Merlin R. Lybbert

Merlin R. Lybbert was a General Authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in the Second Quorum of the Seventy from April 1, 1989 to October 1, 1994. During his service in that quorum, he was also the Sunday School general president. He served as president of the Cardston Alberta Temple from 1994 to 1997. He also served as high councilor, bishop, stake president, and regional representative. He was a missionary in the Eastern States Mission and served as mission secretary for 16 months, then a counselor in the mission presidency.

Lybbert was born on January 31, 1926, in Cranston, Alberta, Canada. Near the end of World War II, he served in the Canadian Army. He received a bachelor’s degree in law and a juris doctorate from the University of Utah. He was an attorney for over thirty years. He represented the University of Utah Hospital for many years and was active in the Utah State Bar Association. In 1981 he was named Utah Trial Lawyer of the Year. He was elected to the American College of Trial Lawyers and was chairman of the Advisory Committee to the Utah Supreme Court on the Rules of Professional Practice.

He and his wife, Nola, were the parents of six children. Their daughter Ruth married Dale G. Renlund, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Lybbert passed away on July 6, 2001.