The first of the new mission presidents to be called this year have been announced by the First Presidency. The new presidents and their wives will be part of an incoming group that will head about 90 missions worldwide. About a third of the Church's 295 mission presidents are called each year.
Coming from various areas of the world, the new leaders have wide Church experience.The new mission presidents and their wives are generally called for a three-year term of service that begins July 1. Their assignments will be announced later. They are:
Peter Berkhahn, 49, Wetterau Ward, Frankfurt Germany Stake; high priests group instructor; former mission president's counselor, stake president's counselor, stake mission president, and bishop; director of temporal affairs for Church's area office in Frankfurt, Germany; attended banking administration school; born in Hamburg, Germany, a son of Werner and Magdalena Frank Werner; married Ilona Linde, four children. She is ward chorister; former stake Primary president, ward Primary and Young Women president, and ward Primary and Relief Society president's counselor; school teacher; received degrees in education; born in Hamburg, Germany, to Werner and Ilse Hansen Linde.
Bud F Grover, 61, Chula Vista 3rd Ward, Chula Vista California Stake, ordinance worker in the San Diego California Temple; former high councilor, bishop and counselor, Young Men president, Scoutmaster and deacons quorum adviser; deputy administrator in the U.S. Department of Defense; received bachelor's degree from Weber State College; born in East Garland, Utah, a son of Fredrick Miles and LaVona Anna Christensen Grover; married Rosa Maria Alpizar, four children. She is an ordinance worker in the San Diego California Temple; former stake Relief Society secretary, ward Relief Society president, homemaking leader and teacher, and Primary teacher; received a master's degree in pharmacology from the University of San Jose, Costa Rica; born in Esparta, Costa Rica, to Francisco Cirilo Alpizar and Adelina Quesada de Alpizar.
James J. Hamula, 36, Fairway Groves Ward, Mesa Arizona Red Mountain Stake; stake president; former high councilor, bishop, and elders quorum president; partner in a law firm; received bachelor's, master's and law degrees from BYU; born in Long Beach, Calif., to Joseph Frank and Joyce Evelyn Jacobs Hamula; married Joyce Opal Anderson; four children. She is a Primary teacher; former Relief Society home management teacher, Young Women adviser and nursery leader; attended BYU-Hawaii and BYU; born in Castro Valley, Calif., to Henry Frederick and DeAnne White Anderson.
Roger L. Hiatt Sr., 64, Memphis 2nd Ward, Memphis Tennessee Stake; stake patriarch; former mission president's counselor, stake president and counselor, high councilor and bishop's counselor; professor and chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Tennessee at Memphis; attended Appalachian State University and Memphis State University and received doctorate of optometry from the Southern College of Optometry. Born in Mt. Airy, N.C., to William Henry and Gracie Darling Shelton Hiatt; married Nancy Ann Beamer, three children. She is a ward education counselor in the Relief Society; former stake Relief Society president, counselor and board member, ward Relief Society president and counselor, and Primary president; received bachelor's degree from University of North Carolina; born in Mt. Airy, N.C., to Terry Fulton and Nancy Isabel Hampton Beamer.
Ranier F. Munns, 47, Longwood Ward, Lake Mary Florida Stake; mission president's counselor; former counselor to three mission presidents, stake president's counselor, and bishop; managing partner in law firm; received bachelor's degree from BYU and juris doctorate from University of Utah; born in Logan, Utah, to Farrell Archie and Mary Burnice Munns; married April Jo Cassell, 13 children. She is stake Primary president's counselor; former stake Relief Society president and counselor, stake activities committee member, ward Relief Societey board member, Primary teacher and Den Mother; received bachelor's degree from BYU; born in Biloxi, Miss., to Donald Bern and Josephine Hanna Cassell.
Edward McNiven Partridge, 64, Peoria Ward, Peoria Illinois Stake; branch president; former mission president's counselor, high councilor, bishop, stake and ward Sunday School president, Varsity Coach, seminary teacher; telemarketer for heavy equipment company; attended Syracuse University and University of Wyoming; born in Worland, Wyo., to Edward Blake and May McNiven Partridge; married Sara Ann Whitaker, eight children. She is a Sunday School teacher; former Relief Society president's counselor and teacher, gospel doctrine teacher, Primary teacher, and branch Primary president's counselor; born in Peoria, Ill., to Roy Bernard and Reva May Brassfield Whitaker.
