John L. Sorenson
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Early Years
part 1 of 8
How did John L. Sorenson become the person he is? Tall, thin, and gray-
haired, he is a courtly gentlemen, a model of kindness and consideration.
As bishop of a student ward at Brigham Young University, he patiently
guided young married couples, recalling in the process his own years as
a virtual “professional student.” Friends testify of his unfailing
helpfulness. Many collegues, especially his junior ones, have benefited
from his unasked dispatch to them of clippings or articles that he thought
might aid their projects or spur a new line of effort from them.
Yet one is always aware of his mind, and some who do not know the
whole man encounter only this. An extraordinary mind it is, formed and
disciplined by an uncommonly dynamic and fecund combination of native
intelligence and varied experience. Its formation has included lengthy
formal education and the vigourous exercise of academic skills, as well as
stimulating interaction with other good minds. Yet, as we shall see, John
Sorenson’s intellectual development has not been limited to the
classroom or academic study.
Drawing from an extensive oral history and from a personal friendship of
more than thirty years, I will summarize a dozen periods of notable
growth in John’s life. What we discover is the result of a layering process
by which a succession of rich experiences combined to produce a man of
remarkable ability. At a certain early stage, John was perhaps not
strikingly different from any number of other young males, but before
long no one else had exactly his combination of background and
expertise. As his life has continued and deepened, personal and work
experiences have forged the unique, extraordinary person we honor in
this volume.
Childhood and Youth
Born in 1924 to poor parents in the small northern community of
Smithfield, John L. Sorenson wols seem to have been a poor prospect for
advancing very far in life. The youngest of six children, he remembers his
parents as always being elderly and in poor health. Even before the
Great Depression of the 1930s, they could do little more than keep food
on the table and clothing on their children. The family depended heavily
on the classic pioneer resources of a large garden, fruit trees, a cow, a
pig, and chickens. Survival rather than bright expectations characterized
the family’s hopes.
Yet John’s membories are positive. For one thing, his family was close-
knit: the parents were always there for their children, and older siblings
away from home provided a reinforcing network while John was growing
up. The accomplishments of the preceding five children against heavy
odds had garnered them some sense of pride in family. To be a Sorenson
was to hold some promise and also to feel some responsibility to society.
In addition, the community offered security and calm. Residents could
walk in safety anywhere they needed to go, and few felt the need to lock
their doors. "Smithfield was a three-ward town," John recalls, noting that
such a designation not only communicated the size of a community but
also implied the dominance of Mormonism in the fabric of community life.
Much of life in Smithfield revolved around the ward. One beloved bishop
presided over the ward during most of John's childhood and youth, a
time when John enjoyed attending the children's Primary class and, later,
Sunday School. Ordained a deacon at age twelve, he faithfully fulfilled his
priesthood responsibilities. As president of his deacons and teachers quo-
rums and as secretary in the priests quorum, he proved reliable. With
rare exceptions he attended all his meetings in a day when regular
church attendance among Latter-day Saints was far from the norm. John
found the church to be a source of security. "For me church did take," he
remarks, "and I took to it."
In school John was consistently an excellent student, an accomplishment
he attributes to the pattern established by his older siblings and to
excellent teachers. "Smithfield was a town where the schools and
education were held in particularly high esteem," he remembers. His
report cards throughout his primary and secondary schooling would show
essentially nothing but A grades.
In contrast to his academic success, John remembers feeling socially
rather marginal. Sensitive to the poverty of his family, he. avoided
involvement with children from wealthier homes. He liked neighborhood
sports, especially hoop-on-the-barn basketball, but never excelled in
them. Having skipped the second grade, John was always a year younger
than his classmates, a fact that probably exacerbated his sense of
distance from many of them.
Yet the teachers certainly knew of young John Sorenson. Gecause the
classwork was relatively easy for him, he spent a good deal of time
helping those who struggled to learn. Many students must have come to
know him as a valued friend or pleasant and capable acquaintance, for
he was elected student body president of his junior high school. In high
school his social life expanded: he was business manager of the
yearbook, and he participated in debate and wrote for the school paper.
He was also active in seminary, where he had "outstanding teachers." "I
hope I avoided snobbery," he says, revealing a continuing concern with
something he considers to be a reprehensible social sin.
Even though church, school, and home chores filled his days, John
always made time to read. The local library, which was constructed with
the help of hinds from Andrew Carnegie, provided treasured books and
magazines such as Boys Life and National Geographic. When the Deseret
News published a series of profiles entitled "Know Your World," John
clipped and filed them. This early interest in the wider world helped
establish a basis for his later interest in cultures and geography.
Utah State Agricultural College
At age seventeen, having graduated from North Cache High School, John
entered Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University) in
Logan. A brother and two sisters of his had already graduated from
there. With the campus located only seven miles from Smithfield, John
could pursue a higher education while living at home. "It was a foregone
conclusion that I would attend college," he says. "There was simply no
other prospect."
His older brothers, Curtis and Randall, had become electrical engineers,
and John followed their example. Taking courses heavy in mathematics
and physics, he also prospered in general education courses such as
anatomy, writing, drafting, and metal shop. Because the school was a
land-grant college, all male students participated in ROTC.
During his first quarter at Logan came the attack on Pearl Harbor and
America's entry into World War II. Some form of military service was
inevitable for him, for despite his sickly childhood, he was now in
generally good health. (Until middle age, though, his six-foot frame
almost never carried more than 135 pounds.) Because John and his
friends in the sciences would complete a year of classes before they
became eligible for the draft, they set about to turn their education to
their advantage in the military. John and his hometown buddy Grant
Athay (who eventually became a rather famous astrophysicist) signed up
to be trained as meteorologists in the Army Air Corps. They became
reservists awaiting call-up, and this enabled them to complete a total of
five quarters in college before they were drafted.
A Short Biography
by Davis Bitton