The Bahá`í World, Vol. 18, Part Five: In Memoriam Picture in Upper Right Corner with the Caption:  Gladys Anderson Weeden

hearten me in my task.  I am so glad to observe the signs of your activity, devotion and progress in promoting the interests of our beloved Cause.  I wish you to persevere, nay to redouble your efforts, and not to feel disheartened under any circumstances . . .'  This postscript became her mandate; to it she clung through thick and thin until her death.
    During those Worcester years, because Gladys was devoted, creative and industrious, her Bahá`í activities steadily increased:  she obtained publicity, organized new occasions for teaching enquirers, served on the Local Assembly, was appointed to the Regional Teaching Committee of the six New England States.  She always aspired to new heights in her personal life, `I have been attending a public speaking class all winter,' she wrote to me, `and it has helped me a great deal.  I have also tried to improve my English and increase my vocabulary.'  Her longing to go forth and teach was steadily growing; once it was a dream that we two would go to Haiti; later it was Cuba and she started learning Spanish; as early as 1935 she wrote to me:  `We would like to curl up in some remote place for an indefinite stay, but our Bahá`í conscience will not let us.  Life would hold no meaning if we could not feel we were doing something for the Faith . . . you know darling I am going to do something.  I am so positive of it . . .'  Her chance came in 1942; during a Regional Committee meeting the urgent call for pioneers was raised; Gladys wrote to me, `Out popped the words . . . I'll go anywhere you want me to!'  The goal of the Seven Year Plan--which would end in 1944--was to establish a Local Assembly in each State of the Union.  She was stunned by her audacity and thrilled at her chance!  On 18 February 1942  she was installed as a pioneer in Battleboro, Vermont, with no need to take a job for the first three months so she could devote full time to teaching:  `I go out to walk and say the Greatest Name on every route I take . . .'  This further great step in her Bahá`í life opened the door to many blessings.  By April 1943 she had her Assembly and was on it; `. . . this new Assembly came forth,' she wrote to me, `very much like the birth of a child with joy, pain and heartache.  After the birth comes the responsibility of the child's future welfare and guidance.'
    In September a man she was greatly attracted to accepted the Faith; he was Benjamin Dunham Weeden,1 her future husband, a man with a singularly sweet nature, a cultured gentlemanly person who became a very convinced Bahá`í and who, in the twenty-two years of their marriage, brought her much happiness.  By 1945 Gladys was chairman of the Battleboro Assembly, Ben secretary.  The Cause was well established there but Gladys was not satisfied or happy; her task seemed accomplished but her relation to Ben was static, with no marriage in prospect.  Again she reached out to me, as she had many times since I left North America in 1935, and wanted to meet me somewhere, anywhere, for a few weeks.  My own responsibilities were crushing; my father, then seventy-one, was designing the superstructure of the Báb's Shrine and trying to carry on additional tasks for Shoghi Effendi who was very alone and very overworked himself at that difficult period in our lives.  When he saw that Gladys was free, supposedly, of personal ties, wanted

1 See `In Memoriam', The Bahá`í World, vol. XV, p. 478.

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to leave Battleboro for good and was longing to be with me, he came and stood by my bed one day when I was ill and said, `You can't go on like this', and then asked if I thought Gladys would be willing to come to me and serve in Haifa.  On 4 February 1947 she wrote that my cable inviting her to come to Haifa had been received and she was in a dizzy whirl:  `Had a fairy godmother given me a wish that was dearest to my heart, the news in your cable fulfilled it!'  On the morning of 30 March she was met in the Port of Haifa by my father, Sutherland Maxwell, and brought to the Western Bahá`í Pilgrim House which was to be her home for almost five years--years of great civil turbulence in what was then Palestine but soon became Israel, years when the Bahá`í pilgrimage was suspended.  After praying in the Shrines, that same afternoon Gladys met the Guardian in the drawing-room of the Master's house; as usual, I was present.  She had thought she might be called upon to help me in domestic duties and be my companion, but the Head of her Faith, sitting opposite her, welcoming her warmly, making her feel `completely at ease and at home with him', had other ideas.  She was never to forget `the beauty of his face' or the `resonant voice' or that `it was just like a bubbling stream to hear him laugh'--or that `Shoghi Effendi never did the possible, he always did the impossible, and he expected you to do that too'.  It now seemed to Gladys this was what was expected of her!  Next morning Mr. Maxwell would take her downstairs and introduce her to various key people, the eventual range of which included dealing with not only our local law firm, our bank and various business firms, but the local city and government officers of Haifa and `Akká, as well as high-ranking officials in Jerusalem.  In 1938 she had written to me, `my lack of education pops up to disturb me'--but it did not disturb the Guardian who used her many capacities, and her willingness, to great advantage.
    The first months, at four o'clock every afternoon, Gladys reported to the Guardian.  `I will always give you a plan of guidance,' she says he told her, `if you find that you are unable to carry out this plan, you must report to me in detail and I will give you another plan . . . but you must always tell me the truth.'  Sometimes there were things to report that she knew would distress him and then these words were her protection, for her heart ached to have to add bad news to his burdens.
    The feelings of Mr. Weeden--combined with a legacy that put him in a better financial position to marry--now came to a head; the upshot was that he would come to Haifa and be of assistance to Mr. Maxwell in building the Shrine.  They were married on 20 March 1948 in Jerusalem.  Ben was a distinguished-looking man; Gladys had a handsome, upright figure and always looked exceptionally neat and attractive.  Together they attended many official functions, sometimes representing Shoghi Effendi, as well as social functions connected with the American Consul in Haifa and other prominent people.  Gladys had a real gift for friendship and did a great deal, in the new State, to back up the esteem in which the Head of the Faith was already held.  I was sad that Ben's health should become the cause of their returning to America just as our local Bahá`í life entered a new and wonderful phase.  During November 1950 Shoghi Effendi invited five members of what was to be the future International Bahá`í Council to come and serve in the Holy Land:  Lutfu'lláh Hakím, Jessie and Ethel Revell, then Mason Remey, and Amelia Collins all arrived in Haifa before Gladys and Ben left at the end of February 1951, the idea being that they would go back for Ben's medical treatment and return later to Haifa.  The Guardian--who for the first time since pilgrimage had been suspended before the war, resumed his custom of having a meal at the Pilgrim House table--announced to us all that we were members of the new and historic Council he was forming; Gladys and Ben's membership remained in abeyance until it later became clear that they would no longer be serving in the Holy Land.
    Gladys then suffered the greatest test of her life:  Ben was very run down, and she adored him.  On the other hand there had been no time, nor indeed necessity, as they were supposedly returning, to hand over all the Guardian's highly involved work to the newcomers.  When Gladys wrote making it clear that because of Ben's condition they would not be coming back, Shoghi Effendi immediately cabled her, on March eighteenth, BEN SHOULD REMAIN CARE DOCTOR.  YOUR

