The Bahá`í World, Vol. 18, Part Five: In Memoriam

AMOZ EVERETT GIBSON
1918-1982
To assist Me is to teach My Cause . . .
                                            Bahá`u'lláh


The promulgation of the divine teachings revealed by Bahá`u'lláh was the driving purpose which animated, directed and sustained Amoz Gibson throughout his Bahá`í life. This objective perhaps reached the peak of its force between the years 1976 and 1978 when he became so enamored with the publications of the Universal House of Justice--Tablets of Bahá`u'lláh revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Selections from the Writings of the Báb and Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá--that he would arise before dawn to read and reread this storehouse of the knowledge of God which seemed to give him so much strength.
          Inspired by the Writings in 1976 he used his vacation period to travel-teach and stimulate the work of the friends in Holland, France, Italy, Mexico and the United States--particularly in the southern states and on the Indian reservations.
          In countless verses, he pointed out, the friends are exhorted to teach the Faith but in the verse quoted above Bahá`u'lláh gives teaching the station of assistance to Him. This single verse galvanized Amoz into planning, for the summer of 1978, a two-month journey (less than eight weeks during the last nineteen years of his life were spent purely as vacation) which carried him first to the cradle of the Faith--to Tihrán, Shiráz, Isfahán, Najaf-Ábád, Ardistán, Tákur, Fort Tabarsí (viewed from outside), Sárí, Tabríz, Ridá'iyyíh, the summer school and Temple land. In these revered spots Amoz was warmed by the outpouring of love by the friends and chastened and humbled by the miracle of seeing

1 Some of Faizi's best known works in Persian and English are:  Payám-i-Dúst va Bahár-i-Sad-u-Bíst--120 BE (1963-1964); Dástán-i-Dústán--121 BE (1964-1965); The Priceless Pearl translated into Persian--1969; Three Meditations on the Eve of November the Fourth--1970; Explanation of the Emblem of the Greatest Name--1970-1971; Our Precious Trusts--1973; The Wonder Lamp--1975; Stories from the Delight of Hearts translated into English--1980

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Picture in Upper Left Corner with the Caption:  Amoz Everett Gibson

with his own eyes these places he had read about and talked about and loved for so many years. Moreover, he was deeply moved to learn that the family who were our hosts in Tihrán had never had the privilege of visiting the House of Bahá`u'lláh until they were permitted to accompany us. Amoz gave freely of himself and of his time; his advice, wisdom and wit won the hearts of the friends. How he lamented when he learned later of the destruction of the precious House of the Báb and the martyrdom of his two hosts in Tabríz, Mr. Yadu'lláh Ástání and Dr. Farámarz Samandarí.
          Amoz continued his journey that summer to the United States where he visited Columbia, Maryland; Washington, D.C.; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Dinnebito, Arizona on the Navajo Indian Reservation; Daly City, San Francisco, Placerville and Auburn, California; Reno, Nevada; Wilmette and Chicago, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio, and Amherst, Massachusetts. Taking his strength to the utmost he spoke at firesides, public meetings, meetings for Bahá`ís only, and had radio and television interviews as well as numerous private consultations. He urged the friends to concentrate their efforts, to select one person to pray for and to teach, to shower with love and gifts. He volunteered to take back to the Holy Land the names of these people and to pray for them in the Shrines. He pleaded for pioneers, named the countries where they were needed and entreated the friends to seize the bounty of assisting Bahá`u'lláh.
          Amoz Everett Gibson was born on 3 August 1918 in Washington, D.C. to Deborah and William Gibson. His mother's grandfather was a full-blooded Creek Indian; his father's mother was a mulatto slave and his father's father was Scotch-Irish.
          William Gibson had trained for the ministry at Howard University in Washington, had become a Christian Science healer, and in 1912, still searching, was attending spiritualist meetings when he was directed to a Bahá`í gathering which was meeting in the same building. At his first Bahá`í meeting, some time following the visit of `Abdu'l-Bahá to Washington, after hearing Mr. Harlan Ober1 speak for only five minutes, Mr. Gibson realized his search had ended. He embraced the Faith immediately and returning home related the Message to his wife who, that same evening, unhesitatingly accepted Bahá`u'lláh as the return of Christ and the Manifestation of God for this Day.
          Amoz attended children's classes and went often to Feasts with his father; but as there were few activities arranged at that time for youth he did not enroll in the Faith until 1944. Meanwhile, he had received his education in the Washington public schools and in 1940 was graduated from Miner Teachers College (now the University of the District of Columbia) with a B.Sc. degree in education with a major in social studies. In 1941 he married a schoolmate, Mary Elizabeth Lane. Amoz was a government employee at the Washington Navy Yard when he was inducted into the United States Army in 1944. He served with the armed forces in Europe and in the Pacific on Okinawa.
          Returning to his home in 1946 he soon became an active participant in the Bahá`í community of Washington, D.C. At various times he served as treasurer and chairman of the Local Assembly, was on regional com-

1 See `In Memoriam', The Bahá`í World, vol. XIII, p. 866.

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mittees and was elected delegate to the national convention.
          Using the benefits of the government educational program for veterans and rental income from his home as means of support while serving in the pioneer field, he travelled to Mexico with his wife and two children, William, seven years old, and Kenneth, two. Amoz fell in love with Mexico and its vibrant people and would have remained there permanently had he and his wife not made a commitment to return to their teaching posts in Washington for at least two more years. In 1951 he received his Master's Degree, summa cum laude, in geography from Mexico City College (now University of the Americas). Amoz continued his work in the educational field as a teacher at the Browne Junior High School where he had been appointed after his army service. One of his students there would one day become a pioneer in the Pacific and the son-in-law of a martyr of the Faith. Later Amoz was head teacher at the Blow School Annex to Browne; then he was a teacher of geography at Miner Teachers College.
          His third son was born in 1952 and when Donald was three years old Amoz and his wife resigned from their jobs and pioneered with their three children to the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona and New Mexico. Having no employment, the family at first lived with Mr. James Stone, a pioneer to Gallup, New Mexico. While making every effort to secure a position on the reservation through the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Amoz got a job washing cars. One day one of his customers, noticing him as a newcomer to the small town of 14,000 inhabitants, began a conversation with him. Learning of Amoz's situation he immediately arranged an interview for him with the director of the Gallup office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Within a week, Amoz and his family (except for William who remained in Gallup with Mr. and Mrs. Stone so that he could attend school there) arrived at Piñon, Arizona, near the center of the Navajo Reservation and very close to the Hopi Reservation which it surrounds--an ideal spot for pioneers, 150 miles from town with two positions open because no one else wanted to fill them. Both Mr. and Mrs. Gibson taught there for four years.
          The first months were spent making friends and adjusting to teaching older children who had never enrolled in school before and who spoke very little English. Soon, firesides were begun; then, at the close of the first school year, Mrs. Meherangiz Munsiff and her daughter, Jvoti, came to visit. The Indian people were greatly attracted to Mrs. Munsiff and in a very marvelous way she set the stage for the first Bahá`í study class which was carried on by the Gibsons weekly. In 1957 Sadye Joe, who attended that initial class, became the first of the Navajo tribe to accept the Faith of Bahá`u'lláh.
          Sparked by the American Indian Service Committee, of which Amoz was a member, other pioneers settled on the Navajo-Hopi Reservations and in the towns bordering them. Though distances were great, the roads poor, and driving conditions always hazardous, there was a strong sense of unity and cooperation among the pioneers.
          There were two outstanding events which Amoz worked very hard to support and bring to fruition. The first was the visit of Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum to the reservation in 1960. Her visit cemented relations among the Bahá`ís and stimulated new activities. Also, it aroused the interest of the citizens of that area, making them aware of the international character of the Faith and its worldwide importance.
          Meanwhile, other Navajos had entered the Faith, notably Chester and Franklin Kahn and their wives, whose desire to share the Message with their families and friends led to the second event--the large weekend gathering of a thousand or more souls at Pine Springs, Arizona, in 1962. They came from far and near, Bahá`ís and non-Bahá`ís, and slept in clusters around campfires under a canopy of brilliant stars. The Hand of the Cause Dhikru'lláh Khádem, who with his dignified, loving spirit brought everyone closer to Bahá`u'lláh, provided the stimulus which resulted in the entry of a great number of new believers, more than 100 in just two days. Mr. Khádem said frequently during that weekend, `O God, increase my astonishment in Thee!' What joy and astonishment this meeting brought to Amoz's heart. At last the work was moving forward.
          In 1959 Amoz was appointed to the Auxiliary Board for protection; in 1960 he was

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elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States. As a Board member he travelled extensively throughout the western states and also made a trip to Jamaica and Haiti. He served as a member of the National Teaching Committee for Africa and represented the National Assembly at the dedication of the Bahá`í Temple in Uganda in 1961, taking this opportunity to teach in the villages near Kampala and making firm and lasting friendships among the African believers.
          Amoz moved from Piñon, Arizona, to teach English in the secondary school at Fort Wingate, New Mexico, and resided in Gallup about 14 miles distant. In 1960, after the birth of his daughter, Nancy, he was appointed principal of the Bread Springs Day School in New Mexico, and the family were living there when Amoz, attending the first International Convention in Haifa, in 1963, was elected to the Universal House of Justice. As a small boy, holding his father's hand as he walked along to Feasts, Amoz had heard him speak about the institution of the Universal House of Justice in such glowing, lofty terms that Amoz never expected it to come into existence during his own lifetime. However, once that institution did come into being he supported it with a deep, unswerving loyalty, with complete obedience and respect, with a feeling of humbleness and awe, and regarded all the other members as his true and loving brothers. It was apparent that they held that same regard for him as they tenderly bore his casket to its resting place.
          Just prior to his election to the House of Justice, the entire family, encouraged by Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum was making arrangements to pioneer to Africa, so the process of breaking ties with the Navajo Reservation, which had become home, was already begun.
          Arriving in Haifa in July 1963, Amoz took up his duties and responsibilities with the zest he was always enabled to summon when he found himself in a new and difficult situation. He was particularly pleased to be appointed convener of the Department of Holy Places as this gave him the opportunity to inspect every corner of these hallowed buildings and to assist in providing for their preservation, renovation and day-to-day care. He said he felt, when he stood on the ledge just outside the lantern as was necessary in the course of his duties, that he could stretch out his arms and almost embrace the Shrine of the Báb.
          When a new roof had to be put on the Mansion at Bahjí, or new gardens laid out; when roads had to be built, or land purchased, or fences put up; when heavy wooden beams had to be secured from Turkey for the house of `Abdu'lláh Páshá;1 when additional office space had to be found at the temporary seat of the House of Justice on Haparsim Street; when the obelisk was to be erected on the Temple Land; when a completely new electrical system was to be installed in the Shrine of the Báb (completed in October, 1980); when the Permanent Seat of the Universal House of Justice was being planned and built, Amoz was always there, alert, spotting problems and avoiding or correcting them, pacing off metres, measuring walls, writing letters to various companies, inspecting the marble cutting in Italy, visiting stone and gravel pits, signing contracts, restraining or complaining to or encouraging and praising the workers--and loving every minute of it. One of his true brothers remarked that he should have been an engineer.
          Amoz became ill in San Francisco in August 1980, the evening before he was to fulfill his heart's desire to visit the Omaha Indian community of Macy, Nebraska, so dear to the Hand of the Cause Amelia Collins, and just after he had participated, in July, in the memorable Native Council of the indigenous believers of North America in Wilmette, Illinois.
          Upon his return to Haifa his illness was diagnosed as acute lymphoblastic leukemia which usually attacks the young and is often curable in children. During his `heroic struggle' against this disease Amoz lightened the hearts with his ready wit and open smile and won the admiration of doctors, nurses and patients whom he met at the clinic where he went periodically for treatment. He took their photographs and distributed them as gifts; he sent them flowers and generally showered them with love. He was able to enjoy about a year of complete remission.
          When that period ended he decided to visit each one of his children whom he so dearly

