* Stephen Nelson Hull; Ophthalmologist

Stephen Nelson Hull, longtime Lancaster ophthalmologist and leader in the Mormon Church, has died in Lancaster. He was 51.

Hull died Sunday of a heart attack, said his wife, Sandra Lynn Hull.

Born March 20, 1939, in Long Beach, Hull received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from USC and graduated from the USC School of Medicine in 1964. He served in the Army as a captain, doing his internship at Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu. He returned to Los Angeles, where he completed a four-year residency at Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA, winning the Conrad Behrens Award.

In 1969, Hull moved to Lancaster, where he joined his father’s ophthalmology practice and the staff at the Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center. Hull was an early user of intraocular implants for cataracts and radial keratotomy surgery to reduce nearsightedness. He also taught classes in eye surgery throughout the country. In 1985, he built the Hull Eye Center in Lancaster.

He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1970 and was an adviser to the church’s Explorer Scout program. Three years later, he became bishop of the Lancaster First Ward, a position he held for 1 1/2 years. He then served 10 1/2 years as stake president of the Lancaster stake, later becoming second counselor to the mission president of the San Bernardino Mission.

Hull is survived by his wife of 24 years; sons Stephen Nelson Hull Jr. of Cedar City, Utah, and Ryan Hull of Lancaster; daughters Stacy Webb of Everett, Wash., and Robin Hull and Amber Hull of Lancaster; father Forrest E. Hull and stepmother Kathryn Hull of Lancaster; brother Frank Hull of Santa Barbara; and one granddaughter.

A public funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 3140 W. Ave. K in Quartz Hill. Burial will be in Lancaster’s Joshua Memorial Park. Murphy Mortuary in Lancaster is handling arrangements.