R.I.P Gordon Hinckley

CNN Reports

(CNN) -- Mormon leader Gordon B. Hinckley died Sunday night at age 97, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints announced.

Hinckley served as president of the Salt Lake City-based church since 1995 and has been a member of its top leadership since the 1960s.

He died about 7 p.m. Sunday (9 p.m. ET) with his family by his side, church officials announced.

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which becomes the nearly 13 million-member church's governing body upon the death of the president, will choose a successor after Hinckley's funeral.

No arrangements had been announced.

"His life was a true testament of service, and he had an abiding love for others," U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican and fellow Mormon, told The Associated Press.

"His wit, wisdom, and exemplary leadership will be missed by not only members of our faith, but by people of all faiths throughout the world."