Ramona Hinckley Sullivan, a younger sister to President Gordon B. Hinckley, remembers being in junior high school and longing for a new dress to attend a school dance. Clothing was important to her, as it often was to other young women during those socially formidable years.
"Mother had recently died, and I didn't know how I was going to get a new dress," she said. "I went to Gordon, who was about eight years older than I was and working nights and Saturdays at the Deseret Gym to save money for school.
"I was crying when I told him how much I wanted the dress. I guess I looked so sad that after hearing my plea, he reached into his pocket and gave me a few dollars to buy the dress. He didn't ask any questions, just gave me the money."
From her experiences as a sister, and over the years watching President Hinckley serve the Lord, Sister Sullivan has come to know her brother as one who "always has been an easy touch for those in need."
"I remember as a child, when Gordon would have been about 12 years old, receiving a darling wooden cupboard for my doll for Christmas. I got a doll every Christmas. My two brothers, Gordon and Sherman, had built and painted and finished the cupboard, using tools they had been given several years earlier by our father," Sister Sullivan said.
