Elder Angel Abrea

1933 ~ 2021

Elder Angel Abrea, emeritus member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, passed away on February 13, 2021 at age 87. He is survived by his wife, Maria, daughters, Patricia Viviana Johnson (David), Claudia Alejandra Banks (Mike) and Cynthia Gabriela Gambill (Tyler), eleven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and brother, Oscar.

He was born September 13, 1933 in the town of Piñeyro, in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, to father Edealo Abrea and mother Zulema Estrada. Angel, his Mother and brother joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1943, when he was just ten years old. As a young man, he earned money for school by tutoring younger students. One of his students was Maria Victoria Chiapparino. He and his mother began teaching her the gospel, and Angel later baptized her. On July 7, 1957, they were married in Argentina. On September 26, 1966, they were able to travel with their daughters to be sealed in the Salt Lake City Temple.

After studying at the Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires in the School of Economic Sciences, Angel worked as an accountant and Administrative Secretary at the Unión Obrera Metalúrgica and later as the treasurer of the City of San Miguel, in the province of Buenos Aires. In 1961 he went to work for the accounting firm Deloitte, Haskins & Sells in Buenos Aires where he eventually became a partner, before leaving the firm in 1978 in order to begin what would become a life of service to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

His first responsibilities in the church, however, began in 1957 when, at 23 years of age, he was called to be the president of the Caseros Branch in Buenos Aires. He later served as president of two districts and as counselor to two presidents of the Argentina Mission. In 1966 he was called as president of the Buenos Aires Stake, the first stake in Argentina and only the second in all of South America. In 1971 he was called to serve as regional representative for the Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and Lima areas, and later as regional representative for all of Argentina. In 1976 he was again called to serve as stake president for the Buenos Aires West Stake.

In 1978 he was called as President of the Argentina Rosario Mission. While serving as Mission President, he received a telephone call from President Spencer W. Kimball calling him to serve as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy and as the President of the yet-to-be-built Buenos Aires Temple. On April 4, 1981 Angel was sustained in General Conference as a member of the Quorum of the Seventy, making him the first general authority from Latin America.

His call as a general authority included serving in area presidencies in North America, the Philippines, Mexico, Central America, Peru, Bolivia and in the Temple and Missionary Departments. He oversaw the construction of the Buenos Aires Temple and served as the first Temple President upon its dedication.

Elder Abrea received emeritus status in 2003. He continued to officiate at many temple weddings for friends, family and “his missionaries”. He loved catching up with returned missionaries from the Rosario Mission. He had a deep love for studying gospel doctrine, and enjoyed the continued friendship of his fellow members of the Quorum. Some of his final thoughts were to discuss the principle of faith in Christ with his children at his bedside.
A private family funeral service will be held Saturday, February 27 at 11:00 AM. Friends and Family are able to attend virtually via zoom. The link to watch the Meeting Recording is:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/5QKkveWQBVWz6ryNAJ8KLTBnuXQu-UcsdAhXC2uChqAwNZ1smoaPbKGL6LY8gnWL.EKGfZpHXzDeRqonj


Guestbook/Condolences

Con mucho amor les recordamos de nuestros días en Quito de 1985 a 1990. Que el Señor les bendiga siempre.


- Kevin & Carol Lowell

We honor Angel a very fine man and outstanding church leader. We spent three years together in the Philippines Area Presidency.
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Elder Merrill & Sister Josephine Oaks


- Merrill C Oaks

Seldom can a man, and his family, profoundly affect the life of someone only around them for such a short time.
Hermana, Patti, Claudia and Cynthia, thank you for sharing his precious time here with me. Until we meet again.


- J Ryan Nielsen

Elder Abrea was our friend and leader for nearly two years when we served in the Peru Lima South Mission from 1981 to 1984. He was the newest and only Latino general authority at that time, called not long after we began our assignment. We admired him, loved him and learned from him and will ever be grateful for his leadership and help. He visited our mission home in Lima, Peru on many occasions, and we had such fun with him. He was a strict leader and really kept our missionaries in line, but he was fun and funny at the same time. We enjoyed his efforts to sometimes "correct" our missionaries' Peruvian Spanish with his Argentine pronunciation and vocabulary--in his mind the "true" Spanish. He is a big part of our precious memories of serving in Peru. We know he has impacted many lives for good and will always be remembered with love. Because we love him, we love you, and share in your loss. Sincerely, Joe and Jeanne Groberg, Idaho Falls, ID.


- Joseph and Jeanne Groberg

We appreciated the beautiful funeral and tributes to Angel. We had a wonderful time in the Area Presidency in the Philippines. The church service was satisfying and the interpersonal interactions of the presidency and wives was wonderful. Angel and Maria were warm and effective in encouraging improvement in the church function in the Philippines and we just enjoyed each other in the presidency. Maria was a wonderful cook!

Elder (Emeritus) Merrill C. Oaks and Sister Josephine Oaks


- Merrill & Josephine Oaks

I knew Elder Abrea in Buenos Aires in 1966/ 1967. He visited Villa Sarmiento when I gave my first talk as a missionary. He was visited Caseros when I was was there in my first assignment. He was a counselor to President Terry when I served in the Mission Office and I saw him There. I was in the Mission Offices when the Stake was Organized and I saw him there as well.
He seemed to be constant throughout my mission. He was a great leader.
Alan Thomas


- Alan B Thomas