D. Gary Young

Donald Gary Young The family was poor and lived on an 80-acre ranch in the foothills near Challis, Idaho; they were practicing Mormons. He was the second-oldest of six living children (an older sister died in infancy), Young attended public school and graduated from Challis High School in 1967.

After graduating, Young briefly worked for the U.S. Forest Service By Young's account, at the age of 24, he suffered a near-fatal logging accident, and had to use a wheelchair for a time, and he further claimed that while rehabilitating, he began to experiment with essential oils. In the early 1980s, Young spent a quarter-semester at Spokane Community College. He was subsequently arrested and charged with practicing medicine without a license, to which he ultimately pleaded guilty. Young was fined $250, given a 60-day suspended sentence, and placed on probation for one year. To test the veracity of Young's clinical diagnosis, a reporter submitted cat and chicken blood to a clinic employee, who failed to determine that the samples were non-human, and further diagnosed that the "patient" had an aggressive form of cancer and liver disease. That year, a complaint was filed against Young by the State of California, alleging "unfair, deceptive, untrue and misleading advertising and unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practices" regarding Young's selling and manufacturing of "unapproved medical devices and drugs", and advertising that "he could cure cancer and other diseases". The clinic had also employed a pediatrician whose medical license had previously been suspended by the state medical board following a manslaughter conviction in connection with the improper treatment and death of a cancer patient under his care. In 2005, the clinic settled a lawsuit with a patient who claimed that they were given infusions of vitamin C that caused near-fatal kidney failure. As of 2017, Young Living was reported to have become one of the largest vendors of essential oils in the United States with over three million customers.

The company has faced complaints and lawsuits, including safety violations following an inspection into an employee death in 2000, reports to the FDA of adverse product reactions from 2013 to 2014, federal misdemeanor charges after voluntary disclosing illegal trafficking of certain oils in 2017, and a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging that the company is an unlawful pyramid scheme in 2019. In 1982, Young and Donna Jean attempted to give birth to a daughter to be named Rachel in a whirlpool bath located in Young's "health club,“ but the child died following the delivery. According to the Spokane county coroner, the child, who was born normal and healthy, died due to oxygen deprivation and would have survived if a hospital delivery had been performed.

Young's second wife was named Dixie. In 1994, Young married his third wife, Mary, a trained opera singer. In addition to his eight children from prior marriages, Gary had two sons with Mary: Jacob and Josef.

Young died on May 12, 2018, in Salt Lake City His wife Mary announced Young had died due to complications from a series of strokes; however, Young's son Shawn stated that his father had died due to cancer.

Publications Young authored several self-published books on essential oils and other health-related topics including: