After a life of steady, dedicated service to his family, the Church and the community, Elder Merrill C. Oaks, an emeritus General Authority Seventy, died Dec. 30, 2024, in North Salt Lake, Utah, after battling an illness related to cancer. He was 88.
Once, when asked how the gospel had affected his life, Elder Oaks replied: “The gospel is my life. I know that this is God’s work with absolute certainty” (Ensign, May 1998).
Elder Oaks shared that testimony as a General Authority Seventy from 1998 to 2004 and as a mission leader of the Washington Seattle Mission from 1996 to 1998. He and his wife, Sister Josephine Christensen Oaks, also served as president and matron of the Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple from 2007 to 2010.
During a 1998 Church News interview when he was called as a general authority, Elder Oaks credited much of what he was able to accomplish in life first to the Lord and then to his mother, Stella Harris Oaks, and his wife.
Merrill Clayton Oaks was born in Twin Falls, Idaho, on Jan. 12, 1936. When Merrill was just 4 years old, his father, Dr. Lloyd E. Oaks — an ear, nose and throat specialist — contracted tuberculosis and died, leaving his mother to raise three young children, including Merrill’s younger sister, Evelyn, and older brother, Dallin, who today is the first counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
His mother’s faith was an anchor, Elder Oaks recalled. “She was just rock solid. When mother prayed, you knew the heavens could hear her,” he added, his voice breaking with emotion.
Soon after his father’s death, his mother moved the family to her parents’ farm in Payson, Utah, for a year. “My grandparents by economic standards were very poor, but by spiritual standards were very rich,” he said.
The farm responsibilities of hauling hay, milking cows and picking fruit taught him to enjoy hard work. After graduating from high school in 1954, he served a full-time mission in eastern Canada.
It was at Brigham Young University that he became reacquainted with Josephine Ann Christensen, a friend of his sister. The two were married Sept. 10, 1958, in the Salt Lake Temple.
In reflecting back during a speech in 2006, Elder Oaks commented: “It seemed a small and simple thing to fall in love and marry my wife on returning from my mission, but after 47 years of marriage and many small and a few large decisions, we find ourselves parents of nine children and grandparents to 36,” adding, “One of the most important gifts we can give our children is the simple knowledge and security that their parents love each other.”
Sister Oaks, in turn, described him as “very loving and warm,” both as a father and husband.
Today, their posterity includes nine children, 42 grandchildren and a growing number of great-grandchildren.
After graduating from BYU with his bachelor’s degree, Elder Oaks earned a medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, interned at the University of Kentucky and specialized in ophthalmology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
In 1967, he joined the practice of his uncle, Dr. L. Weston Oaks, and practiced for 29 years. He served a term as president of the medical staff at Utah Valley Hospital and later was president of the Utah Ophthalmology Society. His obituary notes that he and Dr. Robert Hales performed the first cataract surgeries in Utah that included implanting an artificial lens.
Medical training can instill “a tremendous respect and awe for the human body and how it functions,” Elder Oaks said. “You see God’s hand in its design and know that it did not happen by accident.”
Elder Oaks had the opportunity to travel throughout the world to instruct other doctors and medical students in ophthalmology, including destinations such as Bahrain, China and India.
Through the years, he also served in many Church callings, such as bishop, high councilor, counselor in the stake presidency and stake president.
“His family, patients, employees and those he led in the Church appreciated Merrill’s kindness and understanding,” says his obituary.
Elder Oaks is survived by his wife, Sister Josephine Ann Christensen, and nine children: Kathleen (James G. McLaren), Julianna (Howard B. Gee), Amy Jo (Lance N. Long), Gregory Merrill (Susan McDougal), Marlo McKay (Elaine Judd), Tarali (David Rail), Leticia (David M. Strong), Dana Christensen (Anna Morgan), Sterling Clayton (Amanda Ridge); 42 grandchildren; many great-grandchildren; and his brother, Dallin H. Oaks (Kristen McMain), and sister, Evelyn (Lyman Moody).
His funeral will be held at the Foxhill Ward, 200 S. Eagle Ridge Drive, North Salt Lake, on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, at 11 a.m. Viewings will be held at the same location on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, from 7 to 9 p.m., and Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Interment will be in the Provo Cemetery.