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PRESENCE ALONE NOT LATER APRIL FIFTEENTH ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.  DO NOT WORRY.  PRAYING FERVENTLY SHOGHI.
    Gladys's love for the Faith, her loyalty to the Guardian, the self-discipline a hard life with many sorrows had taught her, now came to her rescue; she left Ben and returned alone.  So that summer of 1951 Gladys was still the trusted postman; she held the affairs at the World Centre firmly in hand during Shoghi Effendi's absence; she not only assisted the new co-workers to understand the work, the restrictions and responsibilities of the World Centre, but launched them socially in Haifa through her good public relations and many friendships.
    In November the Guardian and I returned to Haifa and she rejoined her Ben who was in good spirits and greatly improved in health.  Serving the Cause becomes a habit, indeed it should become a habit.  Gladys and Ben now offered their services to the American National Spiritual Assembly; after meeting with them it was agreed they would tour the country and stimulate the Bahá`ís during the final year of their second Seven Year Plan.  Gladys wrote to me on 2 April 1952, `We both feel we should do what we can to help this homefront situation.'  They bought a car, motored to all forty-eight States of the Union and visited the friends in seventy-five major Bahá`í communities!  By December they were tired out and withdrew to Vermont, but the National Teaching Committee requested them to help out in Greensboro, North Carolina, to which they retired to recover and to serve.
    In April 1953 we met at the Centenary celebrations and inauguration of the Guardian's great Ten Year Plan; in July Dorothy Baker, the Hand of the Cause and an old friend, wrote them suggesting they pioneer to the West Indies which, she assured them, was `just ready to pop . . . if you act, act fast . . .'  On 16 October the Weedens arrived in Antigua, a tiny island in the Leeward group of the Caribbean; everything was very unfortunate:  there had been a terrible drought; prices were prohibitive; far from living, as they had been assured, on their income, they faced a heavy annual deficit; housing was astronomically dear; their hotel was about to go into `season' prices of thirty per cent increase.  After two months they left--`to lick our spiritual wounds and straighten out our financial debts', as Gladys wrote me.  Nevertheless, they received the immortal title of Knights of Bahá`u'lláh.  Tired and discouraged, they settled in Henniker, New Hampshire, a very small New England town where Ben was to live sixteen years and Gladys twenty-five.  It was the end of their spectacular services, a fact which weighed heavily on Gladys.
    Ben, who was fourteen years Gladys's senior, died in 1970 after an illness that had been harrowing for both of them.  Gladys wrote to me, `After I have made my adjustment to this loss, I know there is plenty for me to do . . .'  Her gift for speaking led to many invitations to give courses in Bahá`í Summer Schools, very often on the subject of the Guardian and her years of service in Haifa.  Our own deep friendship never failed us; in 1973, after an absence of three years and ten months, I found that the Master's house needed radical renovation and asked her to come and help me.  Although we had met during my visits to America and at the dedication of the Panama Temple, this was her first visit to Haifa since the days of the beloved Guardian.  She stayed almost five months; we both worked very hard and very happily together; when she left I wrote to her that `no words from either of us could express what it had meant'.
    In 1974 I was able to spend a few days in her home in Henniker and always hoped to repeat it for a longer visit.  Again in the spring of 1977 Gladys returned to Haifa, this time for a much shorter visit.  During the last years of her life she kept busy, going twice to Vancouver, visiting the Alaskan Bahá`ís for a month, paying her respects at Shoghi Effendi's grave in London, going on a trip to Ireland, giving courses at Summer Schools.  In the winter of 1977-1978 she spent some months in Wilmette at the invitation of the American National Assembly to help out on a long backlog of letters.  In June 1979 she wrote to me: `I don't feel old but I am now in my seventy-fourth year and that makes you realize that eighty is the next landmark, heavens! . . . I keep happy and contented even though I miss my dearest Ben more as the years roll by . . .'  In September at the suggestion of the National Assembly she went to speak on the Guardian at a

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Bahá`í event in New Mexico; returning home very tired, she died in Hebron, New Hampshire, on the thirteenth, peacefully, in her sleep.  An enviable end to a beautiful life.
RÚHÍYYIH




ALLAN RAYNOR
1910-1979



Allan Raynor's legacy was formed with the tools of integrity, concentration and obedience.  Long after the thousands of Allan's students and friends have themselves found their own ways to the Abhá Kingdom, the Canadian Bahá`í community will still be building on the foundations of his achievements.
    Allan Frederick Raynor was the eldest of four children.  He was born in Toronto, Canada, at midnight on 31 August 1910 of Anglo-Irish Protestant ancestry.  His father, Fred, a hard-working merchant, was a stern disciplinarian.  His mother, Bertha, instilled in her children a profound respect and love for God and His worship.  Both Allan and his younger sister, Joyce, were in time privileged to recognize the station of Bahá`u'lláh.
    Allan's early years were difficult, beset by illnesses and the economic crisis of the late 1920s.  He left school for a secure job at Toronto City Hall where he stayed for seven years. In 1936 a new opportunity offered itself which was to change the course of his life.  He won a job as a door-to-door life insurance salesman in Ottawa and worked in both Ontario and Quebec.  Many of his clients were French Canadians, so he learned enough French to do his job.  Despite the trauma of the sudden death of his father in 1937 he was able to concentrate on self-education.  He had already studied business administration by correspondence, and now he prepared for his professional designation.  Chartered Life Underwriter.  So successful was he in his new business that he soon came to the attention of senior company management.  Among those managers was one John A. Robarts who was looking for bright, enthusiastic recruits.  Allan was transferred back to Toronto in 1937.  In time he became a founder of the Estate Planning Institute of Canada and gained wide recognition for his dedication, sincerity and integrity.
    His first acquaintance with Bahá`ís was in 1934 at a gathering organized by W. J. Christie of Parry Sound in northern Ontario.  It was there that he met Lloyd Gardner.

Picture in Upper Left Corner with the Caption:  Allan Raynor

    In 1942 Allan met and married Evelyn Marie Johnson, daughter of a mixed Protestant-Catholic family of Toronto merchants.  In that same year he joined the Canadian Army.  Allan had been strong and healthy.  However, a blood infection attacked his ears which had already been weakened by the scarlet fever of his youth, and he was discharged from the Army with only ten per cent hearing.
    Allan sought to aid his fellows.  He was so concerned with the effects of alcohol on both fellow soldiers and friends that he travelled to New York City to research, then became a founder and active member of Alcoholics Anonymous in Toronto.  Throughout his life he continued to be singularly generous not only with his time but with his earnings.
    Throughout this period of early testing, Allan was sustained by his new friend and manager, John A. Robarts, who stepped into a role which Allan's own father had never

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really known how to fill.  John and Allan spent many evenings together, Allan unburdening himself and John listening, waiting, counselling and offering encouragement.
    In 1945 the war ended, an important year for Allan who recognized that `I had no religion for my newborn son and I thought I should have one'.  During a visit to the Robarts' home he asked to borrow a Bahá`í book.  While John sought out just the right one for his dearly loved friend, Allan began to read a book of Bahá`í prayers.  In those few words he recognized the Voice of God.  No more reading was necessary--Allan had found his Lord.
    Allan's enthusiasm could never be ignored, least of all by his wife.  Evelyn was challenged by this new belief.  When she was forced to stop teaching Sunday School because her husband was considered to be a `pagan', Evelyn accepted the challenge.  She studied by herself and then accepted the Revelation of Bahá`u'lláh, contributing both a fresh and vigorous presence to the Canadian Bahá`í community and an outstanding example of warmth and hospitality.  Together, Allan and Evelyn joined the Gardners, George Spendlove and others to form the first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá`ís of North York, a borough of Toronto. The tragic loss of an infant daughter, Susan, in 1952 marked Allan deeply but a healing compensation arrived with the birth of first Bruce, then Rosemary, to keep Doug and John company.
    In 1945 Allan was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá`ís of Canada.  It was then that he began to make sterling contributions to Bahá`í life in Canada.  During this period from 1954 to 1960 he served the National Assembly as vice-chairman and additionally chaired the National Teaching Committee.  He again served on the National Spiritual Assembly in 1963-1964.  It was also during this period that his intense need to understand as much as he could began to stimulate so many others.  Study at Canadian Summer Schools took on a special meaning when Allan was there to ask, `On what page of the Writings did you find that?'  Many youth of that and later periods attracted his attention, his patience and his very generous devotion to ensure their fullest possible understanding of the fundamental verities of the Faith of Bahá`u'lláh.
    In 1956 Allan made his first pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  The joy of pilgrimage under the guidance of Shoghi Effendi became the fulcrum against which he applied the lever of his convictions.  He not only experienced the exultation of this visit but, to his embarrassment, illness required him to extend his stay, as is noted in Messages to Canada, as a guest of the World Centre.  The beloved Guardian took full advantage of the visit to enquire about the progress of the Cause in Canada (and in particular to clarify the status of the purchase of the Hazíratu'l-Quds), and then used Allan's ongoing trip to South Africa to assure a direct communication with the beleaguered friends in Egypt via this trusted courier.
    The sudden passing of the Guardian in 1957 was deeply felt by all who remember it.  No sooner had Allan learned the news than he left on the next airplane for London.  His grief was, however, a mixture of personal loss and an apprehension of danger for the Bahá`í community, a fear that attempts would be made to violate the Covenant of Bahá`u'lláh.  He intensified his own deepening in the Covenant--which was to be the central theme of his teaching for the rest of his life--and then launched upon his mission.  He travelled across Canada sharing with the friends his experiences at the table of Shoghi Effendi, his study of Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá`u'lláh and his methodical but vibrantly enthusiastic conviction of the inviolability of the Covenant of Bahá`u'lláh.  He wrote a brochure on the Covenant in which he collected and documented the Writings on this subject.  He committed himself wholly to this work until the Canadian Bahá`í community had formed itself into a shield of the Covenant.  When the assaults came from those misguided souls who had been deceived by their own vanity, Canadian Bahá`ís were not swayed.  They knew the reality of their Covenant with Bahá`u'lláh.  Allan's service was recognized in 1978-1979 in his appointment as an assistant to Auxiliary Board member for protection, Carol Bowie.
    When no longer serving on the National Spiritual Assembly, Allan handled several special assignments.  In 1962 he organized the travel of Canadian Bahá`ís to the 1963 World

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Congress in London, and in 1968, to Sicily and Israel for the commemoration of the centenary of the arrival of Bahá`u'lláh in the Holy Land. In 1971 he co-ordinated the North Atlantic Oceanic Conference in Iceland.  But throughout this period he was most active on the various committees dealing with the legal affairs of the Faith in Canada.  Their overall mandate was to `assure the recognition of the independent nature of the Faith in the eyes of government'.  Allan patiently negotiated recognition of Bahá`í marriage with the governments of many Canadian provinces, securing amendments to provisional legislation in Alberta and Nova Scotia.  He deepened the knowledge of Bahá`ís across Canada on the unique corporate status of Local Spiritual Assemblies.  In 1971 the National Spiritual Assembly created the Office of Legal Affairs to enable Allan to perform these several duties as an executive agent to the National Assembly.
    Allan's active professional work had ended in 1968.  A semi-retirement was warranted by the early onset of arteriosclerosis and an aneurysm.  Time was limited.  Indeed, one doctor whom Allan knew well confided to him that he would probably live for ten more years.  Thoroughly professional in planning his life, Allan knew he had work yet to do and he did it.  In 1970 he organized a pilgrimage to Israel and Írán for fifteen Canadian Bahá`ís including his whole family.  He again made pilgrimage to Haifa in 1973 and in 1977.  During this last visit Allan sought the spiritual guidance and strength to face his ultimate test.  From his extensive experience with doctors in life insurance he knew that his time had come.  In September 1977 his bladder was removed.
    The Bahá`í friends offered Allan their prayers.  While he welcomed these prayers he repeatedly asked that they be not for his health but for his steadfastness.  His fear of God was real and tangible.  During the last months of his life he continued to teach and deepen the friends.  In December 1978 he discovered that the ulcer in his bladder had been a tumour and had spread.  His lungs were affected.  On 21 March 1979 he was given six months to live.
    He was determined to remain active.  The `Coping with Cancer' agency were so impressed with his positive attitude that he was among five patients who were interviewed extensively for a film on cancer treatment.  Throughout the last summer of his life Allan was in and out of hospital for chemotherapy.  But he continued to travel and to conduct deepening classes on the Covenant.  In his hospital room he kept teaching.  Between visitors he telephoned his farewell message to other friends.  To his last day he repeated his request for prayers for his steadfastness.  When the time came, Allan was able to show all those who had prayed for him the power of their prayers.  He reached out for his tattered copy of Gleanings and clutched it to his heart.  With that, in the early hours of 25 September 1979, Allan Raynor ascended to meet his Lord.
    So moving and eloquent was he at the hour of his death that Canada's national newspaper printed a major article on his life.  Roger White published in The Witness of Pebbles his poem written in tribute to Allan--`In Recognition'--which was inspired during Allan's 1977 pilgrimage.  And in his Spirit in Action:  Teaching the Bahá`í Faith, Nathan Rutstein paid homage in a chapter called `The Example of Allan Raynor'.
    In its cable of 27 September 1979 the Universal House of Justice paid final tribute in these words:

SADDENED LEARN PASSING ALLAN RAYNOR DEVOTED STALWART SERVANT BLESSED BEAUTY PILLAR FAITH CANADA MANY YEARS SERVICE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PROMOTER FAITH TO LAST MOMENT EARTHLY LIFE.  KINDLY CONVEY WIFE FAMILY LOVING CONDOLENCES ASSURANCE ARDENT PRAYERS SACRED THRESHOLD PROGRESS HIS NOBLE SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.  SUGGEST HOLD BEFITTING MEMORIAL MEETING HIS BEHALF.
DOUG RAYNOR




BAHÁR VUJDÁNÍ
1922-1979


Bahá`ís have been heavily pressed to recant their faith and in one case a believer, who refused to do so, followed the glorious path of the martyrs and was executed.
Universal House of Justice
Message to the Bahá`ís of the world
Náw-Rúz 1980


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Picture in Upper Right Corner with the Caption:  Bahár Vujdání

