LaVern W. Parmley

LaVern W. Parmley
5th General President of the Primary
1951 – 1974
Predecessor	Adele C. Howells
Successor	Naomi M. Shumway
First Counselor in the general presidency of the Primary
1943 – 1951
Called by	Adele C. Howells
Predecessor	Adele C. Howells
Successor	Arta M. Hale
Second Counselor in the general presidency of the Primary
1942 – 1943
Called by	May Green Hinckley
Predecessor	Janet M. Thompson
Successor	Dessie G. Boyle
Personal details
Born	LaVern Watts (1900-01-01)January 1, 1900 Murray, Utah, United States
Died	January 27, 1980(1980-01-27) (aged 79–80) Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Resting place	Salt Lake City Cemetery 40.777°N 111.858°W / 40.777; -111.858 (Salt Lake City Cemetery)
Occupation	Physics professor
Employer	University of Utah
Notable works	Editor of The Children's Friend and The Friend
Spouse(s)	Thomas J. Parmley
Children	3
Awards	Silver Buffalo

LaVern Watts Parmley (January 1, 1900 – January 27, 1980) was the fifth general president of the Primary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Parmley was the first woman to be awarded the Silver Buffalo Award from the Boy Scouts of America.

LaVern Watts was born in Murray, Utah. She married Thomas J. Parmley, a physics professor at the University of Utah.

In 1942, Parmley was asked to become the second counselor to May Green Hinckley in the general presidency of the Primary. She served in this capacity until Hinckley's death the following year. When first counselor Adele C. Howells succeeded Hinckley, Parmley was asked to be her first counselor, and she remained in this position until 1951, when Howells was released and Parmley was selected to succeed her as the fifth general president of the Primary. Parmley served as Primary president until she was succeeded by Naomi M. Shumway in 1974; in total, she served 23 years as president and 32 years as a member of the presidency.

During Parmley's tenure, Scouting was integrated into the Primary program for boys ages eight through eleven. The Primary curriculum was also revised and became more centered on teaching doctrines of the LDS Church. "I Am a Child of God", written by Naomi W. Randall and Mildred T. Pettit, was introduced to Primary in 1957 and CTR rings were introduced in 1970.

From 1951 until 1970, Parmley was the final editor of The Children's Friend. Parmley oversaw its phase-out and the launch of the church's new magazine for children, The Friend.

Parmley was the first woman to sit on a national Scout committee in the United States and in 1976 became the first female recipient of the Boy Scouts of America's Silver Buffalo Award.

Parmley died in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. In 2003, one of her sons, William W. Parmley, became a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy, a general authority of the LDS Church.

See also

• List of recipients of the Silver Buffalo Award

References

• Carol Cornwall Madsen and Susan Staker Oman (1978). Sisters and Little Saints: One Hundred Years of Primary (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book) 135–178
• Janet Peterson and LaRene Gaunt (1996). The Children's Friends: Presidents of the Primary and Their Lives of Service (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book) 79–101

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints titles Preceded by Adele C. Howells President of the Primary 1951 – 1974 Succeeded by Naomi M. Shumway First Counselor in the general presidency of the Primary 1943 – 1951 Succeeded by Arta M. Hale Preceded by Janet M. Thompson Second Counselor in the general presidency of the Primary 1942 – 1943 Succeeded by Dessie G. Boyle