Elder Lance B. Wickman is an emeritus general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is the current general counsel of the Church. He was born in Seattle, Washington and raised in New Jersey and Glendale, California. After his missionary service in the Central British Mission, he married Patricia Farr in the Los Angeles California Temple. Elder Wickman graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in political science. In 1966, as a U.S. Army Ranger, he was sent to fight in Vietnam as a platoon leader in the United States Army and on a second tour of duty as a military advisor to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. During the war he was awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Valorous Unit Award and the Combat Infantryman Badge. After his return from Vietnam, Elder Wickman graduated from Stanford Law School in 1972. He practiced law in Los Angeles and San Diego with the law firm of Latham & Watkins. He has been awarded the Silver Beaver and Silver Buffalo by the Boy Scouts of America. Prior to his call as a general authority, Elder Wickman was a bishop, stake president, and regional representative in the LDS Church. He became a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy in 1994 and in 2000 was transferred to the First Quorum of the Seventy.
Patricia Farr Wickman was born in Berkeley, California, and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in history. She and Elder Wickman are the parents of five children.