Emil B. Fetzer was the head architect The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1965 to his retirement in 1986.

Fetzer was the son of John Fetzer Sr. (one of six architects for the Idaho Falls Temple) and Margaret Baer Fetzer. He was the brother of Elizabeth Fetzer Bates

Elizabeth Fetzer Bates

Elizabeth Fetzer Bates was a Latter-day Saint musician, most noted for being the author of the children's song "Book of Mormon Stories"....

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Fetzer married June Alma Seyfarth on Jun 14, 1940 in the Salt Lake Temple

Salt Lake Temple

The Salt Lake Temple is the largest and best-known of more than 130 temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the sixth temple built by the church, requiring 40 years to complete, and the fourth operating temple built since the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo,...

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Fetzer received a degree in architecture from the University of Southern California

University of Southern California

The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...

. He then went to work for the architectural firm of Fetzer and Fetzer, which also included his father John and his brother Henry.

In 1965 Fetzer was called as the Architect of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by David O. McKay

David O. McKay

David Oman McKay was the ninth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , serving from 1951 until his death. Ordained an apostle and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1906, McKay was a general authority for nearly 64 years, longer than anyone else in LDS Church...

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Fetzer was the architect for many LDS temples including the Mexico City Temple. On this temple he was influenced in its design by ancient Mayan

Maya civilization

The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...

 temples. Fetzer was architect for over twenty temples including the Atlanta Georgia Temple

Atlanta Georgia Temple

The Atlanta Georgia Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the first temple built by the church in the Southeastern United States and the second temple east of the Mississippi River since 1846...

; Freiberg Germany Temple

Freiberg Germany Temple

The Freiberg Germany Temple is a temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, located in Freiberg, Saxony, Germany...

; the Jordan River Temple; the Provo Temple; the Ogden Temple; the Sao Paulo Brazil Temple

São Paulo Brazil Temple

The São Paulo Brazil Temple is the 19th constructed and 17th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Located in the Brazilian city of São Paulo, it was the first LDS temple built in South America, and also the first temple to use the single story, single spire design...

; and the Tokyo Japan Temple

Tokyo Japan Temple

The is the 20th constructed and 18th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Located in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, it was the first temple built in Asia. It has a compact style that was a precursor for later urban area temples such as the Hong Kong China Temple and the...

. He was the initial architect on the Papeete Tahiti Temple

Papeete Tahiti Temple

The Papeete Tahiti Temple is the 27th constructed and 25th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Located in the city of Papeete on the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia, it was built with a modern single-spire design....

 but only for the general concept of the building. He was the general supervising architect for the Washington DC Temple. He was also involved with the planning for the first Apia Samoa Temple

Apia Samoa Temple

The Apia Samoa Temple was the 24th constructed and 22nd operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was the first temple built in Samoa and the third to be built in Polynesia...

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He was the architect of the building that houses the Manhattan New York Temple

Manhattan New York Temple

The Manhattan New York Temple is the 119th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It is the second "high rise" LDS temple to be constructed, after the Hong Kong China Temple, and the third LDS temple converted from an existing building...

, although the Temple itself was constructed 18 years after his retirement.

Other buildings he designed include the South Visitors Center on Temple Square and the Spencer W. Kimball Tower

Spencer W. Kimball Tower

The Spencer W. Kimball Tower, also known as the SWKT or Kimball Tower, is a 12-story building that houses classrooms and administrative offices on the Brigham Young University campus in Provo, Utah.-Honorary name:...

 on Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...

 campus.

Fetzer was also the general supervisor of the refurbishing of the Assembly Hall

Salt Lake Assembly Hall

thumb|200px|right|Front entrance to the Assembly Hall with the [[Seagull Monument]] in foregroundthumb|200px|right|Inside Assembly HallThe Salt Lake Assembly Hall is one of the buildings owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the southwest corner of Temple Square in Salt Lake...

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Fetzer died on November 2, 2009 of causes incident to age.