Sharon Giauque Samuelson is a Utah native. Growing up, she was often frustrated with her difficult last name Giauque (pronounced “juke”) until she learned of its rich legacy. Her great-great-grandmother joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a single mother of two sons, having lost her husband. When the opportunity came to emigrate and join the Saints in “Zion,” her 11-year-old son traveled alone to prepare the way. His mother joined him three years later with her youngest son, Sharon’s great-grandfather. Sharon honors the legacy of her name not only in word, but in the way she lives her life.
Having earned a history degree and graduated with honors from the University of Utah, Sister Samuelson also earned a teaching certificate which enabled her to teach while her husband Cecil attended medical school. She then spent most of their married life as a homemaker and full-time mother of their five children, keeping a stable and comfortable home while supporting her husband in his rigorous medical, scholastic, and administrative career. She has also been an indispensable support throughout his Church service as a general authority and as the president of Brigham Young University. In so doing, she has developed a love for many people, including the people of England, where the family lived for three years, and for the students at BYU.
Sister Samuelson has also served actively in her community and in all the auxiliary organizations of the Church. Although busy in her service to family, community, and the Church, Sister Samuelson never stopped learning and developing her talents. She enjoys cooking and gardening, and she is always looking for a new good book to read.
In her first of many addresses at BYU, some alongside her husband, Sister Samuelson commended the students for setting positive examples and quoted Neal A. Maxwell that “we can be walking sermons to which objective onlookers can quietly say ‘Amen.’” Sister Samuelson’s life and testimony are of the humble but noble character that those around her can quietly say, “amen.”
