For the past 52 years, the singing and laughing of thousands of young women have echoed through the pines that encircle the LDS girls' camp known as Camp LoMia.

Located in Pine, Arizona, Camp LoMia was host to a different group this year. On May 22, approximately 150 descendants of early Maricopa Stake President Lorenzo Wright gathered at LoMia to dedicate two memorial plaques honoring their ancestor.

President Wright, or "Lo" as family and friends knew him, served as stake president from 1938 to 1947 and was instrumental in establishing the camp. The name LoMia was selected to combine President Wright's nickname with the acronym, MIA, for Mutual Improvement Association, the youth program of the Church at that time.

Family members recount that shortly after assuming his calling to lead the stake, President Wright visited Pine, then part of Maricopa Stake. Impressed with the region's beauty, President Wright was determined to secure land in the area for a camp for youth.

Initially, he met with resistance from some stake leaders who believed the roads were not adequate for traveling to and from the camp. President Wright persisted, and the property was purchased in 1940. It was 1958, after Lorenzo's son, Harold Wright, had been called as stake president, when LoMia became a reality, complete with cabins, bathhouse and pump house.

During its formative years, the camp had only a seven-room stone lodge that housed 22 persons. Girls attending LoMia paid $5 dollars for transportation to camp and a week's stay. On Sundays, they walked a mile to attend church in Pine.

Today, LoMia includes three separate camps on the grounds and shaded areas known as Sacred Groves, where church services are held. The camp also features archery ranges and biking and hiking trails.

Annually, LoMia hosts young women from 48 to 50 central and northern Arizona stakes. Because the camp has become too large for a single caretaker to maintain, participating stakes assist in the care of the property. Additionally, youth service projects are conducted both by Boy Scouts and by the girls attending the camp.

As for the camp's founder, in addition to Lorenzo Wright's Church service, he also exerted a good deal of influence within the territory and state. Born June 25, 1884, in Brigham City, Utah, his family moved to Arizona when Lorenzo was three months old and eventually settled in Safford. Later, while his father and uncle were tracking stolen livestock, they were ambushed and killed by Apaches.

Lorenzo left home at an early age, working as a freighter at age 13 and, at 18, going to work in the mines in the southern Arizona town of Bisbee. He was eventually hired as an officer with the city police department and later was elected as supervisor for the city streets.

He married Theresa Hope Goodman in 1904, and they moved to St. David, where Lorenzo ran a grocery store. He also served as the cattle inspector for the Benson district, as president of the board overseeing the construction of the local dam, and as bishop.

During his peacekeeping career, President Wright served as Deputy United States Marshall and, from 1929 to 1931, as warden at the Arizona State Prison in Florence. Following that, President Wright moved his family to Mesa, where they established a grocery store; the beginnings the noted Wrights' Market grocery chain.

Continuing his activity and influence in civics and politics, President Wright went on to serve on several local and state boards, including those of the state teachers' college at Tempe (later Arizona State University), Mesa Southside Hospital and the State Board of Juvenile Institutions. He also was an active member in the Rotary Club, Moose Lodge and Republican Party.

Teresa died in 1955. A few years later, President Wright served a Spanish-speaking mission to El Paso.

Family members say he was loved by all, and through the doors of his Mesa home passed friends from all walks of life, including former convicts and high-ranking LDS Church leaders.

President Wright died September 11, 1962. More than a thousand people attended his funeral where, then apostle, Spencer W. Kimball paid tribute to President Wright, acknowledging him as a beloved leader in the church and community.

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