Wife of LDS Church President Passes Away

(SALT LAKE CITY, UT)  —  The wife of the president of the LDS church has died.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints said in a statement on its web site that Frances B. Monson died at 6:35 a.m. Friday at a hospital in Salt Lake City.   Thomas S. Monson says his wife was the family’s beacon of love, compassion and encouragement.  The cause of death was due to incidents consistent with age. The church says she had been hospitalized for several weeks and was surrounded by her family at the time of death.   Frances Monson grew up in Salt Lake City during the Great Depression.  Sister Monson was an accomplished pianist and tennis player.   She met Thomas Spencer Monson in 1944 while attending the University of Utah.  The couple married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1948.  Frances B. Monson was 85-years old.