James J. Hamula

James J. Hamula
First Quorum of the Seventy
April 5, 2008 (2008-04-05) – incumbent
Called by	Thomas S. Monson
Personal details
Born	James Joseph Hamula November 20, 1957 (1957-11-20) Long Beach, California, United States

James Joseph Hamula (born November 20, 1957) has been a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since April 2008.

Parents

Hamula's father was Joseph Hamula, a son of Hungarian immigrants who grew up in a heavily Magyar speaking area of metro Cleveland, Ohio. After his service in the Navy, Joseph Hamula attended school in Southern California where he joined the LDS Church. At the urging of his stake president Howard W. Hunter, Joseph served as a missionary for the church in the Swiss–Austrian Mission of the church. After his mission Joseph Hamula married Joyce Jacobs.

Biography

James Hamula was born and raised in Long Beach, California. Hamula then served as an LDS Church missionary in the Germany Munich Mission. After his mission, he received a bachelor's degree in political science and philosophy, a master's degree in political philosophy, and a juris doctorate, all from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

For one summer while studying law, Hamula did an internship in Mesa, Arizona. There he met Joyce Anderson, and in 1984 they married in the Mesa Arizona Temple. They are the parents of six children: Jerilyn, Jordan, Jennifer, Julie, Jared and Joseph.

Hamula has spent most of his career working for the Arizona-based law firm of Gallagher & Kennedy. He was largely involved in Superfund and other environmental law issues.

LDS Church service

In the LDS Church, Hamula has served as a bishop, elders quorum president, stake Sunday School president, a member of a stake high council, and a stake Young Men president. He was also the president of the Mesa Arizona Salt River Stake and the first president of the Mesa Arizona Red Mountain Stake when it was organized in 1992.

From 1994 to 1997, Hamula was the president of the church's Washington D.C. South Mission. From 2000 to 2008, Hamula was an area authority in the North America Southwest Area of the church. He became a member of the church's First Quorum of the Seventy at the church's April 2008 general conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.

References

• Church News, May 31, 2008; April 15, 2000; April 16, 1994; January 29, 1994; November 14, 1992.
• 2008 Deseret Morning News Church Almanac (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Morning News, 2007) p. 192
• “Elder James J. Hamula,” Ensign, May 2008, p. 136

External links

• "General Authorities: Elder James J. Hamula", lds.org
• Grampa Bill's G.A. Pages: James J. Hamula
• James J. Hamula, “The Quest for Wisdom,” Ensign, July 2002, p. 40