1 See The Bahá`í World, vol. XVI, p. 103.
2 See The Bahá`í World, vol. XV, p. 177.

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loved and who, in turn, had given him so much devotion and appreciation throughout the years that often deprived them of his presence. This journey to Australia where Amoz had the bounty of his first visit to the Mother Temple of the Antipodes; to New Zealand to see Nancy and her husband, Jonathan; to Oakland, California, where Diane, Kenneth and Chehreh live; to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to visit Cheryl, Don, Lanya and Marla; and to Washington where he was joined by Bill who had braved snowy roads on his trip from Massachusetts and New York to see his father--this journey Amoz was able to accomplish by the grace of God, the loving consideration of Bahá`ís and non-Bahá`ís alike, and by his own strong will and determination.
          When he was no longer able to fulfill his duties, to actively serve the Cause, to assist Bahá`u'lláh by teaching, it seemed he had little desire to remain on this plane of existence. Despite this, out of compassion for those around him, he compelled his spirit to shine brightly and gladly till the very end.
          He passed away in Haifa on 14 May 1982, having had the bounty just three weeks before of praying in the three Holy Shrines, with his wife, four children, one of his daughters-in-law and two of his three grandchildren. As his daughter Nancy so lovingly expressed, he was a dearly-loved husband, father and grandfather whose whole life-work was devoted to the service and promulgation of this blessed Cause, whose laughter and radiance were an inspiration to all and whom we love with all our hearts.
          The Universal House of Justice, on 15 May, sent the following cable to the Bahá`ís of the world:

WITH SORROWFUL HEARTS LAMENT LOSS OUR DEARLY-LOVED BROTHER AMOZ GIBSON WHO PASSED AWAY AFTER PROLONGED HEROIC STRUGGLE FATAL ILLNESS. EXEMPLARY SELF-SACRIFICING PROMOTER FAITH ACHIEVED BRILLIANT UNBLEMISHED RECORD CONSTANT SERVICE FOUNDED ON ROCKLIKE STAUNCHNESS AND DEEP INSATIABLE LOVE FOR TEACHING WORK PARTICULARLY AMONG INDIAN AND BLACK MINORITIES WESTERN HEMISPHERE AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AFRICA. HIS NOTABLE WORK ADMINISTRATIVE FIELDS NORTH AMERICA CROWNED FINAL NINETEEN YEARS INCALCULABLE CONTRIBUTION DEVELOPMENT WORLD CENTRE WORLD EMBRACING FAITH. PRAYING SHRINES BOUNTIFUL REWARD HIS NOBLE SOUL THROUGHOUT PROGRESS ABHA KINGDOM. EXPRESS LOVING SYMPATHY VALIANT BELOVED WIDOW PARTNER HIS SERVICES AND BEREAVED CHILDREN. ADVISE HOLD BEFITTING MEMORIAL GATHERINGS EVERYWHERE BAHAI WORLD AND COMMEMORATIVE SERVICES ALL MASHRIQUL ADHKARS
MARY GIBSON



BERNARD LEACH C.H., C.B.E.
1887-1979
My first breath of air was a cry of pain;
                        Will my last be a smile?
                                        Bernard Leach


6 May 1979. He was sitting by the window in his hospital room talking with his daughter Eleanor, a friend and two nurses, about where they were born. It was Bernard's turn to contribute:  `I was born in Hong Kong'--[on 5 January 1887]--but the words wouldn't come. He put his hand to his chest, drew his last breath and was gone.
          I have made death a messenger of joy . . . How these much-quoted words of Bahá`u'lláh applied to Bernard Leach himself. He had done in his earthly life what he had to do and died happily in that knowledge. Now it is up to us to use what he has left.
          Bernard Leach was the son of a colonial judge. His mother died when he was born and the first four years of his life were spent with grandparents in Japan.
          As a potter, artist and writer he is internationally known. The importance of his work was his liaison between East and West--he connected artistically, culturally and spiritually. He wrote:  `As far back as 1913 it began to become apparent how that which we call fate lay behind my original intuition to return to the East where I was born. My own work as a potter and draughtsman was inextricably becoming rooted in two hemispheres and I began to find myself in the position of a courier between East and West. By one way or another I bore witness to a growing vision

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Picture in Upper Left Corner with the Caption:  Bernard Leach

of a future unity of mankind. Agnosticism of many years' standing gave way to an expanding faith in the maturity of man on this
planet . . .'1
          It was in 1914 that he first heard about the Bahá`í Faith, from Agnes Alexander2 in Japan. The seeds were sown. That same year in a privately published small book, A Review, he wrote:  `I have seen a vision of the marriage of East and West, and far off down the Halls of Time I heard the echo of a child-like Voice. How long, how long? . . . The books which remain to be written, first and foremost, and greatest, The Bible of East and West . . . a love-union of the two hemispheres; a mystic ring on the finger of the world.'
          From 1909 until 1920 he lived in Japan and the Far East, making many friends, and becoming known as not only a gifted artist-craftsman but for his spiritual perception of Japanese values. He went many times to Japan and, in 1966, for his cultural service to that country he received the highest honour to be conferred upon a British commoner by the Japanese government:  The Order of the Sacred Treasure, second class.
          It was Mark Tobey,3 with whom he made friends in the early thirties when at Dartington Hall in Devonshire, who deepened his interest in the Bahá`í Faith. Mark was resident art teacher; Bernard taught pottery, as well as keeping in touch with the St. Ives Pottery. Reg Turvey,4 Bernard's friend from the early years they spent together at the Slade School and the London College of Art, also came to Darlington to paint, bringing his family. He and his wife went to Bahá`í gatherings and accepted the Faith before Bernard did. It was after Mark returned to America and Bernard delved more deeply into the books he left him, that he became convinced.
          As they had hoped to do, these three Bahá`í artists met again at the Bahá`í World Congress in 1963 in London. Reg, who had been referred to by the Guardian as `the father of the Bahá`ís of South Africa', died in Durban in 1968. Before Mark passed away in Basle, Switzerland, in April 1976, he was so happy to receive a cable from Bernard, MARK I AM WITH YOU IN SPIRIT NOW AND FOREVER.I remember hearing Bernard shouting, during the last stages of his earthly life, `Reg, it won't be long!' Now the three are reunited.
          When Bernard travelled to Japan after becoming a Bahá`í he fitted in Bahá`í talks with his work as a potter. He spoke fluent Japanese and became much loved by the people of that country. In 1953 his pamphlet My Religious Faith was printed both in English and Japanese, on Japanese paper, and reached many people. Prior to Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum's visit to Japan in 1978 he wrote introducing her to some of his acquaintances there, including Princess Chichibu, who afterwards wrote to Bernard to say how much she had enjoyed her visit. Towards the end of her nine-week travels around Japan, Rúhíyyih Khánum wrote to Bernard:  `wherever anyone knows our contact with you, we are received with special honours . . .'
          When Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip travelled to Japan in 1975 they

1 From Drawings, Verse and Belief, Adams and Dart, Bath, Somerset. Now Jupiter Books (London) Ltd.
2 See `In Memoriam', The Bahá`í World, vol. XV, p. 423.
3 See `In Memoriam', The Bahá`í World, vol. XVII, p. 401.
4 Reginald Turvey, `In Memoriam', The Bahá`í World, vol. XIV, p. 385.

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they took with them as gifts for the Emperor and Empress, a pilgrim plate made by Bernard and an etching he did in Japan in 1918. Previous to that, in 1973, in a private audience with the Queen at Buckingham Palace, he became the first craftsman ever to be made a Companion of Honour; he had been made a C.B.E.1 in 1962 and over the years received many professional awards. The recent book The Art of Bernard Leach2 was a tribute by the Victoria and Albert Museum following his retrospective exhibition there in 1977. The editor, who was the exhibition organizer, ends his foreword by referring to Bernard as `the greatest artist-potter-writer of this age'. A book review of Bernard's Beyond East and West3 goes further ` . . . perhaps one of the greatest men of our time'.
          But Bernard never wanted to be put on a pedestal; his humility was one of his most endearing qualities. `When you're young it's difficult to get rid of the ego---it wants to see the shine and the colour of butterfly wings,' he said in an interview.4 `But as you get older you are gradually freed of pride.' The blindness which in the latter years of his life prevented his continuing his gifted work as a craftsman and artist he accepted as the will of God:  `Losing outer sight, I gained far greater inner vision.'
          Bernard Leach's books, particularly Drawings, Verse and Belief and Beyond East and West, have been instrumental in attracting many people to the Bahá`í Faith. Press reviews of the latter in various countries, as well as articles---even as far away as Australia---have mentioned his Bahá`í belief.
          Bernard welcomed visitors from all over the world and received letters of appreciation from them as well as from readers of his books, the last from a potter in the United States a few days before Bernard died, from which I quote:  `I wanted to write to tell you what a great deal you have taught me---not only about pots but about life. I hope some day to be able to teach just one small thing to another, to show one person something new. With your guidance, perhaps I shall . . .'
          On receiving the news of his passing, the Universal House of Justice cabled on 7 May 1979:

KINDLY EXTEND LOVING SYMPATHY RELATIVES FRIENDS PASSING DISTINGUISHED VETERAN UPHOLDER FAITH BAHAULLAH BERNARD LEACH. HONOURS CONFERRED UPON HIM RECOGNITION HIS WORLDWIDE FAME CRAFTSMAN POTTER PROMOTER CONCORD EAST AND WEST ADD LUSTRE ANNALS BRITISH BAHAI HISTORY AND HIS EAGER WILLINGNESS USE HIS RENOWN FOR SERVICE FAITH EARN ETERNAL GRATITUDE FELLOW BELIEVERS. ASSURE ARDENT PRAYERS PROGRESS HIS SOUL.

TRUDI SCOTT



CLEMENTINA MEJÍA DE PAVÖN
1900-1979
SEGUNDO PAVÖN BARRERA
1894-1979


Clementina de Pavón preceded her husband Segundo Pavón into the Faith by a few months in 1960, and in 1979 she preceded him, again by a few months, into the Abhá Kingdom.  They had spent nineteen years serving together the interests of the Cause, of their children and of the Bahá`í community of Ecuador, especially the indigenous believers of the Otavalo and Cachaco areas.
    Both Mr. and Mrs. Pavón were the `spiritual children' of their own son, Raúl Pavón, who became a Bahá`í during the Ten Year Crusade and is now a member of the Continental Board of Counsellors in the Americas.  He purposely left the Bahá`í books lying about his parents' house hoping his mother would read them to `see what he was mixed up in'.  The result of her investigation was that Doña Clementina embraced the Cause in July of 1960.  In December of the same year, her husband Segundo wrote a perceptive letter to the National Teaching Committee explaining that he had made a thorough investigation of the Faith, having studied The Covenant of Bahá`u'lláh and The Dispensation of Bahá`u'lláh as well as the communications his wife had been receiving from Assemblies and

1 Commander (of the Order)of the British Empire.
2 Edited by Carol Hogben; Faber and Faber Ltd., Publishers.
3 Faber and Faber Ltd., Publishers. See The Bahá`í World, vol. XVI, p. 646.
4 Monterey Peninsula Herald, 7 January 1979.

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Two Pictures:

Caption of Picture in Upper Left Corner:  Clementina Mejía de Pavón

Caption of Picture in Upper Right Corner:  Segundo Pavón Barrera

committees.  He related that through his study he had come to recognize Bahá`u'lláh, `I have found the light with which the Lord our God has deemed to inspire his Divine Messengers to spread true faith in God, and being convinced of this reality, I desire to be accepted as a new believer in the Faith of Bahá`u'lláh.'  The light he found at that time was to guide his life until the end of his time on earth.
    The Pavóns were both born in Otavalo, a small Ecuadorian city in the Province of Imbabura, the province that holds the largest concentration of indigenous Bahá`ís in that country.  As this century opened, they were children growing up among the native people, learning Quechua, the lingua franca of the Andes, and learning also to appreciate the qualities and culture of a greatly underestimated and disparaged people.  They acquired those humane qualities and that spiritual nature that distinguished their years as Bahá`ís and gave them the unique ability to identify with the Quechua-speakers they served.
    They married in 1920 and had nine children, two of whom died young.  They lived to see all their surviving children and a number of grandchildren accept the Faith.  Their lives were, even before their exposure to the Faith, devoted to humanitarian objectives.  Mr. Pavón was a civil servant, who well understood the needs of the Indians, and his wife, a loving mother to her own children, was also widely known as Mother Pavón, a beloved `mater familias' for all who needed her.
    Early in their marriage they purchased a farm in Cachaco, miles from any city, so that their children could be raised in a healthy and spiritual environment.  It was in a jungle-like area with no transportation, not even roads.  An undependable train which ran at irregular intervals at some distance from their home was the only means of travel in or out.  They could not have foreseen at this time that the farm would become a school under Bahá`í auspices and a training institute for the native believers of Ecuador.  Seeing the needs of the children of Cachaco, who were without educational facilities, they opened a school in their home, supporting it from the proceeds of their farm insofar as possible.
    When the National Spiritual Assembly of Ecuador was formed in 1961, the Pavóns gave it their whole-hearted support, and began sending frequent detailed reports of their

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activities.  In an early letter to the Assembly Doña Clementina wrote that she was teaching the principles of the Faith to the children of their school so that they would grow up to be true Bahá`ís.  A few weeks later she sent notice that four of her pupils who ranged in age from six to sixteen years, had accepted the Faith.  In August 1962 they shared with the National Assembly their happiness over the acclaim they received from the Ministry of Education for their efforts in educating campesino children.  Unfortunately, a few months later Mrs. Pavón was greatly tested when she heard from the provincial director of education that she could not be considered a teacher as she had no degree in teaching.  He wanted to send a young graduate with a degree to the area.  Mr. Pavón wrote to say `The truth is, the priest and his followers have offered to open a school in the area . . . and take away our school'. In spite of the machinations against the school, their faith never wavered.  Doña Clementina wrote asking for prayers for guidance, her words reflecting her undaunted spirit:  `I always have confidence in the help of Bahá`u'lláh and the prayers of our fellow-Bahá`ís' and that `God is greater than every great one'.  The school continued, with daily classes for twenty children and literacy classes for adults in the evenings and on Sundays.  Through their work enrolments in the Faith continued month after month.  Reflecting on the lives of Segundo and Clementina  Pavón from this vantage point in time, it appears that their independent effort to provide schooling to campesino children and literacy classes to adults, might well be regarded as one of the earliest of the `tutorial schools' called for many years later in the Nine Year Plan.
    When the National Spiritual Assembly needed a couple to work with the indigenous people in the areas of mass conversion, they knew that they had in the Pavóns two capable believers with an innate respect for the Indians, and who were well-versed in their language and culture.  They were asked by the Assembly to move from Cachaco to serve as pioneers in Otavalo, their natal city.  The Pavóns, in agreeing to the task assigned to them in Otavalo, were able to happily inform the National Assembly that the children of Cachaco would continue to receive education, for through Mr. Pavón's efforts a public school had been established and a road into the area had been opened.
    In Otavalo the two worked tirelessly together on many projects.  Señora Pavón was inspired to write songs, poetry and translations, while Señor Pavón spent many hours at the typewriter acting as her secretary, recording her work, meticulously and precisely, as was his nature.
    The songs of Clementina Pavón, based on Bahá`í texts and set to the haunting Andean melodies she had heard from childhood, are played daily on `Radio Bahá`í of Ecuador' and are sung in villages and international conferences around the world.  One of them was sung by a choir in the Mother Temple of Latin America in Panama.  They are songs that teach and instruct, that rejoice in the joy of being a Bahá`í, that bring the Manifestation close to the believer and that strike a responsive note in the hearts of children and adults alike.  `Radio Bahá`í' in its early years would have been musically impoverished without the contributions of Doña Clementina de Pavón.  And her translations of the Writings into Quechua made possible the Quechua programming of the station.
    In Otavalo, too, the Pavóns taught indigenous people to read and write. They helped to engender respect for the Quechua language, and to revive and restore its use among Quechua-speakers themselves, who were losing vocabulary from their language along with the self-respect of which they had been deprived by a Spanish-language culture.  Mrs. Pavón helped to train the Quechua-speakers who were the first radio announcers to speak about the Faith in their mother tongue to their own people.
    Their story would not be complete without the story of José Manuel.  When they learned that a mother was in the market-place trying to sell her partially paralysed four-year-old child who was also mute, they immediately took the child, disregarding the fact that they had a houseful of their own children. They feared that someone would take him who would not give him love.  José Manuel grew up with the Pavón children as one of their brothers.  Through their love and unwavering faith they were able to teach him many things, including the Faith of Bahá`u'lláh, and the

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ability to utter a few words.  José Manuel is now a man, a Bahá`í, devoted and ready to serve the Faith and the friends at all times.  When their success with José Manuel was noted, they were offered another unwanted child who was totally deaf and mute.  They accepted it and gave it the same loving care.  Both are today loved and cared for by the Pavóns' children.
    As the years passed and the health of the Pavóns began to fail, they moved, at the urging of their children, to a warmer climate at a lower altitude to live with a daughter.  While they enjoyed being with their family, they soon felt restless at being far from the heart of Bahá`í activities, and in time returned to Otavalo and became engaged in the work of the Bahá`í Institute.  Over the years they were mother and father to many pioneers who had the privilege of working with and learning from them.  Pioneers and others relied on the herbal remedies Mother Pavón dispensed.  Particularly in Cachaco, where there had been no doctors and no telephones, the sick would often turn to the Pavóns for help.  Both served in countless ways on Assemblies and committees, national and local, as teachers, administrators and collaborators with conventions, institutes and every Bahá`í event of the busy years during which the Faith dramatically increased both its numbers and its activities in Ecuador.
    Segundo Pavón's deep love for Bahá`u'lláh, his ardent desire to serve the Cause, and his complete devotion to his wife were all demonstrated at the time of her passing.  While she was in hospital, Mr. Pavón, himself ill and quite fragile, was busy correcting her translation into Quechua of Bahá`u'lláh and the New Era in order to be sure that her last work would be complete and well-done.  It seemed at that time that his sole desire was to complete this mission and join her.
    Their staunch and unyielding faith in Bahá`u'lláh was the cohesive influence that welded this inseparable couple together in service to the Cause.  They were richly rewarded in this life by seeing their son Raúl named to the Continental Board of Counsellors in the Americas, two daughters, Isabel Pavón de Calderón and Clemencia Pavón de Zuleta named to the Auxiliary Board, and all their other surviving children enrolled as devoted Bahá`ís.  They are   Rafael Pavón Mejía, Aida Pavón de Espín, Cecilia Pavón de Wilson and Teresa Pavón de Narvaez.
    On the passing of Clementina Mejía de Pavón, on 17 May 1979, the Universal House of Justice cabled:

GREIVED PASSING BELOVED CLEMENTINA DE PAVON OUTSTANDING INSPIRING TEACHER FAITH WORTHY EMULATION ALL BELIEVERS.  OFFERING LOVING PRAYERS DIVINE THRESHOLD PROGRESS HER SOUL.

Only two months later, following the passing of Segundo Pavón Barrera on 14 July, the House of Justice again cabled Ecuador:

PRAYING PROGRESS KINGDOMS GOD SOUL SEGUNDO PAVON.  CONVEY FAMILY LOVING SYMPATHY.

And to Counsellor Pavón, on 15 July, it joined the International Teaching Centre in cabling:

HEARTFELT CONDOLENCES YOURSELF FAMILY.  ASSURE PRAYERS SHRINES BOUNTIFUL REWARD DEVOTED SERVANT FAITH SEGUNDO PARVON.

(Adapted from articles written by HELEN HORNBY)


HELEN EGGLESTON
1892-1979


Helen Latimer Whitney was born in Portland, Oregon, on 1 June 1892, the daughter of Kate Latimer Whitney and Edwin D. Whitney.  Whitney, Marzieh Gail advises, was a prominent Lansing, Michigan, businessman, and owned one of America's most complete private gun collections, its oldest item being an Arab firearm, very light, for cavalry, dating back about three hundred years.  His other avocation was making birdhouses.     Helen, The American Bahá`í of July 1979 reports, became a Bahá`í in Portland `some seventy years ago after hearing of the Faith from a relative of hers, George Orr Latimer [who died in 1948]',and `will be best remembered for her pioneering work in Bahá`í education through the establishment [with her husband, Lou (1872-1953)] of the Louhelen

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Picture in Upper Left Corner with the Caption:  Helen Eggleston

School near Davison , Michigan', whose first session was held `in August 1931 with the approval of Shoghi Effendi'.
    Helen met Lou Eggleston1 in the Bahá`í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois; they were married on 24 December 1930, Marzieh Gail in an unpublished reminiscence gives us a vivid picture of the couple set against the background of the creation and development of the school which was to bear their names:   `Helen was thirty-eight at the time of her marriage, slender and youthful in appearance, and she stayed that way throughout her life.  Lou was fifty and had other family, Helen being his third wife.  They produced two children of their own, first a daughter, Lou-helen, and later a son, "Buzzie."  Although a recent Bahá`í at the time of their marriage, Lou then dedicated his life, as did Helen, to an enterprise which would be of value to the Faith.  Searching the rural area near Davison, a few miles out of Flint they discovered a large property which had outbuildings and a deserted farm house.  The house was fifty years old, built for the ages, with that confidence in the future, those self-respecting lines, that American architects can apparently no longer reproduce.  It had oak timbers; the rest was of white pine lumber throughout.  No plumbing, only a cistern under the kitchen and a pitcher and pump at the sink.  Four porches, rotting away.  It had last been painted forty years before.  Lou, a genius-level, self-taught engineer who had been obliged to leave school at eleven, went to work on the house and its 280 acres.  On 1 August 1931 was held the first session ever of the first Bahá`í Summer School in the central part of the United States.  (There were only two other Bahá`í schools in America at that time, Green Acre in Maine, and Geyserville in California.)
    `Names associated with that first nine-day session were Dorothy Baker, Louis Gregory, Harlan and Grace Ober, Howard and Mabel Ives, May Harvey Gift, Christine McKay, Fanny Knobloch and Mary Collison.  Those in attendance met on the porch of a log cabin on Kersley Creek, which ran through the property, or sat on bleachers at the water's edge.  The Guardian was very pleased with that first success and urged the friends to "do even more next season."  The Egglestons toiled to plan the courses and expand the facilities . . . From the beginning, with continuous guidance from the Guardian and served by national committees, the school was youth-oriented.  It stressed Bahá`í administration and also the study of Islám and the Qur'án, for on 2 December 1935 the Guardian wrote:  "The knowledge of this Sacred Scripture is absolutely indispensable for every believer who wishes adequately and intelligently to read the Writings of Bahá`u'lláh."
    `In 1939, a handsome, official library was opened to the public, while Helen's private collection of Bahá`í books and rare pamphlets was becoming perhaps the best in the country.  Her knowledge of the Faith was well organized, so that if you had a question, you would often turn to her for a documented reply.
    `In 1949, a nine-acre tract, including the main residence and all the other buildings and recreational grounds, was deeded by Helen and Lou to the National Spiritual Assembly.  Meanwhile, with the help of a tenant farmer, varied activities were constantly going on:  goats were raised; a special kind of flour was developed; additional dormitories were constructed; a tennis court, outdoor grill for wiener roasts and a craft center were provided;

