SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - The first native american to be called as a general authority for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints passed away on Wednesday.
George P. Lee was 67 years old when died in Provo from a long battle with physical problems.
Lee was called by President Spencer W. Kimball to the Church's First Quorum of the Seventy in 1975.
Lee was born on the Navajo Reservation in Towoac, Colorado. he attended Brigham Young University where he earned a bachelors and doctoral degree. He also earned a masters degree from Utah State University.
Lee was the first Native American to get a Doctorate degree from BYU.
Lee divorced his wife in 1996. They had 7 children together.
Lee was excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1989 after a dispute with then-president Ezra Taft Benson. Lee was also arrested in 1989 and eventually pleaded guilty to the attempted sexual molestation of a young girl.
Lee was arrested again in 2007 for failure to register as a sex offender. The case was eventually dropped.
Funeral Services will be held at 11:00 am on Tuesday, August 3rd at the LDS Washington Buena Vista Stake Center on 860 North Fairway Drive, Washington Utah. A viewing will be held at 6:00 to 8:00 pm on Monday, August 2nd at the Spilsbury Mortuary located at 110 S. Bluff Street,
St. George, Utah. There will also be a visitation time prior to the funeral on Tuesday from 9:30 to 10:30 am at the stake center.