Mr. Bahár Vujdání, a devoted Bahá`í of Míyánduáb, pioneered to Mahábád, in West Adhirbáyján Province, north-western Írán, in 1954 and established himself as a merchant.  His scrupulous honesty and personal integrity won him great respect in the business community and he was well known and much liked by the citizens of his adopted city because of his sincerity and friendliness.  Mr. Vujdání found much happiness in serving the Bahá`í Faith and often was elected a delegate from his region to the Annual Convention.
    In his fifty-seventh year, with all the good that the life of this world offers within his grasp, he was torn from the bosom of his family to join the ranks of those who have been martyred for the Cause of Bahá`u'lláh in His native land.  On 26 September 1979, Mr. Vujdání was called before the Revolutionary Court and falsely accused of participating in a political disturbance.  During the course of the interrogation he explained that as a Bahá`í he was forbidden to participate in political or subversive activities.  At the mention of the Faith of Bahá`u'lláh the presiding Judge, Shaykh Khalkhálí, abandoned the line of questioning relevant to the purpose for which Mr. Vujdání was summoned before the court and pressed him to recant his faith.  He was offered his freedom on condition that he repudiate the Bahá`í Faith and embrace Islám.  When refusal was forthcoming, the Judge offered as an alternative the paying of a substantial sum of money.  Mr. Vujdání explained that as a Bahá`í he found it necessary, as a matter of principle, to reject the idea of paying what would amount to a ransom.  A disturbance outside the courtroom at this point engaged the attention of the Judge and other Court officials, and the prisoner was released.  He was permitted to return to his home and was told that, if necessary, he would be summoned to reappear before the Court the following day.  It was 7:00 p.m. and he had been called for interrogation in the morning hours.
    The following day Mr. Vujdání was called back before the Revolutionary Court at 10:00 a.m., and at 11:30 a.m. was condemned to death and placed in prison where, after several hours, confirmation of the decree was read to him.  According to some fellow prisoners who were later freed, Mr. Vujdání received the news calmly and, with the greatest courtesy, invited the other prisoners to share the bread, cheese and melons he had brought from home, spreading these before them with a happy smile as if inviting them to a feast.  `We were struck with wonder,' one prisoner said.  `How could he have been so radiantly happy on the eve of his execution!'
    Mr. Vujdání was able to obtain a fragment of lightly-waxed corrugated paper that had lined a biscuit tin and, in a firm hand, he wrote on it a final message to his family.  This document, which has been preserved, reads:
    `To the family of Vujdání:  Mansúrih Khánum, Nayyírih, Munírih, Humáyún, Bizhan, Mr. Ma'naví, Engr. and Mr. Hasan-`Alí Khán, Engr.
    `I have been condemned to death because I have refused to recant my faith and my submission to the Bahá`í religion.  I do not know when the time of execution will arise.  However, I bid farewell to all.'
    This done, he turned with dignity to the

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Picture at Top of Page with the Caption:  The fragment of paper lining from a biscuit tin upon which Mr. Bahár Vujdání wrote a last message to his family before his martyrdom on 27 September 1979 in Mahábád.

Qiblih,1 and to the astonishment of his fellow prisoners offered prayers.
    At 3:30 p.m. on 27 September 1979, Mr. Vujdání and three other prisoners who were not Bahá`ís were taken from the prison to an adjacent courtyard where repeated shots were heard to ring out.  The bodies of the executed men were unceremoniously left in the yard of the nearby clinic and their families were instructed to remove them for burial.  A notice was posted next to the clinic on which there appeared the names of the dead prisoners and the charges on which they had been tried.  `Bahá`í religion' was written beside Mr. Vujdání's name in the place where the charge was set out.  Later it was noticed that someone had drawn a line through the words `Bahá`í religion'.
    Thus it was that Bahár Vujdání was called upon to tread the path of martyrdom as had thousands of his fellow Bahá`ís before him in the land of Bahá`u'lláh's birth.
    Approximately two thousand people--most of whom were not Bahá`ís--attended the funeral to honour a man whose kind demeanour and reputation for honesty had attracted the friendship and respect of the community of Mahábád.

FRANZ PÖLLINGER
1895-1979



DEEPLY GRIEVED PASSING DEARLY LOVED FRANZ POLLINGER LONG RECORD HIS OUTSTANDING SERVICES HIS EXAMPLE STEADFASTNESS PATH FAITH WILL SHINE FOREVER IN ANNALS AUSTRIAN BAHAI COMMUNITY PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS RADIANT SOUL ABHA KINGDOM CONVEY FAMILY HEARTFELT SYMPATHY.
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Universal House of Justice


As a small boy Franz Pöllinger was taken from Klangenfurt, Austria, where he was born in 1895, to live with his grandparents in the

1 The direction toward which the faithful turn in prayer.  The Tomb of Bahá`u'lláh is `the heart and Qiblih of the Bahá`í world'.

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Picture in Upper Left Corner with the Caption:  Franz Pöllinger

Turrach mountains.  He had lost his father very early in life, and his mother was forced to work in the city to support the family.  It soon became apparent that Franz could not see well.  During the seven years he was able to attend school, he had great difficulty with subjects requiring use of his eyes.  Later, because of poor eyesight, he was unable to retain any of the many jobs he attempted--working in a foundry, as a construction worker or as the pit boy in a mine.  He also worked for a time as a painter, as a fire boy in a coffee house, and in a theatre, until he finally found a position in the household of a nobleman in lower Austria.  In his search for an ophthalmologist who could correct his failing eyesight, Franz went to Munich in 1914.  The doctors in Germany were no more successful in curing his condition than those in Austria had been.  He therefore made himself a monocle from a flashlight lens and was thus able to read a little with one eye.
    While working in the household of the Bavarian envoy in Stuttgart, Mr. Pöllinger met Mr. Bauer, the household masseur, who befriended him.  During a Sunday afternoon visit to the Bauer family, Franz mentioned that truth was more important to him than anything else.  Mrs. Bauer told him that as a seeker of truth he should know that Christ had returned and had suffered imprisonment and exile for forty years.  He was intrigued and asked to hear more.  That Sunday was 23 May 1916, the anniversary of the Declaration of the Báb.  As Mr. Pöllinger himself later related, `At home I of course read the booklet, and those Words of Bahá`u'lláh, the Words of Wisdom, impressed me greatly.  "My God," I thought, "how wide I can open my lungs to the air, as if my lungs were filled with ethereal air!"  That was what I felt; I was electrified by the beauty of those Words.  Thus I received the Bahá`í teachings--that was my commencement.'
    Franz used the remaining time before returning to Vienna to study the Bahá`í Writings --in spite of his disability--and to visit deepening classes and firesides.  He received answers to his many questions from Miss Alma Knobloch1 who was his true spiritual teacher.  He wrote to `Abdu'l-Bahá and in return received a short Tablet in which the Master assured him of His prayers that he be able to successfully overcome self, acquire divine perception and be vivified by the eternal Glad Tidings.  When he left Stuttgart to return to Vienna, his only solace was that in Vienna he was closer to the Holy Land and thus to `Abdu'l-Bahá.  Neither the fact that he was completely alone nor the severity of the period following World War I lessened his courage or diminished his love for the Cause.
    In a Tablet to Alma Knobloch, who had written of Franz Pöllinger's deteriorating eyesight and of his search for an ophthalmologist, `Abdu'l-Bahá responded that He prayed Mr. Pöllinger's eyes would be so enlightened that he would become a discoverer of reality in all stages of life.  Franz recounted, `I then realized that my earthly eyes were not of the same importance as the eternal eyes, the eyes of the soul, and that `Abdu'l-Bahá had opened my eyes through His believers, through His friends.  It was a great exultation!'
    In the period that followed, during which