1 See `In Memoriam', The Bahá`í World, vol. XII, p. 712.

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a conservatory was established upstairs in the residence; and the Louhelen Bahá`í Choir was created by Esther Wilson of Bradley College.
    `Helen was known for developing new talent and many a teacher, crowded out by established talent elsewhere, got a start at Louhelen and found that he or she had abilities previously undiscovered.  What Helen contributed throughout was to rule her domain with the proverbial rod of iron; but unlike most "dictators" she had a sense of the ridiculous.  When you watched her carefully you noticed a barely perceptible tic, a small twitch to her lips.  Whether the humor came first, or the tic, we do not know; but in any case they matched.  Her custom when she first met a person was to test him out:  she would stare at him out of round brown eyes, her mouth twitching just a bit, and make some outrageous statement, and watched to see how the individual responded.  She once greeted a new arrival at the school with:  "Your room is in such-and-such a building; bed-time is ten o'clock; all the mail is read before we deliver it to you; good night!"'
    The operation of running Louhelen, Marzieh Gail continues, `involved administering thousands of people, over the years, and it was Helen's continuous, invaluable, personal supervision, reinforced by Lou, that made Louhelen School the unique institution it was . . . Helen had small, delicate hands, and I doubt that she ever cooked anything or wielded a broom in her life, but she collected and closely supervised a fine staff.  Not everyone was enthusiastic over the goat's milk and kelp which formed part of the Louhelen menu--and you were not allowed to escape to the city of Flint for a meal.  Nor did Helen care for the individual's private ideas of what to eat.  "The worst part is having to deal with all their special diets," she once confided.  "You take today.  Mrs. X has just informed me that she cannot possibly eat veal.  So . . . --deadpan stare and slight twitch of the lips--"she's going to get some lovely chicken."  I once asked her how, with all those buildings, she warded off a long succession of self-invited guests.  "I explain that there's lots of work for them to do around the ranch," she said.  "Lots of weeding, painting, driving the tractor, milking the goats . . ."  To prevent cliques, she made each one sit by a different person at each meal.  As for circumventing building romances, she said:  "Takes about two weeks to get 'em started.  Then we send 'em home and schedule a different study course."
    `Basically egalitarian in spite of her Junior League background, she was as real as a sack of potatoes.  She neither wanted nor accepted adulation for herself . . . Shy and vulnerable at heart, when confronted with formal guests she would have someone else present to manage the conversation.  Nevertheless, even though it involved facing unfamiliar people, she was so anxious to have good relations between the school and the inhabitants of the area that she would go out of her way to make friends.  One autumn she and Lou arranged for me to give talks on some forty platforms in surrounding towns--at schools, in churches, at men's service clubs, Rotary, Lions, the Kiwanis (the entire peas-and-chicken-á-la-king circuit)--they themselves driving me in the overheated car (Helen couldn't stand the cold) through the bare, wintry fields.  Practical, the two would combine other errands along with getting to the lecture . . . It was Helen who arranged the lecture engagements . . . In those days religion was a taboo subject on most platforms of the kind I have mentioned; you walked on eggs, and the relevance of the Bahá`í Faith to the world situation was not understood.  (Neither in fact was the world situation.)  Lou was a member of Rotary himself, and as the years went by, the school gained in local prestige, and clubs in the area would often ask for Bahá`í speakers.  One summer the Civitan Club of Flint used Bahá`í speakers for three successive meetings; the Zonta Club featured a staff speaker from Louhelen School, and the Flint radio station interviewed another.  Winning this type of recognition was a considerable achievement for the time and place.  Various groups would also make use of the public library on the grounds, and sometimes rent the school for conferences of their own . . .
    `The home Helen shared with Lou and her children and thousands of Bahá`ís, and others, taught its own message and imparted its own memories that still linger in the mind.  As for the budding romances nipped in the bud, we think there must be many a couple who still turn back, over the years, to their days in that lovely place.'

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    Though best remembered for her association with Louhelen School, Helen served the Cause faithfully in various capacities throughout her lifetime and until her last breath maintained an active interest in its world-wide development and expansion.  The gift of a copy of the new publication Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá sent to her by Lois Goebel elicited a happy response dated 17 April 1979, a month before her passing: `O Lois! How can I thank you for this precious, priceless Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá!   It arrived yesterday.  The power of His Word shakes one, and is overwhelming, and I've only read a few pages!  Thank you, my dear, so very, very much for your thoughtfulness and kindness.  Do you know that section 167, page 198, is a Tablet that I had the blessing of receiving from the Master?'
    The National Spiritual Assembly of the United States in its cable announcing the passing of Helen Eggleston on 9 May 1979 paid tribute to this `stalwart, generous-hearted handmaiden Bahá`u'lláh whose name along with husband's will be associated with development Bahá`í education United States for generations to come'.  From the Universal House of Justice on 11 May came this accolade:

GRIEVED PASSING VETERAN DEVOTED MAIDSERVANT CAUSE HELEN EGGLESTON WHO WITH HER LATE HUSBAND ESTABLISHED CENTRAL MICHIGAN SUMMER SCHOOL IN EARLY THIRTIES EARNING HIGH PRAISE BELOVED GUARDIAN.  CONVEY FAMILY FRIENDS OUR CONDOLENCES AND ASSURANCE LOVING PRAYERS PROGRESS HER SOUL.


ELIZABETH KIDDER OBER
1902-1979

ALICE G. KIDDER
1902-1981


O ye handmaids of the merciful Lord!  How many queens of this world laid down their heads on a pillow of dust and disappeared.  No fruit was left of them, no trace, no sign, not even their names . . . Not so the handmaids who ministered at the Threshold of God; these have shown forth like glittering stars in the skies of ancient glory, shedding their splendours across all the reaches of time.                                 `Abdu'l-Bahá

These words of `Abdu'l-Bahá call to my mind the lives of dedication to the Cause of Bahá`u'lláh, and of service to the world of humanity, our dearly loved twins, Dr. Alice Gertrude Kidder and Dr. Elizabeth Meriel Kidder Ober.
    Born on 22 September 1902, in Beverly, Massachusetts, to Arthur Harvey Kidder, pattern-maker, and Gertrude Maria Glines, schoolteacher, Alice and Elizabeth were raised, with their brother Harold, two years older than they, in a loving and spacious rural home.
    By the time they reached age eleven, the spirit of dedication to the service of mankind that was to characterize their lives was born.  Their mother, active in the Congregational Church, often arranged visits from missionaries home on furlough from various countries.  Many times Alice and Elizabeth, as children, were sent to the railroad station in their pony-cart to welcome and bring home those missionary speakers.  Learning about mission life abroad decided the young girls that the only hope for the masses was education in physical hygiene and the acquisition of spiritual virtues.
    Their father taught them to look always with a searching eye for the truth in every situation.  These parental influences set the pattern of their lives.  They pursued studies in osteopathic, homeopathic and naturopathic medicine.  Elizabeth became an osteopathic physician first, graduating in 1927.  Alice graduated a decade later and in the interval looked after their parents and carried on their father's flourishing greenhouse business.
    When, in 1934,  Elizabeth learned of the Bahá`í Faith from Lorna Tasker, a patient and later dear friend of hers, she knew in an instant that she would become a Bahá`í.  At precisely the same time in another city, Alice first heard the name of Bahá`u'lláh.  The twins hastened to share their momentous discovery, only to find the other already knew.  Taught by other prominent Bahá`í teachers, including Helen Archambault, Alice's spiritual mother, and Grace Robarts Ober and her husband

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Two Pictures:

Caption of Picture in Upper Left Corner:  Elizabeth Kidder Ober

Caption of Picture in Upper Right Corner:  Alice G. Kidder

Harlan Ober, patients of Elizabeth's, the twins became Bahá`ís in Boston in 1939 and served the Faith of Bahá`u'lláh to the end of their earthly lives.
    Harlan and Grace Ober had been married by `Abdu'l-Bahá in 1912.  Harlan was devastated by Grace's death in 1938 but learned to find comfort in an awareness of her continuing influence in his life.  He never doubted that part of her legacy to him was yet another extremely happy marriage.  On 21 June 1941 he married Dr. Elizabeth Kidder.  A postscript in the handwriting of Shoghi Effendi appended to a letter written on his behalf on 20 June 1941 conveyed the Guardian's `heartfelt congratulations' and the assurance of his `best wishes'.
    Grace Ober's dearly loved nephew, the Hand of the Cause John A. Robarts, gives a glimpse of his great affection and esteem for the twins:
    `My Aunt Grace's death was a shock.  We all loved her very much, but three years later Harlan married Elizabeth Kidder, and as she had a twin sister, Alice, this meant that while I had lost one aunt, I acquired two new almost-aunts.  They were delightful people, devoted Bahá`ís, skilled osteopaths, and with Harlan were Bahá`í pioneers in Southern Africa near where my wife, Audrey, and I lived with two of our children, Patrick and Nina.  They kept us all in good health.  In describing their dedication to serving others, Harlan said, "They are like two fire-horses; come back to the firehall after standing for hours at a fire, exhausted, but ready to dash out to another fire without a murmur of complaint."'
    Anyone who knew Elizabeth and Alice will recall with awe and amusement their extraordinary relationship as identical twins.  As children they delighted in confusing their teachers and classmates; as doctors in practice together, they could substitute for each other when necessary, some patients never knowing the difference.  They had telepathic communication:  while one wrote a letter, the recipient was already sending the answer before having received the question.  Whenever one was ill, the other came immediately to the rescue with medical expertise and that loving spirit of service for which they were both famous.  They shared an uncanny ability to perceive and rise to the needs of others--physical, emotional or spiritual needs--and in the

