After a life of faithful service to his family and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Richard D. Allred, emeritus General Authority Seventy, died March 20, 2025, in Logan, Utah, at the age of 92.
Elder Allred served as a general authority from 1997 to 2002. In addition, he and his wife, Sister Gay Banner Allred, served as leaders of the Guatemala Quetzaltenango Mission from 1979 to 1983 and the Guatemala Missionary Training Center from 1986 to 1988.
The two also served as president and matron of the Guatemala City Guatemala Temple from 1990 to 1993.
Besides serving on a general level, Elder Allred also fulfilled callings as a regional representative, stake patriarch, stake president, bishop and temple worker.
His service was a reflection of his testimony of Jesus Christ, he testified. “He is my Deliverer, my Redeemer, and my Advocate with the Father. … He is my friend, and I love Him. My only desire is to serve Him and to please Him” (BYU–Idaho devotional, “True Course — Destination Verified,” Feb. 17, 2004).
Richard David Allred was born on Aug. 3, 1932, in Shelley, Idaho. Elder Allred said he learned the importance of family, hard work and the gospel from his mother, Glendora Malcom Allred, and his father, Elwood B. Allred, who taught seminary.
He met Gay Banner at Church youth activities in Burley, Idaho, although the two did not begin to date until his junior year at BYU. She wrote him during his 30-month mission to Mexico, and they were married on Dec. 19, 1956, in the Logan Utah Temple.
“I married over my head,” he told the Church News in an interview after his call as a general authority. “I do not deny that if it were not for my beautiful, faithful wife, I would be doing something else right now.”
Elder Allred earned a bachelor’s degree from Utah State University and then joined the U.S. Air Force. He later received a master’s of business administration from the University of Arkansas.
Between his years as an Air Force avionics officer and his service in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the family lived in many locales — Colorado, Missouri, California, Montana, Greece, Texas, Greenland and Central and South America.
Whatever and wherever he went, he gave his all, commented Sister Allred. “He loves the people, and they know it. He has a great talent for working with people” (Ensign, May 1997).
In his one general conference address in October 1997, Elder Allred — who had served as a stake patriarch — encouraged Latter-day Saints to receive and cherish a patriarchal blessing. “The Lord loves His children and wants to bless them and wants all of them to return to Him and dwell in His presence for time and all eternity (see Moses 1:39). The Lord is willing to pronounce His blessing upon those who love Him and keep His commandments" (“The Lord Blesses His Children through Patriarchal Blessings,” October 1997 general conference).
In his spare time, Elder Allred enjoyed photography, hunting, camping and fishing — or just about anything as long as he could do it with his wife. “We enjoy each other,” he said. “We come looking for each other. … It is just being together and feeling of each other’s spirit and sharing the choiceness and the beauty of the moment. We read together. We study the scriptures. We used to run together; now that we are getting older we walk together. We enjoy being one with another. Those are the important things.”
In a Church News article, Elder Allred recalled taking six young grandchildren fishing with six fishing poles. Despite the chaos, Elder Allred said he wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything. “Family is where it is,” he said.
He and his wife relied on one another and their testimonies to weather life’s storms. “The experiences in our lives that could have been traumatic, we evaluated in the context of the gospel,” he said of the death of their young son, Richard Stanford, when he was 3 years old.
“I can never remember when I did not have a belief in the Savior and recognized Him as my Savior, as my Redeemer, as my special friend,” Elder Allred said.
Elder Allred’s obituary notes that he was welcomed “to his heavenly home” by his wife, who died in 2019, as well as their three sons — Kirk, David Alan and Richard Stanford — and his parents and siblings.
He is survived by 14 grandchildren and 38 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be Friday, March 28, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Foothill 1st Ward meetinghouse, 1450 E. 1500 North, Logan, Utah. Viewings will be on Thursday, March 27, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Allen-Hall Mortuary, 34 E. Center St., Logan, and before the service on Friday. Interment will follow on Saturday, March 29, at 1 p.m. at Pleasant View Cemetery in Burley, Idaho.
Correction: A previous version of this article misidentified the Allreds’ son who died as a child. His name is Richard Stanford.