1 See `In Memoriam', The Bahá`í World, vol. IX, p. 641.

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Franz found the first waiting souls in Vienna and in St. Veit an der Glan, he received his second Tablet from `Abdu'l-Bahá:
    `O thou who art thirsty for the water of Heavenly Life!  Thy letter has been received.  Its contents imparted great joy because they were expressive of firmness and steadfastness.
    `I feel great kindness toward thee and supplicate eternal endearment and everlasting life for thee so that thou mayest in those regions raise the call of the Kingdom, delivering the people from the obscurities of the world of nature through the light of guidance, that thou mayest, like the Egyptian messenger, become the bearer of the garment of the heavenly Joseph, giving light to the eyes of the Jacobs and perfuming nostrils with the fragrances of the mantle of the Joseph of the Kingdom.
    `Give the divine Glad Tidings to the friends in Vienna, so that they may attain to eternal blessings, obtain new life and acquire limitless rapture and joy.'
    `These regions are greatly in need of the heavenly Glad Tidings because all have, through the severity of the calamities of the war, become disappointed, withered, faded and almost dead.  So they are in need of the breath of life.  This breath of life is simply the heavenly Glad Tidings.  Nothing can relieve them from this sorrow, grief, depression, disappointment except the divine Glad Tidings.'1
    Because of his servitude and his love for Bahá`u'lláh, Franz Pöllinger was the magnet that drew a number of thirsting souls to the Ocean of the Revelation of Bahá`u'lláh.  These souls formed the basis of the Viennese Bahá`í community.  Later, at an institute for the blind where he learned basket weaving, he found a number of souls whose spiritual eyes were open and who recognized the truth of Bahá`u'lláh's message.
    The first Local Spiritual Assembly of Vienna was formed in 1926.  In the meantime, through Franz's indefatigable efforts, a fledgling Bahá`í community was established in Graz.  During this period, Martha Root and Marzieh Carpenter (now Gail) arrived in Vienna.  Franz was always ready to assist where he could:  he organized public lectures, firesides and deepening classes, and found ways to introduce Martha Root to Austria's leading public figures.  Although there was widespread unemployment in Vienna, he did not hesitate to leave his job whenever he felt called upon to serve.
    After Shoghi Effendi assumed his office as Guardian of the Bahá`í Faith, he addressed Mr. Pöllinger in many letters as `My dearest Franz.', `My dear co-worker', or `My dear and precious co-worker'.  A postscript penned in his own hand in a letter written on his behalf on 7 September 1926 states, `My dearest Franz:  Your most welcome letter has profoundly touched me.  Continue in your steadfast heroic efforts and never forget that your exemplary services are engraved in characters of gold upon the radiant scroll in the Abhá Kingdom.  You occupy a warm and abiding place in my heart.  Your unsparing efforts are drawing you closer and closer to the heart of the Cause.  You are destined to render memorable services to our beloved Cause.  If you but persevere, doors will be opened to your face, obstacles will be fast removed and you will witness the harvest for which you are preparing so devotedly.  Write me in full and frequently for I thirst for the glad-tidings of your letters.  I will continue to pray for you from all my heart.'  The Guardian's love and encouragement stimulated him to sacrifice even more of himself for the Cause of God.
    Franz Pöllinger married Anna Mödlagl on 8 July 1935.  From that time they trod the path of service and sacrifice together, with faces shining and their beings full of humour.  However, the times were deteriorating noticeably as society lost its equilibrium and order vanished.  Soon all meetings had to be registered with the police who sent a plain-clothes policeman to note all occurrences.  The right of assembly was suspended entirely in 1937, which precluded further Bahá`í meetings.  This was the beginning of a very sad time for the Austrian Bahá`í community.  As most of the Bahá`ís in Austria were of Jewish ancestry, those who did not leave the country were deported to concentration camps.  Mr. and Mrs. Pöllinger attempted to help wherever possible, at no little danger to themselves.  At the end of World War II only a small number of Bahá`ís remained in Austria.  With un-

1 Cited, in this translation, in Star of the West, vol. 13, no. 10, January 1923, p. 281, where the name of the recipient is erroneously given as Pallinger.

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daunted courage they began to rebuild the community.  Franz even attempted to have the Bahá`í Faith officially recognized by the occupying powers.
    Before the Guardian died he had stipulated that the National Spiritual Assembly of Austria should be formed in 1959.  The necessary foundations were laid through the formation of the Local Spiritual Assemblies of Graz, Salzburg, Innsbruck and Linz whose establishment was aided through the efforts of pioneers from Írán, the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States of America.  When the first National Spiritual Assembly was elected at Ridván 1959, Franz Pöllinger was one of the nine members.
    In 1963, after forty-seven years, Franz's dearest wish was fulfilled.  Alma Knobloch had taught him a prayer which expressed the desire to make a pilgrimage to `Akká and Haifa.  When the first Universal House of Justice was elected, Franz Pöllinger was present.  His dream was fulfilled, his patience rewarded.
    In the following years there were very few activities in which he did not take part, whether summer or winter schools, seminars or firesides, youth camps or teaching activities.  His humorous contributions, filled with the varied experience of his life, enriched every meeting.  At the close of the Five Year Plan (1973-1978), as the Austrian Bahá`í community reached a new level of development, he was able to witness the fruits of his lengthy and untiring effort in the service of the Cause of Bahá`u'lláh.
    In the final weeks of his life, Franz Pöllinger felt as if he were being called home.  At last he could hasten to meet `Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, whose mandate to spread the divine Glad Tidings in Austria he had never neglected.  After sixty-three years of loyal service, his shining soul winged its way back to its Creator.  Our prayers accompany it.
KAMBIZ POOTSCHI



OTTILIE RHEIN
1903-1979
Knight of Bahá`u'lláh


Ottilie Rhein, named by the beloved Guardian a Knight of Bahá`u'lláh for having pioneered to the Island of Mauritius in 1953,1 passed on to the Abhá Kingdom on 29 October 1979 in San Mateo, California.  She was laid to rest in the beautiful hills overlooking an expanse of the great Pacific Ocean.
    Oceans were not a barrier to Ottilie's adventuresome spirit.  She was to cross and recross the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Indian Oceans by both sea and air.  She set goals for herself and went about accomplishing them regardless of the perils she might face.  As a young girl she left her native Germany to seek adventure in the United States where she settled in Chicago and managed a building in which she rented rooms.  One of her tenants, Betty Powers, had in her room a photograph of `Abdu'l-Bahá which aroused Ottilie's passing interest--she thought Him a Holy Man--but through changing her job Ottilie lost contact with the Bahá`ís until 1941 when the distress and loneliness occasioned by World War II caused her to be drawn irresistibly to the Bahá`í Temple.  After attending meetings conducted by Melvin Newport and Albert Windust, Ottilie gave her heart and life to Bahá`u'lláh.  `The Guardian will pray that, in the days to come, you may render the Faith many lasting and noteworthy services,' Shoghi Effendi's secretary wrote to her on his behalf on 10 December 1942.  Almost immediately Ottilie arose to pioneer in Arizona to fill a goal of the Seven Year Plan in that State.  From here she moved to San Mateo, California, where her dear Bahá`í friend, Mrs. Lisette Berger, made her welcome.  San Mateo became the base to which she would return from her various international pioneering posts when necessity dictated.  As a naturalized citizen of the United States she could not be away from the country for more than five years without losing her citizenship.
    Ottilie was present at the International Conference in Chicago in 1953 when the beloved Guardian launched the Ten Year Crusade.  All hearts were touched and a flood of volunteers arose in response to the call for pioneers.  But Ottilie was always a person of action and she was one of the first to put her affairs in order and leave.  She stored some of her belongings with Mrs. Berger and departed

1 Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá`í World, p. 57.

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Picture in Upper Left Corner with the Caption:  Ottilie Rhein

with only minimal luggage.  She had thought of joining Rex and Mary Collison in Uganda but the Guardian had specified the settlement of virgin areas so she determined to go to Mauritius, an island mentioned by name in `Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablets of the Divine Plan and one `whose name was enshrined in Bahá`í history during the Heroic Age . . . as the source, two years before `Abdu'l-Bahá's arrival in America, of a contribution towards the purchase of the site of the Mother Temple of the West'.1  She poured over maps, atlases and encyclopedias but could discover very little about the island except that it had a mixed population, that sugar cane was the chief crop raised and that French and English were spoken.  But that was enough for her, and excitedly she boarded a ship at Mombasa after having visited Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika (now Tanzania). She arrived in a heavy downpour on 11 November 1953.  Shoghi Effendi's cable--ASSURE RHEIN LOVING APPRECIATION--was relayed to her on 4 December by Paul E. Haney, then chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States.
    Ottilie's utter trust in Bahá`u'lláh enabled her to overcome the difficulties she encountered.  She rejoiced at obtaining a visa which was good for six months and which later was extended to three years plus three months.  With the assistance of a German missionary she found a house which offered the barest necessities but which provided a setting for Bahá`í meetings.  Her first shopping expedition, occasioned by the urgent need to acquire mosquito netting, led her to a shop whose proprietor, Mr. Him Lim, a Chinese, became the first resident of Mauritius to accept the Faith.  When she had enrolled two Bahá`ís and had interested a number of inquirers, Mr. Jalál Nakhjavání,2 and later another Persian believer, visited the island and assisted with the teaching work.  By 1956, just before her visa expired, there were forty Bahá`ís, enough to form three Local Spiritual Assemblies.  Although some vacillated at the last moment, Ottilie was determined not to be deprived of victory. By sheer determination she confirmed some new believers and induced others to change residence with the result that there were established--as she later recorded--`three Local Spiritual Assemblies for the three years of teaching'.  A strong and self-reliant foundation had been laid.  This victory made it possible for Mauritius to send a delegate to the historic first Regional Convention convened at the farm of Mr. and Mrs. William Sears, near Johannesburg, South Africa, at Ridván 156.  But Ottilie's service in Mauritius was at an end.  Her request for an extension of her visa was refused although she called upon the Governor who listened sympathetically to her appeal and was attentive to her explanation of the Faith.  This same gentleman--Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam--later became Prime Minister and addressed the Bahá`í Oceanic Conference held in Mauritius in August 1970.  Ottilie had the bounty of attending that gathering and of receiving his smile of recognition.
    After leaving Mauritius she remained in Kampala for a time lending much needed assistance in the production of Bahá`í literature until it became necessary for her to return to the United States to safeguard her citizenship.  But her restless spirit could not be idle

1 The Universal House of Justice, The Bahá`í World, vol. XV, p. 299.
2 See `In Memoriam', p. 797.

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when the Faith needed pioneers.  By 1959 she had saved enough money to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and then settle in Chile where, by living frugally, she was able to remain from 1960 until 1963.  Chile was her last international venture, but in her home community of San Mateo she could always be depended upon to contribute her share to every activity.  One of her greatest joys was to keep in touch with her Bahá`í friends throughout the world.
    On 27 December 1978 the secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of Mauritius wrote to Ottilie Rhein, addressing her as `Spiritual Mother of Mauritius', and conveying `deep love and gratitude on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the Faith in Mauritius . . . It is highly significant that God's Message for this day was planted in this island by a lady.  We turn our hearts in thanksgiving to Bahá`u'lláh that you were chosen for this and we pray to Him that He may shower all His blessings on you and bring you eternal joy and happiness.  Present generations may not be aware of the import of such a feat by you, but your name will forever be associated with the Faith in Mauritius and future generations will befittingly mark the event of your first coming to Mauritius.  It may not be without meaning that when you landed in Mauritius on that morning of Sunday, the 11th November 1953, it was raining heavily--the happy presage of a bountiful harvest . . .'  And again, on 21 February 1979, `We were deeply touched to read the copy of the letter the Universal House of Justice addressed to you on the 29th November 1978 and appreciate your kind thoughts for Mauritius.  It is incredible that a quarter of a century has elapsed since you arrived in Mauritius.  The seed you planted has grown and it has no doubt been sustained by your love, devotion and sincerity in the Cause of God . . . We have now seventy-four Local Spiritual Assemblies . . .'
    Ottilie remained in spirit a true pioneer right to the end.  In her life she manifested the seven qualifications of the divinely enlightened soul mentioned by `Abdu'l-Bahá in one of His Tablets:  knowledge of God, faith, steadfastness, truthfulness, uprightness, fidelity and evanescence or humility.  She was honoured at the time of her passing with the following cable from the Universal House of Justice:

SADDENED LEARN PASSING OTTILIE RHEIN DEVOTED MAIDSERVANT BLESSED BEAUTY KNIGHT BAHAULLAH MAURITIUS STEADFAST PERSEVERING IN PIONEER POSTS MANY YEARS UNDER DIFFICULT CONDITIONS.  OFFERING LOVING PRAYERS SACRED THRESHOLD PROGRESS HER VALIANT SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.  KINDLY CONVEY CONDOLENCES HER FAMILY OUR BEHALF.

(Adapted from a memoir by VALERA F. ALLEN)


MABEL ADELLE SNEIDER
1901-1979


GRIEVED LEARN PASSING MABEL SNEIDER DEVOTED MAIDSERVANT BAHAULLAH LONGTIME PIONEER GILBERT ISLANDS.  KINDLY CONVEY SYMPATHY FAMILY FRIENDS.  ASSURE LOVING PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HER SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.
Universal House of Justice
28 January 1980


One must see the example of sincere love, patience, discipline and humility in order to believe in the existence of these qualities.  Mabel Adelle Sneider possessed them all, and more.  She was born in Casper, Wyoming, U.S.A. on 8 September 1901 and grew up on a cattle ranch in Thermopolis, Wyoming, acquiring a deep love for horses and the outdoors.  After graduating from high school she attended Fort Collins Agricultural College and then studied nursing which was her lifelong profession.  Mabel declared her faith in Bahá`u'lláh in 1946 in Panama where she worked at the Gorgas Hospital. When asked why she became a Bahá`í, she simply stated, `It made sense.'  From the moment she embraced the Cause of Bahá`u'lláh she devoted her time and effort to furthering its progress.  Putting her pioneering spirit into action, she made long-range plans to pioneer for the Faith after she retired from nursing.  Mabel was adventurous but practical in nature, and she loved to travel.

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Picture in Upper Left Corner with the Caption:  Mabel Adelle Sneider

    In 1953 Mabel had the privilege of making her pilgrimage and of meeting the beloved Guardian.  Dorothy Baker and Millie Collins were also in the Holy Land at that time.  The friendship that Mabel formed with these two outstanding believers exerted an influence which lasted the rest of her life.
    One of the many services that Mabel performed for the Faith in Panama was that of assisting in the selection and purchase of the original land for the Panama House of Worship, a parcel that was later exchanged for the present Temple site.  She went as a travelling teacher to Africa and to Central and South America.  She retired after thirty years of service at the Gorgas Hospital and, on 17 July 1958, left Panama for the island of Tarawa, Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati), in the South Pacific, where she remained for fifteen years.  Knowing what to expect when she reached her destination, she purchased a hand-operated machine for making cement blocks, a set of directions for making a native-style stove, and a bicycle which was her sole means of transportation.  With the blocks she built herself a house based somewhat on an African model, and constructed a stove.  Her residence on the island of Bikenibeu became widely known as `Mabel's house'.  Although there were discouraging moments, she wrote in March 1964, `There have been rare cases when, having talked with someone of the Faith, you felt that great spirit, and then the feeling of having to come back into this world and walk on the roads again.  You live in hopes of capturing these moments again . . . How blessed, though, I am, for I do have the love and loyalty of many and they really love the Faith.  Their lives have been completely changed and they are willing to devote their entire time to the teaching of the Faith.  I am certain they are very dear to Bahá`u'lláh.  This is one of the reasons you feel that this is your home and where you hope to stay.'
    During her first few years in the islands Mabel spent most of her time travelling to every island to meet the Bahá`ís and help them establish the Faith.  She served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Gilbert Islands which was formed for the first time in 1967 and held the offices of secretary or treasurer.  She helped purchase the site for the National Hazíratu'l-Quds.  She was twice a delegate to the International Convention in Haifa for the election of the Universal House of Justice.  Her marriage in August 1965 to Mr. Tebakasro Aritiera ended in divorce in 1975 at which time she reverted to the use of her maiden name.
    The need for medical attention forced Mabel to return to the United States in 1975.  Even with severely impaired eyesight she vigorously served the Faith in Huntsville, Texas, whose lapsed Local Spiritual Assembly was formed again in 1978 with Mabel as chairman.  The friends in Huntsville felt blessed to have her in their midst.  She had an introverted personality.  She was a listener and rarely spoke, but when she did she was mild, loving and honest; she had a child-like quality in her manner.
    Mabel served Bahá`u'lláh's Cause to her utmost.  Her intense love for the Faith and her determination to get things done were an inspiration to all who knew her.  A few weeks before her passing, the local newspaper ran a picture of the Mother Temple of the West and featured the Bahá`í Faith as the religion of the week.  As Mabel looked at the photograph of the House of Worship she remarked, `I have done everything that I wanted to do for the

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Faith.'  On 4 December 1979, in her seventy-ninth year, she passed away as the result of a stroke.