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process, those who opened themselves to their care discovered such qualities as Alice's self-effacing efficiency, her resourcefulness, tenderness and wisdom; or Elizabeth's sense of humour and determination to explore alternatives, overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
    Elizabeth and Harlan were elected to the Spiritual Assembly of Beverly in 1942.  They held regular firesides, travel-taught, gave public talks.  For a time Elizabeth served on the Regional Teaching Committee.  Alice was elected to the Spiritual Assembly of Greenwich.  All three were, at different times, delegates to national conventions and speakers at Louhelen Bahá`í School; Elizabeth and Harlan also at Green Acre.
    In May 1953 at the Mother Temple of the West, Alice responded at once to the launching of the beloved Guardian's Ten Year Crusade by offering to pioneer to the Union of South Africa.  In March 1954, after correspondence had been delayed in the committee, Shoghi Effendi advised her to go immediately.  Within two days she was on her way.  Elizabeth and Harlan deputized her.  During her pilgrimage, en route to South Africa, Shoghi Effendi directed her to Pretoria, the capital city, where she arrived in April 1954.  It was during this pilgrimage that she first drew close to Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum, Shoghi Effendi's wife, through treating her and spending some time in her company--a bond which was later to develop and mean so much in both their lives.
    Alice's life, alone in her pioneer post, was an example of complete faith and courage as she quietly went about finding and furnishing a downtown office, and building up a medical practice among the white population in accordance with the prevailing racial restrictions of the land.  With discretion she used the office also as a place of contact for teaching and held classes there each week.  Dedicating every day to the service of Bahá`u'lláh, she remained steadfast through many difficulties.
    Her joy knew no bounds when, in March 1956, she was joined by Elizabeth and Harlan who also made their pilgrimage to the Holy Land before reaching South Africa.  Alice and the first Tswana Bahá`í woman, Dorothy Senna, had laid a foundation, in Lady Selbourne, for the formation of the first all-African Local Spiritual Assembly in the Pretoria area and in April 1956, following the expressed wish of the Guardian, the Obers brought the institution into being.  Aided by Alice they also raised up a Spiritual Assembly in Atteridgeville in 1958.
    The twin doctors were greatly loved by their patients.  Their practice grew.
    Functioning as a team with Harlan in their Bahá`í work they taught at every opportunity and conducted study classes twice weekly.  Harlan's stories of `Abdu'l-Bahá welded together the hearts of pioneers and local believers and difficulties often melted into joy and laughter.  Alice, Elizabeth and Harlan will long be lovingly remembered for their vital service of deepening the knowledge of the friends in the Pretoria area, many of whom are today serving the Faith with exemplary capacity and devotion.
    The pinnacle of Alice's life was the six years she served Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum as physician and companion from 1958 to1964.  Amatu'l-Bahá's own words, cabled at the time of Alice's passing, best describe this achievement:

. . .DOCTOR ALICE KIDDER OUTSTANDING OLD BELIEVER CONSECRATED DEVOTED PIONEER BOTH SOUTH AFRICA MEXICO. . . PRECIOUS LINK MY OWN LIFE AGONIZING PERIOD FOLLOWING PASSING BELOVED GUARDIAN WHEN FOR SIX YEARS SHE LIVED WITH ME CARED FOR ME SERVED AT WORLD CENTRE FAITH WITH UNIQUE SELFLESS DEVOTION . . .

    During Alice's six-year absence, Elizabeth maintained the medical practice alone, and she and Harlan continued their Bahá`í work, including teaching trips to Mozambique, Swaziland, Zululand, Basutoland and Rhodesia.  They served on the National Teaching Committee of South and West Africa for some years.  On 20 July 1962 Harlan died.  Urged to do so by Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum, Alice returned to South Africa in 1964.  Ever since Harlan's death Rúhíyyih Khánum had felt it was not right to separate the twins and that Elizabeth needed her more than she did.  The sisters remained another five years in South Africa, continuing their practice together.
    Elizabeth went to the United States in 1967

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and spent four dusty months carefully sorting through and distributing to the International, American and Canadian Bahá`í archives an enormous collection of historical and other papers dating back to 1905 which had belonged to Harlan, and to Grace and Ella Robarts.  While there, Elizabeth traversed the country from coast to coast and gave twenty-five well-received Bahá`í talks.
    In 1969 Alice and Elizabeth made their farewell teaching trip to Cape Town, an unforgettable feast of love among their Bahá`í friends of all races.  Returning to the United States, they settled in St. Petersburg, Florida.  They longed to pioneer again, but were plagued by ncredible mishaps.  Both sisters were constitutionally prone to breaking their bones.  Each suffered a severe hip fracture.  Alice never really walked again.  With heroic determination and fortitude, still imbued with their passionate desire to pioneer and not merely to rust out and die in their homeland, Elizabeth arranged their final move, this time to their pioneer post in Guadalajara, Mexico, where they arrived, Elizabeth in May 1975, Alice the following month.  At Ridván 1978 they were elected to the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá`ís of Zapopan, Elizabeth serving as chairman.
    Despite difficulties arising from not speaking Spanish, Elizabeth participated in brief teaching trips in Jalisco and Nayarit, and she and Alice both made valiant efforts to deepen the friends, their home a centre of Bahá`í activity, frequent firesides, their Bahá`í library available to all who came to study there.
    The twins were taken to hospital following a car accident in November 1978 and shortly thereafter it became evident that they could not return to their home.  After a lifetime of serving others, they were now surrounded by what seemed to be a band of angels who attended to their every need.  Foremost among these were the Sala family, Emeric, Rosemary, Ida and Paul, who, respectively and collectively, looked after their financial affairs, their correspondence and voluminous historical papers, the disposal of their possessions, their daily needs; and Jack Jacobs, a gifted Bahá`í medical student whose visits each day brought laughter and assurance of the best medical attention, and somehow, sometimes, a favourite treat:  chocolate ice cream.  All who were privileged to be near the sisters in their final months were touched by their detachment from worldly things, their courage, steadfastness and humour in the face of overwhelming difficulties and suffering.
    In March 1981, when she was in Mexico during a tour of Central America, Rúhíyyih Khánum made a special trip to Guadalajara to see Alice in her nursing home and stayed long enough to visit her on three different occasions.  This brought great joy to both of them, Alice brightening up to very much her old self and, with child-like pleasure, eating the ice cream brought as a gift.
    Elizabeth left this world on 1 June 1979, and Alice followed her on 26 November 1981.  The following excerpts from cables sent by the Universal House of Justice and by Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum upon the passing of Elizabeth and of Alice point to some of their sterling qualities and unforgettable services to the Cause of God:
    From the Universal House of Justice on 5 June 1979:

    GRIEVED PASSING ELIZABETH OBER HER SERVICE PIONEER FIELDS WARMLY REMEMBERED . . .

    From Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum:

    . . .HEROIC PIONEER ELIZABETH OBER SHE ALICE SHINING EXAMPLES FUTURE GENERATIONS COMPLETE DEDICATION CAUSE GOD.

    And from the Universal House of Justice on 29 November 1981:

    RADIANT HANDMAID BAHAULLAH ALICE KIDDER.  HER SACRIFICIAL EFFORTS FOREIGN PIONEERING FIELDS HER DEVOTED LABOURS WORLD CENTRE ABOVE ALL HER PERSONAL SERVICES AMATULBAHA DURING POIGNANT PERIOD AFTER BELOVED GUARDIANS PASSING LOVINGLY TENDERLY REMEMBERED . . .

    The twins' remains are buried together in the Cemeterio Municipal de Guadalajara, and their radiant souls are surely soaring upwards together through all the worlds of God.
NINA GRACE ROBARTS TINNION


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Picture Upper Left Corner with the Caption:  Jean Hutchinson-Smith

JEAN HUTCHINSON-SMITH
1886-1979


Jean Hutchinson-Smith was the Australian-born daughter of John and Margaret Lauder who, with a young family, left Scotland about 1880 to seek a new life in a new land, and settled in Sydney, Australia.  Jean was born in 1886 and was educated at Sydney Girls' High School--at that time, 1900, the only girls' high school in the State of New South Wales--and at the University of Sydney.  She passed to the Abhá Kingdom on 20 July 1979, in her ninety-third year.
    Jean was fifty-five when she found the Bahá`í Faith and had been widowed for eight years, but her daughter, Alicia, feels that if they had both heard of the Faith at an earlier time her father would undoubtedly have embraced it, for breadth of thought was always apparent in the family.
    Jean's life as a young, educated matron was filled with the difficulties caused by living for many years in backward country towns where her classically-educated husband was posted as a teacher.  Some of her receptivity to the spiritual life must have been born of the combined effects of education and harsh living conditions.  She had a truly international outlook and was a sincere seeker after Truth.  Her introduction to the Faith of Bahá`u'lláh through Stanley and Marietta Bolton, and subsequently `Father and Mother Dunn', was the climax of this long search.  She became a Bahá`í in March 1941.  A letter from the beloved Guardian dated 22 January 1944 was her most cherished possession.  In his own hand he had written:  `May the Beloved bless your devoted efforts, guide every step you take in His service, remove all obstacles from your path and fulfil every desire you cherish for the furtherance of the interests of His Faith.'
    After she became a Bahá`í she travelled extensively in the British Isles and Europe from 1948 until the early 1960s, neglecting no opportunity to meet with the friends in the many countries she visited.  Her gift for languages, particularly German and French, was a tremendous advantage.  She was an able speaker and will long be remembered gratefully in Edinburgh where significant newspaper publicity on the Faith followed a public meeting she addressed in that city.  The Bahá`ís there had been trying for years to break into the press.  Marion Hofman recalled this when she visited Jean in Sydney in 1977, so many years after the event, which must have taken place in 1948, the same year in which Jean and Alicia served as tellers when the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Dublin was formed in the home of George Townshend.  Wherever Jean's ship called she made contact with the believers.  In 1959 she and Alicia visited Tokyo, the first Australian Bahá`ís to visit the Japanese Bahá`í community.  On two visits to Europe and the United Kingdom in the early 1960s Jean was tireless in promoting the Faith in company with Alicia.  `I wish to assure you of my loving and deep-felt appreciation of your constant and manifold services to our beloved Faith,' the Guardian wrote in a postscript to a letter written on his behalf on 18 February 1950.  `I will supplicate the Beloved to bless continually your high endeavours, to remove every obstacle from your path, and enable you to win great victories for its institutions.'
    The erection of the Bahá`í Temple at

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Ingleside was the great thrill of Jean's Bahá`í life.  She had seen the Faith grow in numbers and strength to a degree that in the early days of rented meeting halls would have seemed a dream.  She rejoiced in hearing prayers recited in her home in languages other than English, as testimony to the universality and growth of the Cause.  During Marion Hofman's visit in 1977 Jean remarked how deeply she regretted not having had the privilege of making the pilgrimage to the World Centre due to the dates being fully booked when she applied, and was comforted by Marion's reply, referring to words of `Abdu'l-Bahá, in which He expressed the thought that to be engaged in teaching the Cause is equivalent to having attained the Threshold (Tablet to Mariam Haney dated 18 October 1903).

(Reprinted from Australian Bahá`í Bulletin, July 1980, and based on information supplied by ALICIA HUTCHINSON-SMITH.)

FU'ÁD AHMADPÚR
(FU'ÁD AHMADPÚR MILÁNÍ)
1922-1979


Fu'ád Ahmadpúr Milání (known as Fu'ád Ahmadpour) was born in 1922 in Tabríz, Írán.  He was the eldest son of `Ináyat'u'lláh Ahmadpúr Milání.  The family, which was devoted, steadfast, deeply-rooted in the Bahá`í Cause and of distinguished lineage, moved to Tihrán while Fu'ád was still in his childhood.
    Fu'ád's paternal grandfather, Hájí Ahmad Milání, was one of the early believers who recognized the Báb and Bahá`u'lláh.  Following the martyrdom of the Báb, His remains were taken to Milán and kept for a time in the silk mill of Hájí Ahmad.1   Fu'ád's maternal grandfather, Ibráhím Adhar Munír, was an outstanding Bahá`í teacher who, for a while, served `Abdu'l-Bahá as a scribe.

