Daughter describes President Nelson — father of 10 — as ‘calm, patient and loving’ parent
And Russell M. Nelson Jr. — Russell and Dantzel’s youngest child and only son — compared his father and mother in their home to the brain and the heart of a body
President Russell M. Nelson shared photos of his family in honor of Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 10, 2020. From left, a picture of Sister Dantzel Nelson, Wendy, Marsha and President Nelson taken in 1951 in Washington, D.C. Screenshot from President Russell M. Nelson's Facebook page
Editor’s note: After a lifetime of dedicated service, President Russell M. Nelson died on Sept. 27, 2025, at age 101. This article is part of a series exploring different facets of President Nelson’s exemplary, faith-filled life.
As a pre-med student, Russell Nelson first saw Dantzel White on the stage during rehearsals for the play “Hayfoot, Strawfoot,” at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus. He had agreed to play the lead and was delighted to learn the lovely brunette with the beautiful soprano voice would be the show’s leading lady.
Life soon mimicked art, and the two began dating. They were married Aug. 31, 1945, in the Salt Lake Temple.
Through the years, Dantzel and Russell weathered early financial hardships as he pursued medical training, faced demanding professional and family obligations, and gave countless hours of Church service, all the while growing their family.
In 1957, with five daughters at home and a baby on the way, Dantzel told her husband of a vivid dream she had of a baby boy with a round face and lots of hair. The Nelsons brought home four more baby girls before Dantzel delivered the beautiful, 12-pound boy she had seen in her dream, completing their family with 10 children.
As a father, President Nelson was “calm, patient and loving,” his daughter Gloria Nelson Irion told the Church News in a podcast episode in 2023.
Added daughter Laurie Nelson Marsh: “I feel like there was a high level of love in our home. And there was a high expectation that we would be an eternal family.”
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President Russell M. Nelson shared photos of his family in honor of Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 10, 2020. From left, a picture of Sister Dantzel Nelson, Wendy, Marsha and President Nelson taken in 1951 in Washington, D.C. | Screenshot from President Russell M. Nelson's Facebook page
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President Russell M. Nelson and his first wife, Dantzel White Nelson, at the University of Utah in 1942. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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Russell M. Nelson married Dantzel White in the Salt Lake Temple on Aug. 31, 1945. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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Russell and Dantzel Nelson cut their wedding cake on Aug. 31, 1945. | Courtesy of Nelson family
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Dantzel Nelson with fourth daughter, Brenda. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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Daughters of President Russell M. Nelson and the late Sister Dantzel Nelson play together. Left to right, Wendy, Gloria and Marsha, are three of nine sisters in the family. | Courtesy Nelson family
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Old family photo of President Russell M. Nelson. | Courtesy of Nelson family
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Russell M. Nelson and Dantzel Nelson with their eight daughters. | Russell Nelson Facebook
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Russell M. Nelson and Dantzel Nelson welcome a new baby. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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Marion Nelson, Russell M. Nelson and Russell Nelson Jr. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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Elder Russell M. Nelson and his first wife, Sister Dantzel White Nelson, who died in 2005. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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President Russell M. Nelson with family. | Courtesy of Nelson family
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President Russell M. Nelson and his wife, Sister Dantzel Nelson, pose for a photo with their ten children. | Screenshot from President Nelson's Facebook page
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The Nelson family in 1982. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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Provided by the Nelson family
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President Russell M. Nelson and his wife Wendy Watson Nelson
Courtesy Nelson family | Courtesy Nelson family, Courtesy Nelson family
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Family photo of the Nelsons. | Provided by the Nelson family
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President Russell M. Nelson holds one of his posterity in March 2010. | Courtesy Nelson family
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President Russell M. Nelson hugs a granddaughter in this archive photo. | Courtesy Nelson family
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President Russell M. Nelson and his wife Wendy Watson Nelson with family with family at the temple. | Provided by the Nelson family
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President Russell M. Nelson and his wife, Sister Wendy Nelson, virtually welcome a new baby to their family during COVID-19 restrictions in a photo from a social media post on Sept. 20, 2020. | Screenshot from President Russell M. Nelson's Facebook page
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Elder Russell M. Nelson escorts his granddaughter, Kimberly Ringwood, out after the funeral service of his wife, Dantzel White Nelson, at the Salt Lake Bonneville Stake on February 18, 2005. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
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President Russell M. Nelson the 17th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints receives hugs from family members after he and his councilors President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor and President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor held a press conference at the church office building in Salt Lake City Utah on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018. | Scott G Winterton, Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
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President Russell M. Nelson, the 17th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, receive hugs from family members after he and his counselors — President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor, and President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor — held a press conference at the church office building in Salt Lake City Utah on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018. | Scott G Winterton, Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
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President Russell M. Nelson talks with family members after a press conference at the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
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President Russell M. Nelson, the 17th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, receives hugs from family members after he and his councilors — President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor, and President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor — held a press conference at the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City Utah on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
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President Russell M. Nelson with a grandson. | Courtesy of Nelson family
Russell M. Nelson Jr. — Russell and Dantzel Nelson’s youngest child and only son — compared his father and mother in their home to the brain and the heart of a body. “They each had their specific roles, but one couldn’t operate properly without the other. There was no question [Dad] was the head of the home. But there was also no question that our mom was the heart of the home.”
President Nelson “has such confidence in [his children’s] decision-making ability and that they and their spouse, with the Lord, will figure things out,” said Sister Nelson, who married President Nelson in 2006, after the 2005 passing of his first wife.
Each of the Nelson children “are spectacular,” she continued, “which is a true reflection of him as their father, and probably especially their spectacular mother, Dantzel White Nelson.”
In his first talk to the membership of the Church as the newly sustained Prophet, President Nelson noted that his “ever-growing family is one of the greatest joys of my life.”
President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his wife Sister Wendy Nelson and eight of his ten children celebrate his 101st birthday at the Church Administration Building in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. | Jeffrey D. Allred, for the Deseret News
