New leaders of Historic Kirtland are spring-ing into mission after move

Gary and Marilyn Walton have begun to explore the area around their new Northeast Ohio home as much as pandemic protocols will allow.

“We love how green it is compared to Utah, and we know it will become even greener as spring progresses,” said Marilyn.

They’ve already spotted the first of spring’s emerging crocuses.

The Waltons are the new directors of Historic Kirtland, a 15-acre site in Kirtland where followers of Joseph Smith — founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — lived and worked for seven years, beginning in 1831. Smith’s followers, who once numbered more than 3,200 souls, built the Kirtland Temple on the crest of a hill where Route 306 is now and established a village in the valley below it.

Today, the Kirtland Temple, closed because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, is run by the Community of Christ.

The restored village, where the Walltons will live during their twoyear assignment, is also home for seven other missionary couples. It includes a one-room schoolhouse, an ashery, the John Johnson Inn, the Newel Whitney store, a sawmill and a large visitor center. Less than a mile away is Morley Farm, also considered part of the site.

Their responsibilities stretch to Hiram, where the John Johnson home sits.

Historic Kirtland, owned and operated by the LDS Church, has been closed to the public since the pandemic began. But the seven missionary couples have stayed busy by conducting virtual tours.

The Waltons replace Dan and Jan Isaacs, who oversaw the restored community starting in 2019.

“We’re thrilled to be here,” said Gary, 66, who retired after 32 years working as a researcher for the Salt Lake City-based church. “Being here also gives us a greater sense of how critical those seven years were in the development of the church. We have also gained a greater appreciation for those who lived, worked and sacrificed to form the church.”

Marilyn, 67, retired a year ago as director of the Women, Infants, and Children’s program at Utah County Health.

“I’m a dietitian by training, and the WIC program has a strong nutrition and education component,” she said.

As a young woman, she had served her church as a missionary in Pennsylvania while her husband served as a missionary in Austria. Marilyn visited Historic Kirtland many years ago, but it’s her husband’s first time in the area.

Prior to COVID-19, the Waltons enjoyed going to plays and concerts and traveling, especially to visit their four grown children and 16 grandchildren. One son lives in Finland, a daughter resides in Texas and the two others live in Orem, Utah, where the Waltons lived before coming to Northeast Ohio.

Joseph Smith and his wife, Emma, lived in the Newel K. Whitney store while their home on the hill was being built. And Smith lived for a time in the John Johnson home in Hiram. He and his followers left Kirtland early in 1838 for Independence, Missouri.

Virtual tours of Historic Kirtland portray and interpret its history rather than proselytizing, Walton said.

“The majority of those who visit Historic Kirtland already are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” Gary said. “But as the COVID restrictions begin to lift, we will welcome local people to visit and learn about our history.”

In 2019, the church’s president publicly discouraged the use of the word “Mormon” to describe the church and its 15 million members worldwide.

SUBMITTED Marilyn and Gary Walton, new directors of the 15-acre Historic Kirtland, have moved here from Orem, Utah, to fulfill their two-year commitment to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.