Robert LeGrand Backman was a Utah lawyer and politician and has been a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 1978. Since the death of Eldred G. Smith in April 2013, Backman has been the oldest living general authority of the LDS Church. Backman was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, but spent much his youth in South Africa, where his father, LeGrand Backman, was president of the LDS Church's South African Mission. After returning to Utah for his last year of high school, Backman later served as a missionary in the church's Northern States Mission. Backman served in the U.S. Army in the Philippines during the Second World War. Following the war, he enrolled at the law school at the University of Utah. He was a member of the Utah House of Representatives for two terms. Before his call as an LDS Church general authority, Backman served as the president of the church's Northwestern States Mission, as a temple sealer, and as a regional representative. In 1972, he was briefly the second assistant to W. Jay Eldredge, the general superintendent of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association. 

March 22nd, 1922 in Salt Lake City  /  Died:   Jun 3rd, 2022 - aged 100