
W. Cleon Skousen (1913-2006) was a popular teacher, lecturer and
author in the United States for over 40 years. Born in Raymond, Alberta, Canada on
January
20, 1913, Dr. Skousens growing up years were spent in Canada,
Mexico, and California.
At age 17 he was called
to serve a two-year, LDS
mission to Great Britain for the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He
later attended college at the San Bernardino Junior College
where he was
elected Student Body
President.
With
scholarships and encouragements,
he left California in
1 934
to work as a government aid in
Washington
DC.
Later Dr.
Skousen applied and was hired as an FBI agent.
Dr. Skousen married
his sweetheart, Jewel Pitcher of San Bernardino, California,
August 1936. During the past 69 years,
they have raised 8 children and are the grandparents of 50
grandchildren and over 69 great-grandchildren.
He resided in Salt Lake City, Utah, the
remainder of his life.
Dr. Skousen served the FBI for 16 years
(1935-1951), and worked closely with J. Edgar Hoover. In 1951 he
was asked to join the faculty of Brigham Young University. Here he
headed up the Student Alumni organization. In 1956 he was asked to serve
as Chief of Police of Salt Lake City. During his 4 year service, he also
wrote his national best seller, "The Naked Communist." He also was the
editor of the nations leading police magazine, "Law And Order." In 1960
he left the police force and began speaking tours around the country on
the political crisis during that time period. He also ran for the
governors office in Utah, but narrowly missed the primaries.
In 1967,
Dr. Skousen returned to BYU as a
professor in the Religion Department. He taught
classes on The Book of Mormon, The Old Testament, and early LDS Church
History. He continued that assignment until his retirement in
1978.
In 1972 Dr. Skousen organized a non-profit educational foundation, named "The Freemen
Institute." Later changed to "The National Center for Constitutional
Studies" (NCCS), Dr. Skousen and his staff became the nations leading
organization in teaching seminars on the Founding Fathers and the U.S. Constitution. His
book, "The Making of America" has been used nation-wide to educate students on
the original intent of the Founders.
His many books and recordings include subjects from raising boys to
principles of good government, to prophetic history. Listed in this web
site are all the books and tapes which are still
available today; Dr. Skousen shares a wealth of
knowledge and optimism--a "diamond dust"
of exciting history and eternal principles of hope,
that
calms the sea in today's stormy world of
seemingly chaos and uncertainty.
Dr. Skousen passed away peacefully in his home on January 9, 2006, of
natural causes incident to age, just 11 days shy of his ninety-third
birthday.
He was lovingly surrounded by his family and wife Jewel, with whom he
was anticipating their 70th wedding anniversary in August. He will truly
be missed by many. |