Picture in the Center Right Side of the Page with the Caption:  Husayn Halabí (Husayn Rátibu'l-Halabí) 1921-1979

This believer, whose death occurred on 17 December 1979, was named a Knight of Bahá`u'lláh by Shoghi Effendi for his service in pioneering to Hadramaut in February 1954.


HELEN HAZEL WILKS
1903-1980


Helen Wilks was born on 31 March 1903 in Anderson, Indiana, U.S.A.  Her father died in 1919, whereupon she went to live with an aunt and uncle in Bellingham, Washington, where she completed her education and became a teacher.  Her first position was in a one-room schoolhouse in Glacier, Washington, near Mt. Baker.  Many of her students were older than she was.  She would walk to school through the snow with her legs bound in burlap bags.  Before the students arrived it was her duty to start the fire in the wood-burning stove, chop enough wood for the following day, then sweep the floor.
    During the depression, in the early 1930s, Helen worked as a clerk in a store.  A co-worker, Anna Reed, walked across the aisle and whispered in her ear, `Did you know Christ has returned?'  Instead of dismissing this as the remark of a fanatic or crank, Helen thought:  `If He has, where is He?'  Helen's daughter, Phylis Kiehn, takes up the story:  `And so the seed was planted.  Mother listened, studied, and decided that this strange new religion was not for her.  She packed the Ford with her belongings and set off for Phoenix, Arizona, but, as I recall, we weren't there very long before she exclaimed that she must know more about this religion.  She left us in Phoenix and hitch-hiked all the way back to Seattle, a distance of about 1,600 miles, in order to locate and further question Anna Reed.  In 1934 mother became a confirmed Bahá`í and started a children's class at the Bahá`í Centre in the old Arcade Building in Seattle.  The class was her first--I was "the children".  After she remarried in 1936 the class comprised myself and my step-brother.'
    William S. Wilks became a dedicated Bahá`í not long after his marriage to Helen.  Over the years the couple moved seven times in the Seattle area in order to help establish new Local Spiritual Assemblies.  At the London Congress in 1963 they made their plans for their greatest move--as pioneers to Africa.  Would that space permitted the recounting of all their experiences in this new venture!  On their first teaching trip, much to their astonishment, they found themselves snow-bound for three days in southern Africa.  William--or `Bill' as he was known--died on 14 December 1965, two days before his sixty-fifth birthday, and is buried in Mbabane, Swaziland.  Helen survived him by fifteen years which were devoted to ceaseless teaching trips in some nine or more countries in the southern Africa area.  Her passing on 3 January 1980, following a massive heart attack, ended a life of great service on this earth.  Counsellor Shidan Fat'he-Aazam, alluding to the wish of a true soldier to die with his boots on, wrote of her:

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`Well, our dear Helen, whom we all know was a real and true soldier in the Army of Bahá`u'lláh, always had her boots on for fear she might have to face her Lord without them.  Those of us who knew her and worked with her could bear witness to her love, her devotion and her self-sacrifice for our beloved Faith.  She gave herself totally, body and soul, to Bahá`u'lláh.  Every step she took, every breath she drew, was to promote the Faith of God.  At the age of seventy-six her spirit and her energy were youthful--so full of happiness, life and vitality.  Her contribution to our beloved Faith, both in her native land and in the continent of her adoption, Africa, was tremendous.  She was an indefatigable teacher of the Faith--always on the go, constantly seeking contacts and giving the Message . . .'
    During the last fourteen years of her life Helen served the Faith as a member of the Auxiliary Board for Propagation, first in Swaziland and then in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), and was sent by the Continental Board of Counsellors for Africa on special projects in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Seychelles and Mauritius.  In all these places she will be remembered with deep love, admiration, awe and gratitude.  In January 1980 Gary Worth, a fellow pioneer to Zimbabwe, paid tribute:  `Her spirit and enthusiasm, her energy, her sense of fun and laughter, and her desire to teach the multitudes about Bahá`u'lláh were unmatched by any other person I have met in my lifetime . . . despite age, failing health and poor eyesight, Helen had not decreased her activities on behalf of the Faith in the slightest bit.  She begged for and scraped up valuable petrol coupons so that she could continue her teaching work in this war-torn country.  She spent most of her small pension on petrol for her car.  In this way she continued to bring the Bahá`í teachings to the people of this region through her never-failing spirit and love of life . . .. . .'

Picture in Upper Right Corner with the Caption:  Helen Hazel Wilks

    Helen's devoted services earned her the following cable sent by the International Teaching Centre to the Continental Board of Counsellors in Africa on on 7 January 1980:

GRIEVED NEWS PASSING MUCH LOVED DEVOTED SERVANT FAITH HELEN WILKS.  HER LONG YEARS OUTSTANDING WORK TEACHING FIELD BAHAI EDUCATION CHILDREN IN HER NATIVE LAND AND HER HIGHLY EFFECTIVE SERVICES AS PIONEER AND BOARD MEMBER AFRICA UNFORGETTABLE.  SUPREME BODY AND TEACHING CENTRE ASSURE ARDENT PRAYERS SHRINES PROGRESS HER RADIANT SOUL.

    In a letter written on its behalf on 24 January 1980 the Universal House of Justice stated, `It is the hope of the Universal House of Justice that the selfless and sacrificial efforts

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of friends like Helen Wilks may serve to inspire other friends in their aspirations for services to the Threshold of the Blessed Beauty, and to guide them in what they can achieve by devoting their resources to the advancement of the Cause of Bahá`u'lláh.'
    Helen's wish to `die with her boots on' was granted.  After her passing, comfort was taken in the knowledge that she took her flight to the Abhá Kingdom the way she always wanted, dying in service to God.

