President Howard W. Hunter was "polished and refined, disciplined and trained and taught under the plan of the Almighty to stand at this season as a prophet to the nations and revelator to the people," said President Gordon B. Hinckley at the prophet's funeral.
President Hinckley, who served as first counselor to President Hunter, said, "His chair is vacant this day, and I feel that vacancy."He referred to President Hunter's suffering from his many physical ailments. "I believe that it went on longer and was more sharp and deep than any of us really know," he said. "He developed a high tolerance for pain and did not complain about it."
And because he suffered, he understood the heaviness of the burden of others who suffered. "He reached out to these with a special kind of love," said President Hinckley.
He spoke of President Hunter's service in the Council of the Twelve, where "each is free to speak his mind, to give his opinion. . . .
ButT no action is taken until there is unanimous accord.
"Now, Brother Hunter was kind and gentle," said President Hinckley. "But he could also be strong and persuasive in his statements. . . . When he spoke, we all listened. His suggestion most often prevailed. But when it was not accepted, he had the flexibility to withdraw his advocacy, to accept the decision of the President of the Church. . . .
"For 36 years now, wearing the mantle of the holy Apostleship, his has been a leading and powerful voice in declaring the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and in moving forward the work of the Church," President Hinckley continued. "He has traveled widely over the earth as a true and able minister in the service of the Master.
"From our point of view," said President Hinckley, "it is tragic that he has served so briefly as president and prophet, seer and revelator of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But during this brief period he touched the hearts of countless thousands at home and abroad."
President Hinckley paid tribute to President Hunter's sons, John and Richard, and to President Hunter's first wife Claire, who also suffered from ill health in her later life until her death. "President Hunter carried that burden locked in his heart. We sensed something of the depth of his quiet suffering, but he seldom spoke of it. Though her illness had been long and difficult, when she passed away it was a crushing blow to him," said President Hinckley. "We watched him through those years of loneliness."
President Hinckley said when President Hunter married Inis, "she added a dimension to his life, and today we share in some small measure her deep sorrow."
President Hinckley said that since President Hunter's passing, expressions of love have come from across the world.
"President Clinton called me on Monday to personally express his condolences, as he put it, `on the loss of your great leader.'
"Mortal life for President Hunter has been more of a mission than a career," President Hinckley said. "And as certain as have been pre-mortal life and mortality, there is an ongoing continuance after stepping over the threshold of death.
"Last Friday morning he said, `Thank you,' to those about him; his spirit left his pain-racked body and stepped across that threshold into a better world.
"He has gone to a reunion with loved ones who have preceded him. And I think I can see him, as the 14th president of the Church in this dispensation being welcomed into a circle with Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Lorenzo Snow, Wilford Woodruff, Joseph F. Smith, Heber J. Grant, George Albert Smith, David O. McKay, Joseph Fielding Smith, Harold B. Lee, Spencer W. Kimball and Ezra Taft Benson."
