Frederick Niels Larsen (January 15, 1932 – April 26, 2019) was the President of the High Priesthood of the

Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints The Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, usually referred to as the Remnant Church, is a denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The prophet / president of the church is Terry W. Patience. History In the 1970s and 1980s, ...

and the great grandson of

Joseph Smith III Joseph Smith III (November 6, 1832 – December 10, 1914) was the eldest surviving son of Joseph Smith (founder of the Latter Day Saint movement) and Emma Hale Smith. Joseph Smith III was the Prophet-President of what became the Reorganized Chu ...

Early life

Frederick Niels Larsen was born January 15, 1932, in the house occupied by his grandfather, Frederick M. Smith. The house in Kansas City, Missouri was the home of his parents Edward J. Larsen, a Danish immigrant and Lois A. (Smith) Larsen, daughter of the President/Prophet. The family moved to a 20-acre farm in East Independence in 1937.

Education

Larsen attended eight years at the DeKalb grade school located adjacent to the front yard of the farm home. After one year at the Independence Junior High School and one year at the

William Chrisman High School William Chrisman High School is a high school located in Independence, Missouri, United States, as part of the Independence School District. History The school was founded in 1888 and was known as Independence High School. The first building was ...

the family moved to Santa Ana, California where Larsen attended Garden Grove Union High School, graduating in 1950. Larsen attended

Graceland College Graceland University is a private university with campuses in Lamoni, Iowa, and Independence, Missouri. The university offers degree completion and master's degree programs at satellite campuses in Centerville and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Trento ...

Lamoni, Iowa Lamoni is a city in Decatur County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,969 at the time of the 2020 Census. Lamoni is the home of Graceland University, affiliated with the Community of Christ, and the city was the church's headquarters fro ...

and the University of Kansas City, Missouri. He concentrated his interests in the field of the Physical Sciences and graduated in 1959 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry.

Work experience

While attending college he worked in the analytical laboratories of the Lake City Arsenal, the Great Lakes Pipeline Co., Chemagro Corporation, and the Bendix Corporation. He retired from Bendix (now Honeywell Corp.) in 1994 after 35 years of service. Larsen served as a consultant in the field of Polymer Science at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory in Livermore, California in 1975 and 1976. After “retirement” he joined his brother Daniel in a capital venture company, Infinity Inc., and assisted in building wastewater treatment plants in

Chanute, Kansas Chanute () is a city in Neosho County, Kansas, United States. Founded on January 1, 1873, it was named after railroad engineer and aviation pioneer Octave Chanute. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,722. Chanute is home ...

and

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne ...

. Larsen also worked with the City of Independence Police Department’s Crime Scene Unit, where as a Forensic Chemist for at least 5 years he analyzed illicit drugs and methamphetamine labs for the City and the Jackson County Drug Task Force.

Personal life

Larsen married Mary Louise Malott and they had five children, Larry, Linda, Luann, Brian, and Stephen, and ten grandchildren.

Latter Day Saint affiliations

Larsen grew up as a member of

Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church, and is the second-largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The churc ...

(now known as the Community of Christ). Prior to 1996 the RLDS church followed the doctrine of Lineal succession, where certain key church positions, such as

President of the Church In the Latter Day Saint movement, the President of the Church is generally considered to be the highest office of the church. It was the office held by Joseph Smith, founder of the movement, and the office assumed by many of Smith's claimed succe ...

and the

Presiding Patriarch In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Presiding Patriarch (also called Presiding Evangelist, Patriarch over the Church, Patriarch of the Church, or Patriarch to the Church) is a church-wide leadership office within the priesthood. Among the duties ...

, were held by right of lineal inheritance. As a descendant of

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, ...

, Larsen had a close association with those leaders in the RLDS Church. He was

blessed Blessed may refer to: * The state of having received a blessing * Blessed, a title assigned by the Roman Catholic Church to someone who has been beatified Film and television * ''Blessed'' (2004 film), a 2004 motion picture about a supernatural ...

as a baby and

confirmed In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

a member of the RLDS church by his grandfather, Frederick M. Smith; ordained to the office of Priest in 1956 by Israel A. Smith, his great uncle; ordained to the office of Elder by W. Wallace Smith, his great uncle and he and Mary received their Patriarchal Blessings by Elbert A. Smith, a second cousin. Larsen would also serve as the minister of the East Alton and Beacon Heights RLDS branches in Independence. However, in 1984 he ended his active membership in the RLDS Church. He would begin to attend the Blue Springs Restoration branch and the Conference of Restoration Elders in 1996. The Restoration Branches formed in the 1980s by members of the RLDS church in a reaction against the events of the RLDS 1984 world conference. Larsen was one of the twelve signers of the “Proclamation and Invitation to the Faithful” in May 1999, which help lead to the creation of the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on April 6, 2000. On April 8, 2001, Larsen was made a High Priest and set apart as President of the High Priests Quorum of the Remnant Church. In April 2002, Larsen, as a descendant of Joseph Smith, was chosen to become the President of the High Priesthood and sustained as the

Death and succession

Larsen died on April 26, 2019. Following his death, Terry W. Patience became President of the High Priesthood/Prophet/President.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Frederick Niels 1932 births 2019 deaths American Latter Day Saint leaders American Latter Day Saints American people of Danish descent American people of English descent American people of Scottish descent Latter Day Saint leaders People from Kansas City, Missouri Smith family (Latter Day Saints) Bendix Corporation people