Robert Dean Hales (August 24, 1932 – October 1, 2017) was an American businessman and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1994 until his death. As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Hales was accepted by the church as a prophet, seer, and revelator. At the time of his death he was the fifth most senior apostle in the church. Biography Hales was born in New York City and raised in both Queens and Great Neck, New York. He was the youngest of three children born to John Rulon Hales, an artist who worked in advertising primarily, and his wife, Vera Marie Holbrook. The Hales family was heavily involved in the LDS Church. The family attended the Queens Ward, which met in a rented space. As a youth Hales would help clean it from the party that had occurred the night before. Hales played baseball while he was a student at Great Neck High School and then later at the University of Utah (U of U). He also played in some semi-professional leagues, but hurt his arm from pitching that was too intense while playing in Arizona. Prior to this injury, he had been considered to have a strong chance of playing in the major leagues. After the injury forced him out of baseball, Hales joined the Air Force ROTC unit at the U of U. While he was a student at the U of U, Hales worked for KSL-TV and KDYL. After obtaining a bachelor's degree at the U of U, he was a fighter pilot for four years in the U.S. Air Force. Hales later earned an MBA degree from the Harvard Business School (HBS) in 1960. Hales married Mary Crandall, whom he met in New York the summer before his sophomore year of college, in the Salt Lake Temple on June 10, 1953. During the summer they were married, Hales was working at the United Nations building. Crandall, who was a student at Brigham Young University, had moved from California to New York shortly before she met Hales. They had two sons. During his professional business career, Hales served in executive positions with four major national companies. His first job out of HBS was with the Gillette Company. To ensure a broad perspective of the business, Hales convinced management to let