Loren C. Dunn

Loren C. Dunn was a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was called as a member of the First Council of the Seventy in April 1968 and granted emeritus status on October 7, 2000.

Dunn was born on June 12, 1930, in Tooele, Utah. He earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism and economics from Brigham Young University. He also earned his master’s degree in public relations from Boston University. During high school and college, he played basketball.

He and his wife, Sharon Longden, were living in the Boston area at the time of his call to the Seventy; he had been working as director of communications for the New England Council for Economic Development. They later returned when he was called as the president of the Boston Massachusetts Temple, a calling he served in until his death from cancer on May 16, 2001.

Dunn was sustained a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy when it was created in 1976. During his service, he was president of the Australia Sydney Mission; served as managing director of the Missionary Department; acted as director of the Adult Curriculum Department; served as executive director of the Historical Department and president of Nauvoo Restoration, Inc.; and served in area presidencies that took him and his family of five children to areas such as Canada, New Zealand, Brazil, and the Philippines.

He wrote the lyrics to the hymn “Testimony,” which is included in the 1985 Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also wrote Prepare Now to Succeed on Your Mission (1977).