Jeffs' funeral draws 5,080 FLDS prophet laid to rest in service Thursday

By Angie Parkinson The Spectrum

Thousands of members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints make their way from the memorial service to the graveside service of their faith's deceased prophet Rulon Jeffs in Colorado City, Ariz., Thursday. Jeffs was believed to have had between 17 and 75 wives.   Mourners attend the graveside service of the recently deceased prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Rulon Jeffs, in Colorado City, Ariz., Thursday.   Pallbearers load the casket of Rulon Jeffs, the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints into a hearse following his memorial service in Colorado City, Ariz., Thursday.   COLORADO CITY, Ariz. -- The streets and yards in the border communities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, were deserted Thursday afternoon. Residents left their homes and businesses to mourn Rulon Jeffs, the deceased president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs, who was eulogized Thursday at the Leroy S. Johnson Meeting House, became president of the church in 1986 and is regarded not just as a president but as a prophet by followers of the FLDS faith. The church has been a source of controversy over the years because of its polygamist beliefs and allegations of men marrying underage girls. Jeffs was believed to have 17 to 75 wives. The mourners first gathered in the meetinghouse for the funeral, which lasted about two hours, and then walked about a block and a half to the Isaac Carling Memorial Park, where Jeffs was buried. The general public and the press were not invited inside the meeting house during the funeral, but Colorado City Mayor Dan Barlow, who is also the spokesperson for the FLDS church, recounted some of what took place afterward. A total of 5,080 people attended the service. "That's by far the largest crowd we've ever had," Barlow said. "Besides, there was 350 that were tuned in from Canada." Barlow estimated about 4,000 of those in attendance were area residents. Others were FLDS faithful from Salt Lake City and other areas. Barlow said some non-FLDS relatives joined in the services as well. FLDS Bishop Fred Jessop conducted the funeral, while Rulon Jeffs was listed in the program as presiding over the meeting. "Fred Jessop is the only living witness now of the beginning of this work here in Colorado City," Barlow said. Barlow said Jessop remembered Jeffs as a perfect man and a perfect example and a simple teacher. Barlow also recounted the speeches made at the funeral by both Warren Jeffs and Wendell Nielsen. Nielsen said Rulon Jeffs was a man of principle and sweetness. "Keep sweet no matter what" was a favorite phrase of Rulon Jeffs, who died Sunday of illness related to age at Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George. That phrase, as well as a collection of other quotations by Rulon Jeffs, were printed on the back of the funeral program. Barlow said Rulon Jeffs will be missed in the community, but the church will continue. "The watch word is to carry on. Everyone seems very much at peace," Barlow said. One of the questions surrounding the church relates to the leadership.Barlow said the first presidency of the church -- comprised of Jeffs' son, Warren Jeffs, and Jessop -- is in place and will lead the church. Barlow would not comment on the method of choosing a new president, and there is no timeline as to when the next president will be selected. "Time will tell if there is going to be another leader like President Jeffs," he said. Barlow was very clear when asked about the alleged practice of marrying under-age girls among FLDS communities. "Young girls are not married in this community beyond the legal age," Barlow said. Barlow had no comment on the allegations of Ruth Stubbs, a 19-year-old woman and former follower of the FLDS faith who alleges she was married and impregnated at age 16. She said her husband, Rodney Holm, was 32 at the time. Stubbs and Holm, a sworn police officer in both Utah and Arizona, are engaged in a custody battle over their children. Security was tight at the funeral and graveside service. Orange cones defined the area designated for the press, and the local police force stationed cars at various points along the route to Rulon Jeffs' grave. "Our people are private. The things they do they do because they want to serve their God," Barlow said. "They don't do it for necessarily the praise of anyone." Even family members who were not on a guest list were not allowed into the funeral. "I'm here all the way from Austin, and I didn't get in," said Matthew Draper, a grandson of Jeffs. Draper and his brother, Joe Draper, met in Phoenix and traveled to the funeral together with Joe Draper's girlfriend, Cathy Craig. They were turned away at the doorway and told they were not on the list. The Drapers left the FLDS church years ago but have positive memories of their childhood in Salt Lake City, a life that included 22 brothers and 11 sisters. They were schooled at Jeffs' house. "We had enough kids for two baseball teams just in our family," Joe Draper said. About Rulon Jeffs Here are some facts about Rulon Jeffs, the recently deceased president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: Rulon Timpson Jeffs, the 92-year-old president of the FLDS church, died Sunday of illness related to age at Dixie Medical Center in St. George. Members of the FLDS church revered Jeffs as their spiritual leader and prophet. Jeffs was born Dec. 6, 1909, in Salt Lake City. Jeffs was a graduate of LDS Business College and was an accountant by trade. He retired from his accounting practice in 1984 and moved to Hildale, Utah, in September of 1998 in order, he said, to better serve the members of the faith of which he was the leader. He first became affiliated with the FLDS church in the late 1930s, when the religious association was known as the Priesthood Work. He became a leader of the Priesthood Work in the 1940s, when he was appointed a member of its priesthood council. In 1942, Jeffs was instrumental in the formation of the United Effort Plan, which is the longest running United Order effort in modern history. Jeffs served on the priesthood council continuously until November of 1986, when he assumed the leadership of the church following the death of his predecessor, Leroy S. Johnson. Jeffs is believed to have had 19 to 75 wives.

TheSpectrum.com Originally published September 13, 2002

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