Picture in Upper Right Corner with the Caption:  Fu'ád Ahmadpúr

    From childhood Fu'ád Ahmadpúr manifested courage, pioneering while still a youth to the remote town of Mahallát where he bravely proclaimed the Faith publicly from inside a mosque.  As he left the building he was attacked by fanatics who beat him with sticks and chains until he fell wounded and unconscious and was believed to be dead.  He was taken to a hospital in Tihrán where his recovery was effected, though traces of his injuries remained on his face throughout his life.  He studied at Tihrán University and completed his education in Paris and Geneva, receiving a Ph.D. in Law.  He made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and would often repeat what the Guardian said to him about his having followed in his father's footsteps in serving the Faith.
    Fu'ád Ahmadpúr's service to the Cause was characterized by fearless courage.  He pioneered to Morocco in 1955, setting an example of sacrifice and self-denial.  He opened his home to the friends and tirelessly travelled to visit the believers in every corner of the country.  Not satisfied with ordinary feats or small achievements, he always sought perfection and excellence.  He was determined to win important goals in the administrative

1 See Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 54.

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affairs of the Faith.  His fame grew:  Bahá`ís and non-Bahá`ís, the élite and layman alike, would go to him for solutions to their problems.  He dealt with ease with people from all walks of life both within and without the Bahá`í community.  The services of the friends aroused his deep admiration:  a poor Bahá`í giving a contribution or an illiterate friend teaching the Faith successfully would inspire him.  Nothing was capable of frightening him for he knew that all was worthless compared with the Cause, and in light of its greatness he did not consider himself or his services of any significance.
    He served on the National Spiritual Assembly for almost twenty years and as an officer for many of these and, with his vast personal ability, carried the great responsibility of serving as liaison between the National Spiritual Assembly and those who wished to contact it from inside or outside.  He arranged the meetings and carried out the decisions.  In the incident of al-Nádúr, when several Bahá`ís were imprisoned, he did everything in his power to exonerate them.
    The name of Fu'ád Ahmadpúr, whose services are an integral part of the achievements in Morocco, will be recorded in letters of light in the history of the Faith in that region.  It is sufficient here to quote a passage from a letter written by Counsellor Muhammad Kebdani to commemorate the passing of Mr. Ahmadpúr:
    `To my dear servant-friend, the lion of God, Mr. Fu'ád Ahmadpúr:  God's decree is that he be unexpectedly hidden from the eyes of the Bahá`í friends in Morocco, the friends who loved him wholeheartedly.  He ascended to the Kingdom of God following a heart attack suffered on 2 August 1979 in London, and was buried close to the grave of his beloved Guardian whom he would frequently mention with tearful eyes.'
    The following cablegram was received from the Universal House of Justice praising his glorious services:

DEEPLY GRIEVED UNTIMELY PASSING FUAD AHMADPOUR HIS DEVOTED PIONEER SERVICES EXTENDING OVER PERIOD SEVERAL DECADES HIS SPIRIT DEDICATION COURAGE IN PROMOTING VITAL INTERESTS FAITH WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED.  ASSURE MEMBERS BEREAVED FAMILY LOVING PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.


SAMI DOKTOROGLU
1901-1979



GRIEVED LOSS OUTSTANDING SERVANT BAHAULLAH SAMI DOKTOROGLU WHOSE UNINTERRUPTED DEVOTED SERVICES OVER SEVERAL DECADES SHED LUSTRE ANNALS FAITH TURKEY WON HIM ADMIRATION CONFIDENCE BELOVED GUARDIAN AND GRATITUDE ALL BELIEVERS.  HIS WORTHY ACHIEVEMENTS ACQUISITION HOLY PLACES TURKEY HIS LEADERSHIP INFANT COMMUNITY TIME NEED HIS SERVICES INSTITUTIONS FAITH IN MANIFOLD FIELDS WILL BE ALWAYS REMEMBERED.  WE EXTEND SYMPATHY RELATIVES FRIENDS DEPARTED CO-WORKER AND ASSURE FERVENT PRAYERS PROGRESS SOUL.  ADVISE HOLD MEMORIAL GATHERINGS.

Universal House of Justice


Salih-bey, the grandfather of Sami Doktoroglu, was a distinguished and well-respected medical doctor who was employed at the palace of the Ottoman Sultán in Istanbul.  He was known for his kindness and help to the poor.  His wife was related to the family of the Sultán.  The family belonged to the Turkish Dervish order Bektáshiyya Taríqat (Bektáshí Taríqat).  Their son, Halit-bey, an army officer, was sent to Birecik where he met and married Emine Khánum, a native of the town.  In 1901 Sami was born to them.  His parents moved back to Istanbul where he attended Robert College--a missionary school--and from his many Greek schoolmates acquired a mastery of their language.  His education was interrupted at the outbreak of World War I.  Not old enough to serve in the army, Sami was employed by the government as a translator, remaining in Istanbul until the end of the war.  When civil unrest swept the country in 1920, the family moved back to Birecik where Sami again found work as a translator in a government office.
    The Bahá`ís of Birecik were attracted to Sami's upright character and sought his assistance in providing translations of Bahá`í newsletters and articles written in English which had been sent to them by friends abroad.

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Thus, Sami-bey was introduced to the Faith which he frequently discussed with `Abdu'l- Qadir Diriöz and eventually accepted.
    In 1930 he married Behiye Khánum, the daughter of a well-known Bahá`í family of Ghazi Antab.  Five children were born of the union:  Süheyla, Süreyya, Erol Badí`, Halde and Semura.  The couple settled in Mardin for two years and then moved to Diyarbakir, engaging in commerce in both places.  While they were in Mardin the Bahá`í friends in Urfa, Adana and Ghazi Antab were arrested and put on trial; some were imprisoned and their books were destroyed or confiscated.  Sami-bey was also called to the police station but after being detained overnight and interrogated he was set free.  In 1938 he returned to Istanbul.  Although the Local Spiritual Assembly could not meet because the Faith was under proscription, the friends used to meet among themselves and share news of Bahá`í activities around the world.  In Istanbul he started a travel agency and in a short time was loved and admired for his trustworthiness, honesty and good character.
    Sami-bey was the sole heir to the Bektáshiyya endowment, as well as other properties belonging to his grandparents, but he refused them all.  He loved the Bahá`í Faith and had nothing to do with the administration of the Taríqat, though he would have gained a considerable income.
    After the second World War he was invited to be the general representative of Pan American Airways which was extending its service for the first time to Turkey.  Soon other airline companies were offering him an agency.  His was the first and only firm to be given such an offer.  In Turkish history books he is mentioned as the founder of travel agencies in Turkey.  He was hard-working and determined. Through his business he became well known to the authorities and the general population.

Picture in Upper Right Corner with the Caption:  Sami Doktoroglu

    The visit to Istanbul in the winter of 1951 of Mrs. Amelia E. Collins (appointed a Hand of the Cause on 24 December of that year) at the request of Shoghi Effendi marked the turning point in Sami's Bahá`í life.  He had been requested to make the necessary arrangements.  He made hotel reservations and greeted her at the airport with a large group of friends.  Mrs. Collins's visit infused new life into the community.  Several meetings were arranged at which she could meet the friends and a large banquet was given in her honour.  She conveyed messages from the beloved Guardian and extended his love.  While she was in Istanbul Sami received a cablegram from Shoghi Effendi inviting him to visit the Holy Land.  Thrilled and astonished, he proceeded to Haifa, and returned filled with renewed spirit and enthusiasm, his devotion to the Faith reinforced by his having been in the presence of the Guardian for whom he had great admiration and love.  After his return a letter dated 14 December 1951 written on behalf of the Guardian reached the believers in Istanbul encouraging the friends to establish a Local Spiritual Assembly and to pursue other tasks concerning which he had given instructions to Sami.
    In April 1952 the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Istanbul was formed with Sami as one of its members.  He began to deepen his knowledge by reading Bahá`í books in English, many of these as yet not available in Turkish, and making a special study of Shoghi Effendi's

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God Passes By.  Under the guidance of the Guardian with whom he was in frequent correspondence he implemented the delicate negotiations for the identification and purchase of the Holy Places in Istanbul and Edirne associated with the presence of Bahá`u'lláh.  At a later time, writing of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1951, he said of Shoghi Effendi, `I never imagined his bestowing upon me so many bounties, even one of which would be sufficient to make me happy throughout eternity.  I am still unable to realize the blessings bestowed upon me, none of which I have deserved.'
    Many pioneers arose in 1952, settling in all parts of the world, in answer to the call of the Guardian.  Sami was of great assistance to the Persian friends, many of whom knew of his travel agency, and he tendered practical help in their relocation.  In 1953 he took delight in attending the International Conferences held in Stockholm, Kampala and New Delhi, and was present at the dedication of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in Wilmette.  At these gatherings he met many believers from all parts of the world and experienced a fuller appreciation of the reality of membership in the Bahá`í world community.  Later he was privileged to attend the World Congress in London and to participate in the first International Convention for the election of the Universal House of Justice.
    He served as a member of the Auxiliary Board and was the trustee of the Huqúqu'lláh in Turkey.  In 1957, not long before the passing of Shoghi Effendi, he conducted the long search which resulted in the acquisition of the site for the future Mashriqu'l-Adhkár.  When the friends in Ankara were jailed in 1960 and questioned about their beliefs, and had their books taken from them, Sami contacted high-ranking government officials and addressed a letter to the President of Turkey explaining that the Bahá`í Faith is an independent religion and not a sect of Islám.  The friends defended themselves admirably in court and were released.  He was the author of Dnya Medeniyetinin dogusu (Dawning of a World Civilization), and of an introductory pamphlet entitled The Bahá`í Religion, and he compiled and translated a book called Beklenen Cag.  His works were popular among the friends.  He sent copies of his works to the then Prime Minister, Mr. Nihat Erim, from whom he received a warm letter of acknowledgement, as well as to other high-ranking officials.  He was successful in obtaining permission to search the government archives for various documents related to the Ministry of Bahá`u'lláh.  Among his findings was an indication, hitherto unknown, that Mulla `Alíy-i-Bastámí, one of the Letters of the Living, the first martyr of the Bábí Dispensation, who was put to death in `Iráq, had in his travels reached the city of Bolu, east of Istanbul.
    In 1977, despite his age and the condition of his health, he accepted an invitation from the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia to spend two months teaching in that country.  In 1978 he visited Cyprus twice as a travelling teacher.
    The death of his dearly loved sister, Hayriye Khánum, who had married his Bahá`í teacher, `Abdu'l-Qadir Diriöz, affected him deeply, as she was the only member of his family who accepted the Faith.  Indeed, the others considered him an infidel.  Although not an educated woman she had immersed herself in the teachings, gained a great knowledge of the Faith and was an excellent and valued teacher of the Cause.
    The Universal House of Justice had requested Sami to make inquiries about the possibility of shipping lumber from Turkey for the restoration of Holy Places in `Akká.  The last letter from the House of Justice reached him late in July of 1979.  On 31 July, while giving instructions to his daughter, Süheyla, to accomplish the instructions of the Supreme Body, he partially lost consciousness.  Three days later he was taken to the hospital and on 4 August he passed to the Abhá Kingdom.
    A letter of consolation addressed to the family in October 1979 by the beloved Hand of the Cause Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum brought the sweet solace of these words:  `Our beloved Guardian esteemed your father very highly and I am sure his reward in the Abhá Kingdom is very great.  He will be much missed by the believers in Turkey and indeed in many countries where the friends were a witness to his many services to the Faith.'

