This biographical sketch is adapted from the "News of the Church: Elder
Cree-L Kofford of the Seventy" published in the Ensign for May 1991 on
the occasion of Elder Kofford's call to the Second Quorum of the Seventy.
One winter evening in 1951, high school students Cree-L
Kofford and Ila Macdonald sat at a kitchen table in Ila’s home and discussed
the meaning of life. Ila, the only active member of the Church in her immediate
family, bore her testimony to her friend. Cree (as he is commonly known),
a less-active member, made up his mind after that talk that he was going
to “get serious about what was important in life—namely, the gospel.”
“My conversion to the gospel literally started at
Ila’s kitchen table,” said Elder Kofford. “She taught me about righteousness,
and then gently led me to thirst for it in my life. My testimony grew gradually.
One day, years later, I remember waking up and
saying, ‘This is the most important thing in my life.’ ”
Elder Kofford’s childhood included a wide variety
of experiences that prepared him for his calling as a General Authority. Born in the small
Utah town of Santaquin on 11 July 1933, Cree-L was the oldest of three
sons born to Cree and Melba Nelson Kofford. The Koffords lived in a number
of towns in Nevada, Utah, and California during Cree’s early years, as
his father followed construction projects. When he was nine years old,
Cree moved with his family to a farm in Fairfield, Utah, where he loved
the chance to spend time with his father, since construction jobs in Nevada
sometimes kept them apart. “These were World War II years,” remembered Elder
Kofford. “We had to use horses and pioneer-vintage plows. It was like stepping
back in time one hundred years, and I really learned the value of hard
work.”
Three years later, Cree’s father took a full-time
job as a construction worker. “I grew up in some pretty tough parts of
town,” said Elder Kofford, “and we were totally inactive in the Church.”
But when Cree was fifteen, his family moved to Orem,
Utah, where he met Ila Macdonald. Later, two years after their “kitchen
table discussion,” Cree and Ila were married on 11 September 1953 in the
Manti Temple. Cree earned his bachelor’s
degree at the University of Utah in 1956 and taught high school while
saving money to attend law school. When the Koffords moved to Los Angeles,
Cree attended school at night at the University of Southern California,
and also taught high school. He
graduated with a juris doctorate degree in 1961. During the early years
while Brother Kofford worked to establish his own law practice, he also
taught early-morning seminary.
For more than thirty years, the Koffords lived in
Monrovia and Arcadia, California, where they reared their five children—Sandy
(Kim Chang), Jane (Ford), Bradley, Quinn, and Tracy. Always willing to
serve in the Church, Elder Kofford combined family and career with
his service as bishop of the Monrovia Ward, as stake president (twice),
and as regional representative. Good literature and Tennessee walking horses
have provided diversions for him.
“Sometimes Cree would come home so tired after work,”
said Ila. “But he would just put on his Levi’s, boots, and cowboy hat and
go for a ride in the hills. When he came back after an hour on horseback,
he was a different man.”
As president of the New York New
York Mission, Elder Kofford was filled with a testimony that the gospel
can help Church members meet the challenges of inner-city life. “We have
eight and a half million people in our mission,” said Elder Kofford, “and
I continually witness dramatic changes in the lives of the more than one
hundred new members that our missionaries baptize each month.”
“I think missionary work is the ultimate in Church
service,” said Sister Kofford. “It is difficult to describe the power of
a sacrament meeting in Queens as ward members from a variety of cultures
sing ‘I Believe in Christ’—each in their native language.”
Because of his willingness to serve, Elder Kofford’s
testimony has come a long way since that March evening in 1950. “I’ll do
anything you ask,” said Elder Kofford, “but if I have a choice, I want
the hardest job you can give me. Then I know I’ll have to pull out the
best that I have to give in order to meet the challenge.”
Elder Kofford served in the Second Quorum of the Seventy
until April 2, 1994 when he was sustained to the First Quorum of the Seventy.
As a General Authority, he most recently served as president of the Utah North area of the Church. He also served as president of the Asia and North America Northeast areas and in area presidencies in North America West, the Pacific, and North America Southwest.
In October 2003, Elder Kofford was honorably released from the First Quorum of the Seventy and granted Emeritus Status.
