By Paul Koepp
Deseret News
Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009
OREM — On a day in June 1978 in Johannesburg, South Africa, a black man named Moses ran down a long set of church steps, while a white man in his mid-thirties ran up.
They met in the middle and embraced.
E. Dale LeBaron, the white man with a pioneering spirit from a small Canadian farm town, was soon to conduct the first baptismal interview of a black man in Africa.
For years, Moses had been coming to the mission house where LeBaron served as president to collect pamphlets and books, then going out to teach the gospel to anyone who would listen.
That day marked the beginning of a rapid expansion of the LDS Church in Africa following the 1978 revelation that welcomed black men into the church priesthood.
LeBaron's daughter, Debra St. Jeor, recounted the joyous meeting of Moses and her father as one of his favorite stories.
"He developed a deep love for the African people," she said. "People who knew him knew that he loved them."
The renowned BYU professor of church history died Thursday after being struck by a truck while crossing a street near his home in Orem. He was 75.
Police said the driver reported being blinded by the sun when he turned on to 1600 North from 800 West. LeBaron's wife, Laura, and another woman suffered minor injuries.
Story continues below
St. Jeor said her father was devoted to his six children and 34 grandchildren, loved playing games and never missed a baptism in the family.
"His main passion in life was the gospel and his family," she said. "What my dad taught is what he lived."
The oldest child, St. Jeor was just 12 when the family headed to South Africa in 1972.
"It was unbelievable, like this perfect magical childhood," she said. "We went on safaris every chance we got. … He always felt blessed he was able to do that."
In 1988, LeBaron returned to Africa to collect oral histories from church leaders and newly converted members.
"Experienced collectors of oral history told me that I would be fortunate to average one interview a day in Africa," LeBaron said, according to quotes on the Web site of BYU Broadcasting. "But on some days I did as many as a dozen, and in one hundred days I accumulated more than four hundred interviews."
Brent Top, chairman of the church history and doctrine department at BYU, said LeBaron played a key role in chronicling the church's work in Africa.
"He was very much involved because he knew the people," Top said. "He made a real contribution in some of his writings to helping the Saints understand the significance of the 1978 revelation to the worldwide church."
But LeBaron's work abroad should not overshadow the impact he made by teaching at BYU.
"Students would talk about his dignity and authority," Top said. "He was not just another teacher, they viewed him as one of the great leaders of the church."
Funeral services will be Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Timpview Stake Center, 1050 N. 600 West in Orem.
By Sheena Mcfarland
The Salt Lake Tribune
A Brigham Young University retired religion professor and pioneer in spreading LDS doctrine in Africa was killed earlier this week when crossing an Orem street.
E. Dale LeBaron, 75, was walking Thursday with his wife, Laura, 70, and a friend on 1600 North when a small pickup truck struck all three. The driver said the sun was reflecting off frost on his windshield as he made a turn.
"With the sun and the frost, he just didn't see them at all," said Sgt. Craig Martinez of the Orem police.
LeBaron was dragged about 30 yards. He suffered multiple breaks in his arm and leg and three in his pelvis and had a severe head injury, family members said. He never regained full consciousness and died at the hospital. His wife and friend were treated for minor injuries.
LeBaron had spent nearly a decade in South Africa, establishing the LDS Church seminary and institute education programs, and he was a mission president in South Africa in 1978, when the church announced blacks could be ordained to the LDS Church priesthood. It was forbidden prior to that announcement.
In the late '80s and early 1990s, he returned to South Africa and other countries to record oral histories of LDS converts. He later published the book "All Are Alike Unto God," chronicling the stories of 28 African converts.
"Family and the gospel were the central part of his life," said his oldest child, Debra St. Jeor, 49. "He loved doing things with his children and grandchildren
LeBaron would often take his grandchildren fishing, and looked forward to taking his grandsons and their fathers to dinner after LDS General Conference to discuss what they had learned.
He also had a great sense of humor, often pulling practical jokes, St. Jeor said. He once picked up a Halloween face mask at a dollar store for a quarter and "got years of work out of that thing," St. Jeor said.
"Laughter was a big part of our lives," said St. Jeor, who lived with her parents for the last five months while recuperating from surgery while her husband was in Alaska.
One of his 34 grandchildren, Christopher St. Jeor, 24, said that his grandfather would check in with him on a regular basis to ensure his life was on the right path.
"He would always end by saying 'onward and upward,'" he said.
LeBaron grew up on a farm in the small Canadian town of Barnwell, Alberta, where he worked all day just to keep the farm running, Debra St. Jeor said.
"They lived in poverty. They didn't even have running water," she said.
Nevertheless, LeBaron's father sent eight of 10 children, including one daughter, on LDS Church missions well before it was common to do so.
LeBaron was assigned to South Africa. When he returned to Barnwell, he married Laura, who grew up in a neighboring town. The couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in August.
LeBaron attended Brigham Young University after he married, and taught for the school beginning in 1986. He recently retired.
"He taught the gospel through his example. What he said, he lived," Debra St. Jeor said.
City prosecutors are determining, which, if any, charges the 21-year-old driver who hit the three will face, Martinez said.
"Our hearts go out to the young man who hit my dad. It was a terrible mistake and we just are hoping that he can recover from this as well, that he can heal," St. Jeor said.
smcfarland@sltrib.com
Heisman finalists announced
28 minutes ago