With the passing of Gordon B. Hinckley, the 15th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, comes the end of one of the most influential times in Mormon history.

Hinckley, 97, died Sunday and had served as church president since 1995. During Hinckley’s service, the church grew from 49 temples to more than 120 worldwide, and membership grew from 9 million to about 13 million.

"To me he was a great inspiration," said George Wangemann, second counselor to the Georgia Atlanta North mission president and a member of the public affairs counsel at the Sugar Hill Georgia Stake. "(He was) not only a personal inspiration, but he seemed to have reached people from the pulpit. He could speak in front of 50,000 people in a stadium and he could still touch your heart."

Wangemann, a Gainesville city councilman and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Gainesville 1st Ward, had the chance to meet Hinckley several years ago.

"He came to Atlanta and attended a church conference in Tucker ... and it was a regional conference," he said. "We had a good time talking after the conference was over. I got to know him and felt his marvelous and generous spirit.

"He was a man of great knowledge, a man of great perceptions, a visionary if you will ... he has taken (the church) to new heights and growth."

Joe Turner, a Gainesville 1st Ward member, also met Hinckley at the same conference.

"He always impressed my family with being steadfast with the standards of the gospel and inspires us to try harder," Turner said. "He was 97, and he was still traveling the world with the ministry. So whenever we are feeling tired or lazy we would think about him and get up and move."

Gainesville 1st Ward Bishop David Bassett said that Hinckley also had a strong sense of optimism.

"In today’s world, which can be negative and cynical, he was just a beacon of optimism. And he believed in our ability as individuals to do great things," Bassett said. "Despite all the troubles and the challenges and the misunderstandings of what we believe as a church, he believed that if we were just optimistic and did what we were supposed to do that things will turn out OK."

The funeral for Hinckley will be broadcast live today at 1 p.m. on the BYU channel, on the church’s Web site and by satellite at the 800-member Gainesville 1st Ward.

The funeral and graveside services will last about three hours and will be held in the church’s 21,000 seat conference center in Salt Lake City, which was built during Hinckley’s presidency to manage the growing church.

Early next week, after all funeral services have concluded, the Quorum on the 12 Apostles will choose a new president.

"The transition of leadership in the church is understood," Bassett said. "When the president of the church passes away, then the counselors are released immediately and reassigned to what we call the Quorum of the 12 Apostles.

"And as the president of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles, Thomas S. Monson is the presiding leader of the church. Those 12 apostles will discuss and sustain the next person as the next prophet."

Wangemann added that he has "no doubt in his mind" that Thomas S. Monson will be the new president.

"He is currently the president of the Quorum of 12 Apostles, and every case so far it has gone to the president of the Quorum of 12 Apostles," Wangemann said. "(He) is a man of great experience. He’s been a reporter and an editor and also had something to do with church publications."

Added Turner, "He has a lot of experience, a very inspired man and is a good administrator."