Elders Jacob de Jager, Adney Y. Komatsu, and H. Burke Peterson of the First Quorum of the Seventy were granted emeritus status during the first session of general conference, Saturday, Oct. 2.
Elder Komatsu and Elder de Jager gave their final conference addresses as General Authorities during the Saturday afternoon session. After Elder de Jager spoke, President Thomas S. Monson, who conducted the session, said:"I must take a moment of privilege and say how happy I am that the de Jager family became members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the time I had the opportunity to preside over the Canadian Mission, headquartered in Toronto, and that my beloved Frances was the person in Toronto who took the telephone call from a non-member at the time, Jacob de Jager, who then became our beloved Jack, now an emeritus member of the Quorums of the Seventy. God speed the blessings and the lives of Adney Komatsu, Jacob de Jager and, of course, Burke Peterson, who are now emeritus."
They received emeritus status upon reaching age 70.
Elder Peterson gave his final address as a General Authority during the general priesthood session Saturday evening.
He served as first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric from April 6, 1972, until he was called to the First Quorum of the Seventy April 6, 1985. Elder Peterson served as president of the Jordan River Temple from May 1985 until September 1987. He has also been a regional representative, stake president and bishop.
Elder Peterson was born in Salt Lake City. He married Brookie Cardon in the Mesa Temple and they are the parents of five daughters.
A 1947 graduate of the University of Arizona with a degree in civil engineering, Elder Peterson received a master's degree from Utah State University in 1948. From 1942 until 1946 he was in the U.S. Navy as an officer in the Seabees. At the time of his call to the Presiding Bishopric he was a partner in an engineering consulting firm in Phoenix, Ariz.
Elder Komatsu was sustained as an Assistant to the Twelve on April 4, 1975, becoming the first General Authority of Japanese descent. He was called to the First Quorum of the Seventy on Oct. 1, 1976. He has also served as a regional representative, mission president, bishop, branch president and president of the Tokyo Temple.
Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1923, Elder Komatsu joined the Church in 1941.
He was in the U.S. Army's 441st Counterintelligence Corps in Japan during World War II. After being employed by the Honolulu Federal Savings and Loan in 1954, he worked his way up to senior vice president and manager of the mortgage division.
He baptized Judy Nobue Fujitani in 1948, and married her in the Hawaii Temple in 1950. They have four children.
Elder de Jager, sustained as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy on April 3, 1976, was born in the Netherlands in 1923. As a 19-year-old, he went "underground" in May 1942 until V.E. Day on May 5, 1945 to escape slave labor in Germany during World War II. While in hiding, he studied languages - English, French, German and Malay - for six hours a day. He was an interpreter for the Allied Forces in Europe in 1945.
In 1950, he joined Philips Electronics Corporation in Holland and held various managerial positions for 26 years. His career took him to Indonesia, Canada, Mexico and Turkey. While living in Indonesia, he married English teacher Bea Lim in 1954. They have one son and one daughter.
He heard the missionary discussions in Holland but was converted and baptized in Toronto in 1960 after his job took him to Canada.
Before being called to the First Quorum of the Seventy, Elder de Jager held several callings in the Church, including regional representative and counselor to three mission presidents in Holland.
