Elder Brent Blackburn, a senior missionary from Utah, was killed in a bizarre lawnmower accident at the Missouri Latter-day Saints chapel in Gallatin

Elder Brent Blackburn, a Utah senior missionary, was killed in a strange lawnmower accident at the Missouri Latter-day Saints chapel in Gallatin, Missouri. Mormon has been serving at the historic site with his wife, Sister Carolyn Blackburn.

A senior missionary from Utah died while mowing the lawn at a historic Mormon site in Missouri when the lawnmower flipped upside down.

Elder Brent Blackburn, 68, died in Gallatin, Missouri, on Saturday, August 23, while serving as a senior Latter-day Saint missionary at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The unexpected event occurred as Blackburn was using a sit-on lawnmower on the grounds of the church's Adam-ondi-Ahman historic site.

Blackburn had been serving at the Missouri site since April 2025, together with his wife, Sister Carolyn Blackburn. The pair hailed from Helper, Utah.

The tragedy occurred when the senior steered the lawnmower along a side incline, causing the equipment to overturn, according to the church.

Blackburn died of injuries incurred in the lawnmower accident.

'Our condolences and prayers are with Sister Blackburn and her family during this terrible time,' the church stated. 

Clay Sheffer, Blackburn's acquaintance, characterized him as a 'wonderful man' and'someone to look up to'.

‘I had the privilege of getting to know him. He played a big part in helping the village of Jameson MO with building their new cook shack,‘ the friend said on Facebook.

According to Blackburn’s Facebook, he studied at Brigham Young University –  a popular college for LDS students founded in 1875 by Mormon leader Brigham Young.

‘It is with sadness that we share with you that an accident in Missouri has claimed the life of a senior missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,’ Church spokesperson Sam Penrod said in a statement on the LDS website.  

A funeral service is planned for Sept. 6 in Centerville, according to an online obituary.