John A. McCune

When Elder John A. McCune was starting his career in investment management, he didn’t always feel certain of the path ahead of him. After meeting with a cardiologist who had arrived late because he was saving a life, Elder McCune left feeling like his work was insignificant in comparison, and he wondered if he was doing the right thing with his life. But on the way to work one day, he had a powerful experience where the Lord taught him that He needed disciples in every field. McCune realized, “My primary responsibility was to be a husband, father and a disciple of Christ, but it was okay for me to be an investment manager.”¹

The lesson that God had a plan for him deepened when he received his dream job offer from American Airlines and found the perfect home—only to feel prompted not to move. Months later, the Lord opened the opportunity again with even greater blessings: a better position and the same home at a lower price. This experience cemented Elder McCune’s trust that God was directing his life for good.

McCune was born in Santa Cruz, California, on June 20, 1963, and grew up in Nyssa, Oregon irrigating, bucking hay, fixing fence, and working cattle. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from BYU and an MBA in finance from UCLA. For 15 years, he worked as senior vice president and managing director for Capital Investment Advisors, before joining Philanthropies, where he was an associate director of principal gifts.

When he was called as a General Authority Seventy in 2019, McCune was serving as an Area Seventy in the Utah South Area. He is currently serving in the Asia North Area Presidency. He has previously served as full-time missionary in the Japan Fukuoka Mission, ward finance clerk, elders quorum president, bishop, and stake president. He and his wife, Debbra Ellen Kingsbury, also served as mission leaders of the Utah Provo mission.

Although McCune and his wife first met at Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho), they reconnected at BYU after his mission when she helped him find housing in her same ward. Four months later they were engaged, and in 1984 they were married in the Salt Lake Temple. They are the parents of four children and the grandparents of many more.

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