Thomas S. Monson, the 16th president of the Mormon church, has died after nine years in office. He was 90.
Church spokesman Eric Hawkins says Monson died Tuesday at his home in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Monson spent more than five decades serving in top church leadership councils, making him a well known face and personality to multiple generations of Mormons.
Monson's presidency was marked by his noticeably low profile during a time of intense publicity for the church, including the 2008 and 2012 campaigns of Mormon Mitt Romney for the US Republican presidential nomination, and the faith's involvement in the passage of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in California.
The next church president was not immediately named, but is expected to be Russell M. Nelson. He is the next longest-tenured member of the church's governing Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
