Elder Gregory A. Schwitzer

As a doctor specializing in emergency medicine, Elder Gregory Allan Schwitzer of the Seventy has cared for many with life-threatening injuries and has been blessed to see the kindness of our Heavenly Father in helping them and their loved ones at these trying crossroads.

“I have held the hands of many patients who have passed through the veil,” he says. When faced with their mortality, many turn to their Heavenly Father, “because He is ultimately the hope they grasp for.”

Elder Schwitzer was born on April 2, 1948, to Harvey and Gloria Schwitzer in Ogden, Utah, USA, where he also grew up. He served a full-time mission in the North German Mission. He graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in biology in 1972 and received his medical degree in 1975, both from the University of Utah. He did postgraduate work for five years as part of the United States Army Medical Corps at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Denver, Colorado, USA.

Elder Schwitzer and his wife, Jo Ann Elizabeth Rawsthorne, were married on June 24, 1971, in the Cardston Alberta Temple. They are the parents of five children.

While their youngest son was serving a mission in Germany, they received a call in the middle of the night telling them that their son had suffered a massive brain hemorrhage and was not expected to live. “Through the miraculous hand of the Lord, his life was spared after 12 surgical procedures,” said Elder Schwitzer. “Over a period of years, we have seen a full recovery. When you have the blessings of the Lord like that in your life, there is no way you could refuse Him any service He would ask of you.”

Prior to his call to the Second Quorum of the Seventy, Elder Schwitzer served as a bishop, high councilor, stake president, and president of the Russia Yekaterinburg Mission.