Two senior missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have died, the Utah-based faith announced this week.

Richard D. Gordon, from Providence, Utah, was serving as a BYU–Pathway Worldwide education center missionary with his wife, Cristal, in Johannesburg, South Africa, when he died from complications of a heart attack on Sept. 19, according to the family’s obituary.

He was 76.

John A. Johnson, from Klamath Falls, Oregon, had been serving since April as an employment center missionary in the California Oakland/San Francisco Mission, when he died Sept. 29.

He was 70.

Gordon and his wife, who had begun their Johannesburg missionary stint in January, previously filled a mission in Durban, South Africa, according to the family’s obituary. The couple also taught English at Shandong University in China through a program administered by church-owned Brigham Young University.

Richard, who earned a master’s degree and doctorate at BYU, taught Latter-day Saint seminary and institute classes for four decades, including 22 years at the church’s Institute of Religion near Utah State University.

The obituary notes he is survived by his wife, Cristal, of 53 years, 10 children, 42 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.