History of the Anaheim Sixth Ward: The First Fifty Years (1967-2017)

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(Scroll down to the bottom for information on ordering and pricing.)

From the Back Cover

In 1967 a new congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was formed in Orange County, California. It was to be called the Anaheim Sixth Ward. It was a ward comprised mostly of young families, then, with multiple baby blessings a feature of monthly fast and testimony meetings. Through the early years, the ward grew and was twice divided, spinning off the Anaheim Ninth and Tenth wards. Then, as the pace of new home construction dwindled, and children became teenagers, grew to adulthood and left home, the ward became smaller. The look of the membership change, too, becoming generally older and more diverse.

Practical day-to-day life changed over the years as well. Originally, members were expected to attend three separate meetings on Sunday, and others during the week. Then these meetings were folded into one three-hour block on Sundays. More recently, that block has shrunk to two hours. In the early days, substantial effort was spent raising funds for new church buildings. Now, the Sixth Ward building—home to its members for a half a half century—is being sold.

Throughout these changes, one thing has remained constant: The Sixth Ward has been a family. Its members have cycled through multiple leadership and teaching positions through the years, depending on each other to make the ward run smoothly. Most of the children raised in the Sixth Ward still look back on their years in the ward as formative and happy ones. They remember with fondness and appreciation the countless hours of service given by their adult leaders. Nearly all who have attended the ward for any length of time attest to cherished, lifelong friendships first forged at church. Those feelings of pride, affection, and gratitude are written on every page of this history.

More than anything, the history of the Sixth Ward is a story of the dedication, creativity, and compassion of its remarkable members. May it bring back happy memories for all those who were part of its story.

Author’s Notes

The History of the Anaheim Sixth Ward has been four years in the making. During this time, I have had invaluable assistance from Kathy and Dick McFarlane, Tom Weismuller and Dawn Thurston. I’m also most appreciative of Terry Tomlinson’s earlier work in assembling material from the first 25 years of the ward’s history. I want to acknowledge these contributions at the very outset.

This book came about as a result of a request in late 2015 by Brian Streadbeck, then bishop of the Anaheim Sixth Ward, that I write a history of the ward. In doing so I have assembled and relied on official reports as well as personal anecdotes of ward members through the years. The book is divided into chapters corresponding with the tenures of each of the 10 bishops who served the ward during its first 50 years. In addition, since the Ninth Ward was split off from the Sixth during 26 of the 50 years, I have included a chapter detailing events in that ward during its separate existence.

Although the book is divided according to bishops’ tenures, I have done my best to avoid making it a history told primarily from a male viewpoint. To help me with this I have solicited input from virtually every Relief Society president in the ward’s history as well as many of the Young Women and Primary presidents. I hope as you read it you’ll see, as I’ve seen, that women have had an outsized influence on the operation and history of the ward. 

As I was finishing the first 11 chapters, I decided that a 12th chapter should be added containing biographical sketches of ward members. I recognized that it would be impossible to obtain such information for every member of the ward during its 50-year history, but I have done my best to include biographies of everybody who cooperated (sometimes with a bit of arm-twisting) in providing their information to me. As a result, many readers may find that they will enjoy browsing the biographies in Chapter 12 as much as any other chapter in the book.

Although this is primarily a history and not a picture book, I have tried to collect and include photographs taken at selected ward events through the years as well as portraits of many of the families who have been the backbone of the ward during its 50-year history. I hope these will bring back fond memories. 

Pricing and Orders

This is a large book, 8 by 10 inches in size and containing about 390 pages. It has been published by Blurb, the leading self-publishing platform in the world. Because of the many pictures, I decided to publish it in full and glorious color. As a result, it is an expensive book. 

Here is a link to the book on the Blurb website. As you can see, the base price of the book, if you were to purchase it on the website, would be $78.19. Adding taxes and shipping brings the price to $88.55 per book. I arranged for a more favorable price for pre-orders, but all of those books have been sold. However, I recently noticed that Blurb was running a 30%-off sale and bought ten more books at $62.50 per book. I will sell those books to anyone who wants them at that price. Several of them have already been sold, but I have a few left. 

My email address is morristhurston@gmail.com. Note that if you use the comment form at the bottom of this page, your comment won’t show up immediately. I have to approve it, which I am usually able to do within 24 hours.

 — Morris Thurston

55 thoughts on “History of the Anaheim Sixth Ward”

  25. Lisa Jensen

    I would like one copy please. Bro. Thurston, thank you so much for your great efforts to write this history. It will be so special to read.

    Lisa Jensen
    4431 E. 6th Avenue Parkway
    Denver CO 80220

    Reply ↓
  28. Pouneh Hanafi

    Pouneh Hanafi would like a copy ! I’m in Okinawa Japan but the address is a US address.

    Pouneh Hanafi
    PSC 557 Box 2300
    FPO, AP 96379

    Reply ↓
  30. David Jackson

    We want a copy please but first a question, has this been made available to the other wards? If not we would like two copies please

    Reply ↓
  31. Pat Ranck

    Morrie, we would like 4 copies. We can pick them up from the McFarlanes if that will work for you. We know this history has been such an overwhelming project for you and all that have been involved. We love you for doing this project and blessing all of our lives with these wonderful blessings. Thank you

    Reply ↓
  41. Brad and Kim Christensen

    Christensens would like 2 copies please. Thank you so much for doing this.

    625 E 100 N, Alpine, UT

    Reply ↓
  43. Gary McArthur

    Quite an undertaking Morrie. I am reminded of the time when on a special Sunday we had most of the former players of the very successful ward team. In setting the stage for a team picture you suggested that every one line up according to the best shooters. We thought it odd but humorous. After taking the picture you suggested that we line up for another picture according to those who “thought” they were the best shooters. I have always wondered if you had this planned well beforehand or whether it was spontaneous.

    One book for the McArthurs please. For the effort and the memories. Without even seeing it I know it will be more than worth the price.
    Thank you

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  44. Dixie Williams

    Thank you for all your effort! What a treasure. We loved our time in the 6th ward. One copy please.
    Brandon and Dixie Williams
    404 N 950 E
    Declo, ID 83323

    Reply ↓
  46. V. Alan Swensen

    Hi Morrie –
    Please put Kathy and I down for one copy. Thanks for making this history available to us! We treasure the memories of our time with members of the Anaheim Sixth Ward. Our mailing address is 4251 Stone Crossing Provo, UT 84604.
    Warm regards,
    Alan

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  54. Stephanie Wilkey

    Randy and Stephanie Wilkey would like one copy. Randy served in the 9th ward bishopric with Dean Bowles. We came to Anaheim in 1975 from BYU. We were members of the 6th ward until the 9th ward was formed.

    Reply ↓

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