[1] A native of St. Johns, Arizona, Gibbons received degrees from Stanford University and the University of Utah and practiced law in Utah for eighteen years.

[2] Gibbons served as secretary to the First Presidency until March 1986, when he retired and was succeeded by F. Michael Watson.

[4] In October 1991, Gibbons was honorably released from service in the Second Quorum of the Seventy and as a general authority of the church.

[5] Gibbons also served in the church as a bishop, stake president and patriarch.

[6] He is the author of 20 books, including a biography of Jack Anderson and the hagiographical Prophets of God series about the presidents of the LDS Church.