Elder Dean Myron Davies of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died Tuesday night after an extended battle with cancer.

Davies, 69, of North Salt Lake, is survived by his wife, Darla, and their five children and 17 grandchildren.

Davies was called to be a General Authority Seventy during the semi-annual General Conference of the church in October 2020. Prior to that, he served as a counselor in the Presiding Bishopric for eight years, from 2012-2015 as Second Counselor and 2015-2020 as First Counselor.

The Salt Lake City native’s other volunteer church services included time as president of the Puerto Rico San Juan Mission, mission president’s counselor, stake president, stake president’s counselor, stake executive secretary, high councilor, service in several bishoprics and a full-time missionary in the Uruguay/Paraguay Mission.

Prior to these church leadership positions, Davies worked as managing director of the church’s Special Projects Department. He oversaw special purpose real estate, temple design and temple construction.

Davies also worked in the real estate investment, construction and management industries.

He received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from Brigham Young University and also completed advanced executive programs at Stanford and Northwestern Universities.

Prior to church employment, Davies worked for High Industries Inc., of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Bechtel Investments Inc., of San Francisco.

Some of the wisdom shared by Davies includes this short story: While driving home from work in 1989, he was caught in an earthquake in San Francisco that violently shook his car. Later, as he pondered the resulting damage to the area, he was reminded of the importance of building our lives on a sure foundation.

“None of us would knowingly construct our homes, places of work, or sacred houses of worship on sand or rubble or without appropriate plans and materials,” he said in April 2013 during a General Conference address. “Let us accept the Savior’s invitation to come unto Him. Let us build our lives upon a safe and a sure foundation.”

Arrangements for Elder Davies’ funeral are in progress.

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