Sister Shirley Porter, wife of emeritus General Authority Seventy Elder L. Aldin Porter and former matron of the Salt Lake Temple, died on March 28, 2020, in Ogden, Utah, at the age of 93.
Elder and Sister Porter were married on Feb. 19, 1953, in the Idaho Falls Temple. The couple was married for 67 years and have six children.
Sister Porter was born on March 11, 1927, to Wesley Thomas and Bertie Belle Decker Palmer in Houston, Texas. She was the second child with an older brother, Kenneth Karlton Palmer.
After receiving a degree in accounting from the University of Houston, Sister Porter served a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Western States Mission, where she served primarily in Montana. While serving her mission, Sister Porter met her future husband, L. Aldin Porter.
Elder Porter served as a General Authority Seventy from 1987 to 2001. Prior to his call as a General Authority, Elder Porter served as president of the Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission from 1986 to 1987, with Sister Porter as his companion. Following his call as a General Authority Seventy, he served as president of the Salt Lake Temple from 2002 to 2005, with Sister Porter as temple matron.
Throughout her life, Sister Porter prioritized her family and cherished her role as a wife and mother. She was highly active in her roles in the Church and served as a ward and stake Relief Society president, and as a teacher for Primary, Young Women and Sunday School, in addition to accompanying her husband on his many Church assignments.
Although she suffered chronic back pain from spinal stenosis, Sister Porter is remembered as a patient and loving person who rarely complained about her circumstances.
She was preceeded in death by her parents and her brother, as well as her daughter Sherie and her granddaughter Beckie.
A private graveside service for her family was held in April.
