Adele Morris Cannon Howells (11 January 1886 – 14 April 1951) was the fourth general president of the Primary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1943 until her death.

Adele Morris Cannon was born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory

Utah Territory

The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....

. She was married to David P. Howells and the couple lived in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

.

After David's death, Howells accepted the request to become in first counselor to Primary general president May Green Hinckley

May Green Hinckley

May Green Hinckley was the third general president of the Primary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1940 until her death. She was the stepmother of Gordon B. Hinckley, fifteenth president of the LDS Church.May Green was born in Brampton, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England.In...

 in 1940. When Hinckley unexpectedly died in 1943, Howells was chosen by LDS Church president Heber J. Grant

Heber J. Grant

Heber Jeddy Grant was the seventh president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . He was ordained an apostle on October 16, 1882, on the same day as George Teasdale...

 as Hinckley's successor. Howells served for nine years, until her death from rheumatic fever

Rheumatic fever

Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease that occurs following a Streptococcus pyogenes infection, such as strep throat or scarlet fever. Believed to be caused by antibody cross-reactivity that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain, the illness typically develops two to three weeks after...

 in Salt Lake City. She was succeeded by LaVern W. Parmley

LaVern W. Parmley

LaVern Watts Parmley was the fifth general president of the Primary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . 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...

, her first counselor in the general presidency.

During her tenure as Primary president and editor of The Children's Friend, Howells commissioned a series of paintings by Arnold Friberg

Arnold Friberg

Arnold Friberg was an American illustrator and painter noted for his religious and patriotic works. He is perhaps best known for his 1975 painting The Prayer at Valley Forge, a depiction of George Washington praying at Valley Forge. He is also well known for his 15 "pre-visualization" paintings...

 depicting scenes from the Book of Mormon

Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...

. Some of these painting are still printed in copies of the Book of Mormon distributed by the LDS Church.

External links

• Adele Cannon Howells : short biography from 2003 church museum exhibit