also physically.

"I always wanted to be a great athlete, but I was so little I knew I never could be a football player or anything like that," said the 5-foot-9-inch Elder Banks. "Consequently, I became a physical fitness and activity enthusiast. I have always been very motivated to be involved in Church athletics, and I became an avid bicyclist. I used to do a lot of running - about 30 miles a week, and I would ride my bike about 100 miles a week, play racquetball two days a week, and lift weights two days a week."

When surgery on a foot and knee mandated that he cut back on his physical activity, he began limiting his exercise mostly to bicycling. As a mission president, he manages to get in early morning 12-mile bicycle rides several days a week in the Scottish countryside.

A native of Murray, Utah, Elder Banks has always been active, whether in physical or spiritual pursuits. While always active in the Church, he designates one experience as a turning point in his spiritual development.

"I was called to serve in a bishopric when I was just 22," he recalled. "I was scared to death. At that age, I worried that the people in the ward would not raise their hands to sustain me because I was so young. I was serving with a man who was about 60. I had grown up in that ward, and all the people knew me as little Benny. Then, suddenly, I was called to be in their bishopric.

"That was a turning point because I felt if I really expected those people to sustain me I would have to do everything I could to live my life so that they could not find fault with it.

"It was a turning point also in regards to my testimony. I have always had a testimony of the gospel. I have always believed the Church is true. I have never had any doubt, and I was taught that way. But real conversion came to me when I was called into the bishopric at that very early age."

Elder Banks is the youngest in a family of three sons and four daughters, born to Ben F. and Chloa Berry Banks. He was just 2 when his father was killed in a construction accident.

"My mother literally was left with nothing financially with which to raise a family," he said. "She struggled and sacrificed, and worked very hard physically to provide for us. My brothers and sisters and I had such a great love for her and appreciated the sacrifices that she made that we just never ever wanted to do anything to disappoint her in any way."

She died in 1978. Elder Banks said it would have been one of the greatest thrills to have had his mother in the Tabernacle when he was sustained as a GeneralAuthority.

"She was always teaching us to be of help, of service to people," he recalled. "She was very unselfish. Even though we didn't have very much, she was still emphatic about us sharing and giving to others."

According to family members and friends, Elder Banks has lived his mother's teachings.

Ben E. said of his father: "He has always felt that anything he has comes from Heavenly Father, and that anything he has Heavenly Father will get in return. He has always worked very hard, but I don't think he has ever believed that hard work makes a difference because everything he got was from the Lord. That's why he has shared so much. His attitude has been, `It's not mine; it's the Lord's. I'm only taking care of it for awhile.'

"My father was a bishop when I was 19 and it was time for me to go on a mission. He took me out to dinner one night and spoke to me as his father. He made it plain he wasn't speaking as my bishop. I gave him two or three reasons why I didn't want to go on a mission. He said, `If you don't go on a mission, you are the most selfish person I know because the Lord has given you everything and you aren't willing to give what He has asked of you.' Until then, I thought what I had attained was through my own genius, not because of any blessings I had been given. I went on my mission, and so did all my brothers."

In service, Elder Banks has been an exemplary leader. In addition to serving as a bishop's counselor, he has been bishop of three wards: the Ninth Ward, Salt Lake Liberty Stake; and the South Cottonwood 2nd and South Cottonwood 10th wards in the Salt Lake South Cottonwood Stake. When he was called in 1987 as president of the Scotland Edinburgh Mission, he had served 10 years as president of the Salt Lake Cottonwood South Stake.

Elder Banks credited his mother and wife for being his inspiration and motivation for serving in the Church. He married Susan Kearnes Banks on June 25, 1952, in the Salt Lake Temple. They are parents of seven sons - including a foster son - and one daughter, and have 13 grandchildren, counting the children of their foster son.

A mutual love of singing brought Ben Banks and Susan Kearnes together in a choral music class at the University of Utah. "He has always loved to sing," said Sister Banks. "All the time he has been mission president, he has enjoyed sitting down at the piano and singing with the missionaries. He sings at firesides also."

Although she was attracted to his singing, Sister Banks said what impressed her the most about him while they were dating was the relationship he had with his family. "After classes at the university, he always wanted to go back to his house instead of going out and meeting with other friends," she recalled. "He always wanted to go home.

"After his father died, his mother borrowed some money and bought some rental units, a little court of houses. She worked and provided an income from them, and did whatever needed to be done, from wallpapering to plumbing to cleaning. As each of her children married, she would find a place in one of the units for them.

"When we were dating, I would go to Ben's house with him. His sisters were almost always there with their children. I would watch Ben sit and play with his nieces and nephews. That was so much fun.

"Ben had so much love for his family, especially for his mother," said Sister Banks. "My mother had always told me to watch how a young man treated his mother, and that would be the way he would treat his wife. She was right."

Elder Banks is recognized as a man who treats others, whether in or out of his family, with kindness. Employees at the lumber company of which he is owner and president became accustomed to his personable manner. "I think the employees really love my father," said Ben E., who has now stepped in to run the company with one of his brothers, Brad. "He isn't the type of employer who is aloof, keeping a distance from his employees. He was always available to talk to them, and he knew them and their families personally. I think all of them would say they were treated honestly and ethically by my father.

"I don't think anyone who knows him was surprised when his call was announced. His life has been one of service."

If Elder Banks has a scriptural theme for his life, it would be Romans 1:16, in which Paul declared, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. . . ."

Elder Banks said, "Throughout my entire adult life, that has been my favorite scripture. When I was released as bishop the last time, the ward members gave me a plaque that had that scripture on it. When President Thomas S. Monson set me apart as a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy, he said, `Elder Banks, I know you are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.'

"President Monson had never heard me quote that scripture, and he had no way of knowing its significance in my life. To hear him quote from it meant a lot to me, and gave me a great deal of reassurance."

(ADDITIONAL INFORMATION)

Elder Ben B. Banks

Born: April 4, 1932, in Murray, Utah, to Ben F. and Chloa Berry Banks.

Family: Married Susan Kearnes, June 25, 1952; parents six sons, one daughter and one foster son; grandparents of 13.

Career: Owner and president of Intermountain Lumber Co.; previously employed by two road machinery equipment companies.

Education: Attended University of Utah.

Church callings: Currently president of the Scotland Edinburgh Mission; former bishop of Ninth Ward, Salt Lake Liberty Stake, 1960-68; South Cottonwood 2nd and South Cottonwood 10th wards, Salt Lake South Cottonwood Stake, 1970-78; president of Salt Lake South Cottonwood Stake, 1978-1987.

Newsletters
Subscribe for free and get daily or weekly updates straight to your inbox
The three things you need to know everyday
Highlights from the last week to keep you informed