Elder W. Mark Bassett – loving husband, father, and grandfather. The current General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, lauded as a courageous disciple of Jesus Christ, passed away on Monday, May 11, 2026. He passed away at the age of 59.
According to a notice on ChurchofJesusChrist.org, Elder Bassett suffered a traumatic brain injury while staying with his family in St. George, Utah.
Most recently, Elder Bassett served as executive director of the Church’s mission department, overseeing worldwide mission efforts.
“His service in this calling coincided with a period of historic growth in missionary work around the world and unprecedented levels of missionary commitment to service. Elder Bassett will be deeply missed and will always be remembered for his great faith and dedicated service to the Lord Jesus Christ,” the church notice said.
In a devotional held at the Provo Missionary Training Center just days before his death, he taught how missionaries can help truth seekers find the “hard gate” and “narrow” path to eternal life. He asked missionaries to “invite everyone here and do everything they can to help them enter this beautiful gate that leads to eternal life.”
Elder Bassett was serving as an Area Seventy when he was sustained by a General Authority Seventy in April 2016 general conference.
In an interview with Church News shortly after his call, he said he saw his new calling as a wonderful opportunity to “be a part of building the kingdom of God on earth.”
“I am personally blessed and forever grateful to God,” he said. “I want others to feel the same love, and I’m happy to help in any way I can to make that happen.”
During the past ten years of full-time Church service, Elder Bassett has served as a member of the Brazil, North America Northeast, and North America Southeast Area presidencies.
In teaching new mission leaders in 2024, Elder Bassett testified, “The world desperately needs access to the saving power of Christ. People need the doctrine of Christ. They need baptism and confirmation and all that these ordinances can provide. And what a blessing it is to be a part of this great and wonderful work that can provide exactly what God’s children need.”
William Mark Bassett was born on August 14, 1966 in Carmichael, California, to Edwina Acker and William Lynn Bassett, the second eldest of five children.
“When I was young, I was close with my family and friends, relying on each other and supporting each other,” he said.
Faith-building experiences were fostered by Elder Bassett’s gospel-centered family. Both of his parents were raised in the church and taught their children to develop their own faith.
“I had to decide at a young age what I believed and what it meant,” he said.
After serving a full-time mission in the Guatemala City Mission in Guatemala, he attended Brigham Young University and began a long-distance relationship with Angela Brasher, a young woman from his hometown.
They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on December 20, 1989, and have five children.
In 1991, the elder Bassett earned a degree in accounting from BYU and then returned to the Sacramento area with his family to work in the wholesale auto auction industry. He served as a controller at Brashear’s Sacramento Auto Auction and as chief financial officer and co-owner of West Coast Auto Auction, Inc., which operated automobile auctions throughout the Western United States.
In 2007, he and his wife were called to lead the Arizona Mesa Mission.
Sister Bassett said of her husband: “His humility and the way he treats others stands out to me.” “I love watching him interact with the people he serves. … He cares about people. He’s kind. He remembers people and is always quietly doing things for others.”
Elder Bassett spoke twice in general conference, in October 2016 and in April 2023.
“He lives. Jesus Christ is His Only Begotten Son and the Redeemer of mankind. Because of His infinite Atonement, He has the wisdom and foresight to guide us in these latter days. Joseph Smith is God’s chosen prophet to fully restore God’s Kingdom to the earth,” he testified (“For Our Spiritual Development and Learning,” October 2016 general conference).
Funeral services are pending.