(Adapted from a memoir by SÜREYYA GULER)


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Picture in Upper Left Corner with the Caption:  Mosese Hokafonu

MOSESE HOKAFONU
1927-1979


GRIEVED LEARN PASSING DEVOTED SERVANT BAHAULLAH MOSESE HOKAFONU HIS SERVICES FAITH OUTSTANDING ASSURE FAMILY FRIENDS ARDENT PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS SOUL ABHA KINGDOM
Universal House of Justice


It was in the early years of the Ten Year Crusade that Mosese Hokafonu, who lived on the island of Tongatapu in the Kingdom of Tonga, first heard of the Bahá`í Faith.  He became deeply attracted, readily embraced it, and for the remainder of his life was one of its staunch supporters and outstanding teachers.  The flame of love that was ignited in his heart never dimmed.  He brought knowledge of the Revelation of Bahá`u'lláh to many hundreds of people on tiny atolls and larger land masses scattered throughout the Pacific.
    For many years Mosese served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Nuku'alofa  and he travelled the length and breadth of Tonga in search of waiting souls.  He donated for the site of the national Hazíratu'l-Quds half of the small piece of land he owned in the centre of Nuku'alofa and lived with his family on the other portion.  His home was always open to the local Bahá`í friends and to the many visitors from overseas:  all found a warm welcome there.
    In July 1968, when he was appointed to the Auxiliary Board, he wrote to the Continental Board of Counsellors:  `I am very happy indeed to accept your call and I am praying that the Blessed Beauty will lead me and guide me to teach His Cause in this field and to win many victories for our glorious Faith.'  Mosese joined Gina and Russ Garcia on board their vessel Dawnbreaker for an extensive teaching trip which took them through the islands of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. They visited a number of outer islands and called at many villages.  Mosese was the first Pacific Islander to undertake teaching trips of long duration.  His wife and children saw him but rarely as he journeyed, under the guidance of the Counsellors and various National Spiritual Assemblies, to Kiribati and Tuvalu; Niue; the Solomon Islands; New Guinea; the Marshall, Mariana and Caroline Islands; Nauru; Australia and New Zealand, to name but some of his destinations.  His gentle and enthusiastic soul always attracted listeners, and to many a lonely and isolated believer he brought love and a renewed spirit.  In New Zealand he spearheaded teaching among the Maoris, walking countless miles to meet them, staying on their maraes, and often working with them on their farms.  He visited, as well, Hawaii, Alaska and the continental United States.
    Mosese's luminous spirit, happy personality and enthusiastic manner of teaching endeared him to friends and strangers alike.  He had a ready smile and a deep and natural sense of hospitality.  He was always positive in his approach, respecting the views of others and encouraging and supporting them.  To him the Faith was sublime and when the demands on his time became too great he resigned his

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government job to devote the rest of his life to serving the Cause.  He moved with his family from their home in town to a small house in a village where they lived a simple life.  He developed a strong band of assistants who aided him in his Auxiliary Board work.
    Many of his co-workers learned of his last illness only when they arrived in Tonga for a meeting of the Auxiliary Board attended by members from Tonga, Fiji and Samoa, all the arrangements for which Mosese had undertaken in spite of ill health.  At the end of the meeting he was admitted to hospital.  His affliction had taken its toll and he passed to the Abhá Kingdom on 28 August 1979.  Baron Vaea, a well-known Tongan noble, a relative who greatly respected and admired Mosese, conducted the funeral service which was attended by many hundreds of people.  Mosese is survived by his equally devoted wife, Ofa, and five children.  The feats achieved by this devoted servant of Bahá`u'lláh in the Pacific region bring to mind the words of `Abdu'l-Bahá:  O that I could travel, even though on foot and in the utmost poverty, to these regions, and, raising the call of `Yá Bahá`u'l-Abhá' in cities, villages, mountains, deserts and oceans, promote the Divine teachings!  This, alas, I cannot do.  How intensely I deplore it!  Please God, ye may achieve it.1

SUHAYL A. `ALÁ'Í



MELBA M. CALL KING
1910-1979



A casual observer might assume mistakenly that Melba King lived in a limited and narrow world of darkness, for she was blind.  But those who were privileged to share her world know that she lived in beauty and light, her horizons uncircumscribed by physical limitations.
    A Yupik Eskimo, she was born on 11 October 1910 in the village of Savanaska in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska.  Orphaned at an early age and physically handicapped, she might have been lost had it not been for Dr. French, a United States Commissioner, who took an interest in her welfare and assisted with planning for her physical and educational needs.  She was reared by a white, foster-mother, Corrine Call, a teacher for the Alaskan Indian Service.
    Melba earned her way through college, attended the School for the Blind at Vancouver, Washington, and studied at Perkins Institute in Massachusetts.  Later she completed two years' study at Washington University and an additional two years' study at Central Washington University.  She was the first blind student ever to graduate from that University.  Her diploma was presented to her by the Governor of the State of Washington, the Hon. William Langley.
    Determined to help others to broaden their perspective through education, Melba accepted a position teaching newly-blind adults in New Mexico.  It was there that she met Kathryn Franklin2 who introduced her to the Bahá`í Faith, an event that was to change the course of her life.  Melba declared her belief in Bahá`u'lláh on 23 May 1943 in Albuquerque, New Mexico--the first full-blooded Eskimo to do so.3  This occasion, unforgettable for Melba and significant for the Faith, was made more memorable by a letter written on the Guardian's behalf by his secretary on 24 July in which he predicted a radiant future for Melba and for her people.  In his own hand Shoghi Effendi wrote, `Your most welcome letter has rejoiced my heart.  I extend to you a most hearty welcome into the ranks of the followers of Bahá`u'lláh, and will greatly value your support and co-operation.  Your conversion to His Cause is indeed an historic event, and will greatly rejoice the hearts of the believers.  I will pray for your success and spiritual advancement from the depths of my heart.  Rest assured and be confident.'
    To teach the Faith among the Eskimos became her greatest hope.
    She returned to Seattle, Washington, in May 1944 and attended the Washington State Training Center for the Blind where she met Eugene King.  They were married on 30 September 1944.
    Humility was an integral part of Melba's personality.  She was a determined and completely honest champion of the Faith of Bahá`u'lláh, never hesitating to speak out

1 Tablets of the Divine Plan, p. 39.
2 See `In Memoriam', The Bahá`í World, vol. XIV, p. 337.
3 Bahá`í News, November 1943, pp. 5-6.

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Picture in Upper Right Corner with the Caption:  Melba M. Call King

to prevent misunderstandings or misrepresentations.  As an active member of numerous Local Spiritual Assemblies she was to become adept in the art of consultation.  Unafraid of controversy, she believed that all the facts were necessary to full and frank consultation, and encouraged everyone to express his opinion as openly as she did.  Outstanding among her gifts was that of love which she extended to Bahá`ís and non-Bahá`ís alike.  She was an accomplished pianist and often performed at public meetings.  She was, as well, a skilled secretary, and a competent speaker and teacher.  Her teaching trips were numerous and varied.  She, Eugene and her gentle guide-dog became a familiar sight throughout Alaska, Oregon, California and Washington.  She taught on Indian Reservations and at Bahá`í summer schools from Geyserville, California to Juneau, Alaska. She served on the committee that launched the first mass teaching effort in Washington which reached nearly three thousand people, and made repeated visits to teach the Yakima and Tulalip Indians on their reservations.  Melba and Eugene were the first public speakers in an Indian community at Neah Bay, Washington.  In addition to her dedicated and varied services as a member of the Local Spiritual Assemblies of Tacoma and Seattle she served on the National Bahá`í Committee for the Blind.
    Throughout her many years of service in the Bahá`í communities of Washington, part of Melba's heart yearned for her native Alaska.  In 1969 she and Eugene moved to Juneau and soon endeared themselves to the entire Alaskan Bahá`í community.  Despite difficult weather conditions and precarious health they served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Juneau and its numerous committees, did extensive teaching throughout the country, and helped build and strengthen the Juneau community before moving to Anchorage in 1971, a move which became necessary because of the need for access to medical facilities.  Melba also served on the National Teaching and National Goals Committees.  In 1972 ill health forced the Kings to relocate in the milder climate of Washington.  They were able to attend the 1976 International Conference in Anchorage, following which they made a teaching trip into the central and northern regions of Alaska.  In July 1978 they made a teaching trip to Sitka and formulated plans to settle again in Alaska, this time in Haines.  But it was not to be.  On 7 September 1979, after a year of puzzling illness, Melba was called to her greater home in the Abhá Kingdom, leaving us very blessed for having shared her world of infinite vision.  She was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Seattle.  On 10 September the Universal House of Justice cabled:

PASSING MELBA KING FIRST ESKIMO TO EMBRACE CAUSE BAHAULLAH GRIEVOUS LOSS.  HER UNSTINTING SERVICES ADMINISTRATION AND TEACHING FIELDS FOR NEARLY FOUR DECADES IN ALASKA AND NORTHWEST UNITED STATES DESPITE LIFELONG PHYSICAL HANDICAP DESERVE SPECIAL MENTION ANNALS FAITH AMERICAN BAHAI COMMUNITY.  EXTEND LOVING SYMPATHY ASSURANCE PRAYERS TO HER HUSBAND EUGENE KING.  SUPPLICATING HOLY THRESHOLD PROGRESS HER SOUL KINGDOMS GOD.

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Picture in Upper Right Corner with the Caption:  Ludmila Van Sombeek

LUDMILA VAN SOMBEEK
1893-1979



Certain moments are emblematic of a lifetime.  One evening in Durham, North Carolina, in the 1960s, a period of civil rights conflict in the southern United States, Ludmila Van Sombeek circulated among a large, happy, multi-racial gathering in her home, speaking of the beauty of unity in diversity, the significance of this century, and the mission of Bahá`u'lláh. She paused momentarily to place a pillow at the back of an African student who had spent a weekend in her home recuperating from months in hospital.  Without pausing in sharing the Bahá`í Message, she brought comfort to one in need.  This gesture exemplified her life of ceaseless teaching of the Faith in words and, inseparably, in thoughtful and deeply caring service to those of all races, nationalities and strata of society.
    Born Ludmila Ott on 30 July 1893 in Vienna, Austria, she experienced early the feelings of a minority.  She attended a Lutheran school in predominately Catholic Vienna. In 1916 she sailed to the United States, her parents fearing that she would not have the opportunity for education in war-torn Europe.  In New York she studied nursing at the Jewish Training School, Brooklyn Hospital.  Enduring language difficulties, heavy work and diphtheria sensitized her to the needs of those experiencing isolation, prejudice and despair.  Her adoption of a sickly baby and of a foundling, after her marriage to Adolph George Bechtold, were an expression of this understanding.  In this period she attended firesides at the home of Antoinette `Aunty' Foote in Brooklyn and, in 1922, became a devout Bahá`í.
    After the death of her husband, Ludmila studied optics and business management and served as president of Bechtold Optical Company for ten years before retiring to devote her energies to sharing the Message and to engaging in human relations activities.  The organizations with which she became most actively involved were ones focusing on America's `most challenging issue'.  For her, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in New York, and the Urban League in Harlem, became centers for action and for relating the spiritual message to the cause of justice and harmony.  She became a friend of Mary White Ovington, one of the founders of the N.A.A.C.P.; of Walter White, its long-time executive secretary; of George Schuyler, the Pittsburgh Courier columnist, and of many other humanitarians.  Ludmila's participation in the work of various civic and religious organizations provided many opportunities to speak of the Faith and to promote unity.  She was invited to speak to college audiences in Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Alabama, and often addressed organizations working for inter-religious understanding.  On one trip to the north, Ludmila met Matthew Bullock, a black lawyer, chairman of the Massachusetts Parole Board and Advisory Board of Pardons, and president of the Community Church of Boston.  Ludmila's answers to his questions and her friendship over many years led him to accept the Faith in 1940.  Her home was always open; often thirty guests would dine and enjoy music and experience the joy of diversity.
    With her marriage to Georg Van Sombeek another chapter in Ludmila's life began.  They moved as pioneers to Durham, North Carolina.  In the south, as in the north, Ludmila concentrated on the improvement of race relations through guest recitals at

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her grand piano, dinner parties and literary evenings.  In addition she addressed many church groups, university audiences and civic organizations.  She became active in the International League for Peace and Freedom, the National Council for Negro Women, the Y.W.C.A., the Business and Professional Women's Club, the Durham Committee on Negro Affairs, and resumed her long-time activity with the N.A.A.C.P.  Traveling throughout the south, she was in Montgomery, Alabama, when the boycott of 1955-1956 was at its height.  She befriended the Martin Luther King family.  She frequently worked eighteen hours a day visiting the sick, offering gifts to the needy, comfort to the desolate, sweets to the neighborhood children.  The formation of the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Durham in 1962 was an achievement for which she had labored diligently.
    A profound spiritual commitment followed her pilgrimage in 1953 when she met the Guardian.  Shoghi Effendi's request that she visit countries behind the Iron Curtain was answered by her 1958, 1963, 1965 and 1967 trips to Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria and, until she became incapacitated, by her correspondence with many friends living there.  In these countries she visited friends who had heard of the Faith through Martha Root and spoke with people from all walks of life.  She was fluent in German and Czech and had studied Esperanto.  She spoke at Austrian and French Bahá`í schools and firesides in Europe; attended the International Conference in Kampala, Uganda, in 1953 and did some teaching in Africa; toured Russia in 1958; made a pilgrimage to Írán in 1967 and addressed an audience of 400 Bahá`í college students; traveled to Panama, the Virgin Islands and, in the continental United States, from Maine to California--each journey providing opportunities to speak, show slides, inspire action.
    Ludmila was active in Bahá`í institutions through the years.  She was a member of the Local Spiritual Assembly of New York City in the 1930s and of Durham, North Carolina, from 1962 until 1969 when she moved west.  She served on the Africa Teaching Committee, the Interracial Service Committee and was active in teaching children and youth at Bahá`í summer schools.
    What was the power of this remarkable woman?  A fervent commitment to the Cause of Bahá`u'lláh, an unwavering belief in the efficacy of prayer, a creative approach to living that mobilized all her experiences and talents in teaching the Faith, and a remarkable balance between sharing the Word and serving humankind.  In its cable at the time of her death on 7 September 1979 in Phoenix, Arizona, the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States deplored the loss of this INDOMITABLE TEACHER and expressed admiration of her FEARLESS PROMOTION [OF THE] ONENESS OF MANKIND DURING [THE] DARK PERIOD OF RACIAL PROBLEMS [WITHIN] OUR COUNTRY, stating that the SPLENDOR [OF] HER RADIANT EXAMPLE AS [AN] UPHOLDER [OF THE] RIGHTS [OF THE] DOWNTRODDEN SHALL NEVER FADE.
    Informed of her passing, the Universal House of Justice cabled:

    GRIEVED LEARN PASSING ABHA KINGDOM LUDMILA VAN SOMBEEK OUTSTANDING MAIDSERVANT FAITH BAHAULLAH.  ASSURE FRIENDS FAMILY OUR LOVING SYMPATHY AND PRAYERS SACRED SHRINES PROGRESS HER SOUL.

(Based on a memoir by JEAN NORRIS SCALES)


RUHOLLAH FOROUGHI
(RÚHU'LLÁH FURÚGHÍ)
1915-1979



Rúhu'lláh  Furúghí was born in Isfahán in 1915.  His father accepted the Bahá`í Faith when he was a child, a fact that would change the destiny of Rúhu'lláh, his eldest son.  While in his teens his mother passed away. This loss was also contributory to the future course of his life, thoughts and feelings.  When he was just twenty he enlisted in the Army and remained in active service for almost three decades.  He was a prisoner of war during part of World War II.
    In 1940 he married Mulúk Pírmurádíyán.  This gave another wing to his soul which had already been in the service of the Cause of Bahá`u'lláh for a few years during which he had read in Persian and Arabic most of the numerous Bahá`í books and writings his father kept in his large personal library.  His wife

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Picture in Upper Right Corner with the Caption:  Rúhu'lláh Furúghí

was a staunch believer and following their marriage Rúhu'lláh's activities increased.  I well remember their fireside meetings in Isfahán which were attended by people from all walks of life including mullas and professors.  Teaching enquirers, and teaching their children, were their principal aims in life.
    In response to the constant appeals for pioneers which the beloved Guardian had raised in his messages, he resigned his rank of Colonel and, in consultation with the National Teaching Committee of Írán, settled in Spain in October 1958 with his wife and five children (the youngest, one year of age, the eldest fifteen).  They had no knowledge of the language nor of the circumstances obtaining in their chosen goal.  Many were the members of his family who neither understood nor approved of his decision.  From the moment they arrived they dedicated themselves to teaching the Faith.  I vividly remember him attempting to teach some friends who knew little French, using his two dictionaries, French-Iranian and French-Spanish.  After spending nine months in Barcelona he moved with his family to Mallorca to assist with the formation of the Local Spiritual Assembly.
    Three years later the family pioneered once more, this time to Granada where there had been no Bahá`ís before.  The dream of opening a town to the Faith was at last a reality.  Soon firesides were organized and were attended by an increasing number; in this way local people began to embrace the Faith of Bahá`u'lláh.  He lived to see a well-established Bahá`í community in Granada with many local believers and an active and functioning Local Spiritual Assembly.
    In 1975 he was elected a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Spain, and in 1978 was privileged to attend the fourth International Convention for the election of the Universal House of Justice.  He led a group of Bahá`í youth on a teaching trip of several weeks' duration in Ireland and travelled thousands of miles across Spain giving public talks and carrying out different tasks in service to the Cause.  During the last two years of his life he served as National Treasurer of the Spanish Bahá`í community.
    Mr. Egea Martinez wrote of him in an article published in the national Bahá`í bulletin of Spain:  `I had the honour of being his friend and of accompanying him for the thousand of kilometres we travelled in his car, always at the service of the Faith . . . He was a great father, teacher and a good friend.  He taught the Faith with firm authenticity and no compromises, no matter who his listeners were.  Until the last few weeks of his life, although weak and ill, he remained active in the service of the Cause.  This indeed was his last example of total commitment to the Faith he so ardently loved . . .'
    We have lost our father, a loving friend and an outstanding teacher.
    The Universal House of Justice cabled on 10 September 1979:

GRIEVED NEWS PASSING RUHOLLAH FOROUGHI DEVOTED SERVANT BAHAULLAH EXTEND LOVING SYMPATHY BEREAVED FAMILY ASSURE PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS SOUL.
DR. D. FOROUGHI


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GLADYS ANDERSON WEEDEN
1906-1979
Knight of Bahá`u'lláh


SADDENED LEARN PASSING KNIGHT OF BAHAULLAH GLADYS ANDERSON WEEDEN.  HER SERVICES HAIFA DAYS BELOVED GUARDIAN TEACHING ACTIVITIES THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES AND AT PIONEER POST ANTIGUA WELL REMEMBERED.  KINDLY CONVEY SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY CONCORD NEW HAMPSHIRE OUR GRATEFUL APPRECIATION CABLE AND ASSURANCE PRAYERS HOLY THRESHOLD PROGRESS HER SOUL KINGDOMS GOD.
Universal House of Justice
16 September 1979


People seldom succeed in rounding out their own destiny, in fulfilling, even to a minor degree, their own potentiality.  Not so Gladys Weeden.  Of Swedish grandparents who had sought freedom of religious outlook in the New World, she was about five years old when her mother died in childbirth with the baby and Gladys's father found his burdens too heavy and disappeared; her mother's sister, Mrs. Anderson, legally adopted her; Gladys went to school until she finished eighth grade but her aunt now had children of her own and the cruel years of the great economic depression forced her to go to work; Gladys stayed at home to keep house and mind her much younger brother and sister.  I can remember nothing easy in Gladys's life; at sixteen, when the children were older, Gladys got her first job as salesgirl in a store.  It is no exaggeration to say that she worked hard, all her life, until she died, a fact which certainly produced in her a strong and wonderful character.  Raised in a strict Baptist atmosphere, she recalled that its church and Sunday school had made no deep impression on her.  In her own words, it was not until the years of the Depression, in 1919, that `. . . people began to re-evaluate their lives . . . there was a lack of everything, money in particular . . . we realized that the material things . . . were no support . . . I began to start my spiritual thinking.'  She was twenty-three years old.
    Even to purchase petrol for an outing was a rare luxury, but on a sunny July day in 1932 Gladys and her husband, Frank Cotton, whom she had married in 1925, and from whom she divorced in 1941, went on a day's excursion to the White Mountains in New Hampshire with another couple.  I (then Mary Maxwell) and Rosemary Sala1 were motoring from Montreal to Green Acre in Eliot, Maine, and we all met at a sightseeing spot called Lost River.  Years later Rosemary told Gladys that I had said to her:  `That girl is going to become a Bahá`í.'  Thus began a very deep friendship that lasted forty-seven years.
    Gladys came to see me in Green Acre and her first reaction--on seeing Bahá`ís of different races--was, `O Lord, this is a religious place!'  But the new friendship held firm and, combined with the love and teaching of my mother, May Maxwell, eventually brought Gladys into the Faith.  She lived and worked in Haverhill, Massachusetts, but we met again at Green Acre in 1933 and also corresponded; a letter of mine to her, in 1934, seems to forecast the future:  `. . . I feel you and I need each other in life as friends . . . When you spoke this summer of that feeling you have, that some day there is something great for you to do, I know you are right and I know you will do it.  Who knows, perhaps our paths lie together in some great service?  I feel they do.'
    Although Gladys did not become an enrolled Bahá`í until January 1937 in Worcester, Massachusetts, from the very beginning she blossomed in love for the Faith.  In November 1935 she wrote her first spontaneous letter to Shoghi Effendi.  In his reply the Guardian urges her to study the Teachings and prepare herself for `intensive work in the field of teaching', and in his own handwriting assures her of `my loving prayers for your spiritual advancement and for the complete realization of your highest hopes in the service of our beloved Faith . . . may your endeavours be richly blessed by Bahá`u'lláh.'  Before Gladys left Haverhill for Worcester she was already holding a weekly meeting for a few friends; in Worcester she taught the teenage children's class, telling me in one of her letters:  `I have so much love to give and I just lavish it all on them.  I wish they were all mine.'  A letter was duly sent to Shoghi Effendi about this activity and in his own writing he assures her:  `The clear evidences of your accomplishments in the service of our glorious Faith greatly

1 See `In Memoriam', p. 713.

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