(Based on a memoir prepared by ELAINE EILERS for the Continental Board of Counsellors in Africa)


ISFANDIYAR GHOBAD
(ISFANDÍYÁR QUBÁD)
1895-1980


Picture in Lower Left Corner with the Caption:  Isfandiyar Ghobad

Isfandiyar Ghobad was born into a Zoroastrian family in 1895 in Yazd, Írán .  He was brought up in surroundings which were coloured by deep-rooted religious orthodoxy and tainted by ancestral superstitions, prejudices and rituals.  As a young man his quest for religious truth was ardent.  While still a school student he would frequently challenge, in the presence of the religious instructor, the validity of the concepts prevalent amongst his own people, in return for which he would be punished harshly and accused of having been influenced by the `heresy' of the Bábí movement.  These confrontations made his receptive soul even more sensitive to the light of divine guidance.  At last, through a new bond of marriage in the family household, he came to hear about Bahá`u'lláh from his brother-in-law, a staunch Bahá`í.  The seed of faith which had germinated in his heart soon became a fruitful tree as a result of the instruction and loving care of such prominent souls as Hájí Muhammad Táhir-i-Málmírí and Hájí Muhammad Táhir-i-Qandahárí.
    Isfandiyar's recognition of Bahá`u'lláh at the age of twenty-two enkindled the flame of faith in the hearts of his entire family.  Soon after his declaration he wrote to `Abdu'l-Bahá and in reply he received an inspiring Tablet which instilled in his heart a new zeal and hope.  He joined his father in trade but events forced him to leave his homeland for India and from there he proceeded to the Holy Land on pilgrimage.  His arrival in the Holy Land coincided with the Guardian's departure from Haifa after the Ascension of `Abdu'l-Bahá.  As a result he attained the presence of the Greatest Holy Leaf whose loving grace and affection encompassed him for fifty days.  During that period he was privileged to receive from her gracious hand a copy of the Tablet of the Holy Mariner in the handwriting of Shoghi Effendi, as well as a letter full of encouragement and assuring him of a subsequent visit.  After a few months' sojourn in Cairo, the joyous news of the Guardian's return reached him.  He again asked permission to come to the Holy Land and to his joy received a loving invitation in which the Guardian expressed his eagerness to welcome him.  On 19 October 1924 he set off for Haifa and was honoured to bask for forty days in the sunshine of the loving kindness of the beloved Guardian.  Isfandiyar's real spiritual life began to take shape during this memorable pilgrimage and the Guardian's parting words--`Isfandiyar, I shall

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never forget you, be assured'--engraved themselves indelibly on his heart and became his `best provision' for the rest of his life.
    On his return to Írán he was appointed to serve on various administrative bodies of the Faith which were closely associated with activities of the Bahá`í youth and teaching.  In later years he was elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of Tihrán and he remained a member until he left Írán.
    His third pilgrimage--this time accompanied by his wife and youngest daughter--took place in 1952, immediately before the launching of the Ten Year Crusade.  They were among the pilgrims who heard from the Guardian's own lips his glorious message about the unfoldment of divine destiny through the implementation of the Ten Year Plan; they were galvanized by the spirit of urgency of the moment.  A few months after Isfandiyar returned to Tihrán the National Spiritual Assembly assigned him the task of visiting the believers in the towns and cities of the southern part of Írán to share with them the joyous news of the commencement of the Ten Year Crusade and to stimulate their participation in its prosecution.  His wife, Parízád, accompanied him.
    Profoundly touched by the call himself, Isfandiyar and his family pioneered to Bursa, Turkey, and later to Recife, Brazil.  While in Bursa, in 1962, he and his wife had had the privilege of being invited to accompany the Hand of the Cause of God Tarázu'lláh Samandarí on his three-month tour of Pakistan, India, Ceylon and Burma, a unique opportunity which was joyfully seized and which brought many inspiring experiences.
    In 1967 he settled in the United Kingdom where he remained in active service to the Cause until he passed on to the Abhá Kingdom on 18 January 1980.  He was buried in the precincts of the blessed resting-place of the beloved of his heart, Shoghi Effendi.
    From the time he became a Bahá`í, Isfandiyar Ghobad served with all his strength, even in his later years when he suffered from a heart condition.  He is remembered by those who knew him as one steadfast in the Faith, dedicated in its service, forbearing in sufferings, radiant and assured in heart and submissive to the will of God.  Precision and order were characteristic of both his private life and his professional practice.  His life's achievements were crowned by the cable sent by the Universal House of Justice on 21 January 1980:

SADDENED NEWS PASSING DEVOTED SERVANT CAUSE ISFANDIYAR QUBAD HIS LONG RECORD SERVICES CRADLE FAITH PIONEERING FIELDS ALWAYS REMEMERED.  PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS SOUL.  CONVEY MEMBERS BEREAVED FAMILY LOVING SYMPATHY.
DR. M. FIROOZMAND


MUHAMMAD `ALÍ-FALLÁH AFNÁN
1888-1980


Mírzá Muhammad `Alí Afnán was the son of Mírzá Muhammad Báqir Afnán.  His mother was the granddaughter of the younger uncle of the Báb, Mírzá Husayn `Alí, and his father was the grandson of the elder brother of the Báb, Mírzá Siyyid Muhammad.
    He was born in Yazd, Írán, in the year 1888, on the very day that seven Bahá`ís of that city were martyred.  His father died when he was young and he was brought up by his grandfather, Mírzá Muhammad Taqí Vakflu-Dawlah, the builder of the Bahá`í Temple of Ishqábád.  With his mother and sister he travelled from Ishqábád to the Holy Land to reach the presence of `Abdu'l-Bahá, but soon after his arrival in the Holy Land his grandfather passed away and he was sheltered under the loving care of the Master.  He was sent by `Abdu'l-Bahá to the same school in Beirut which was attended by Shoghi Effendi and later on, when the Master sent Shoghi Effendi to England to study, He also sent the young Afnán to study agriculture there.  In some of the letters Shoghi Effendi wrote while studying in Oxford he mentions the Afnán whom he occasionally visited in Yorkshire.
    After completing his studies, Muhammad  `Alí Afnán returned to the Holy Land only twenty days before `Abdu'l-Bahá passed away.  The Afnán remained in Haifa for six months and then returned to Yazd on the instructions of the beloved Guardian.  For many years he was elected as a member of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Yazd and often was privileged to serve as chairman.

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Picture in Upper Left Corner with the Caption:   Muhammad `Alí Falláh Afnán

    In 1939 an unfortunate incident occurred.  The workman responsible for the heating of the Bahá`í public bath was injured during the course of duty.  The enemies of the Faith seized the opportunity of making mischief.  The chairman of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Yazd was imprisoned and other members were prosecuted.  Fortunately the members were released after a short time.  Eleven years later, in a village called Abarqú, soon after a Bahá`í pioneer was sent from Yazd to that village, a woman and her several children were murdered in mysterious circumstances.  The enemies of the Bahá`í community attributed this tragic event to the coming of the pioneer to their village.  As a result the nine members of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Yazd were sentenced to three years' imprisonment.  They were confined to prison first in Yazd, then in Kirmán, and finally in the prison of Tihrán.  After his release from prison the Afnán visited the Holy Land and attained the presence of the beloved Guardian who praised the steadfastness of those who had suffered unjust imprisonment.  Through their incarceration, he said, these believers had followed in the footsteps of the Báb.
    Mr. Afnán passed to the Abhá Kingdom in Tihrán in his eighty-ninth year and was buried in the Bahá`í cemetery of that city.
ABU'L-QÁSIM AFNÁN



INPARAJU CHINNIAH
1932-1980


For more than twenty years Inparaju Chinniah strode the Malaysian Bahá`í scene like a spiritual colossus.  He was a valued friend to everyone who knew him and all were drowned in profound sorrow when he passed away suddenly on 5 February 1980.  Two days later the following cable was received from the Universal House of Justice, describing his significant service to the Cause both in Malaysia and throughout the region of South-east Asia:

DEEPLY GRIEVED UNTIMELY PASSING DEVOTED COWORKER INPARAJU CHINNIAH.  HIS OUTSTANDING UNTIRING SERVICES INSTITUTIONS FAITH BOTH MALAYSIA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA SHED LUSTRE ANNALS CAUSE GOD ENTIRE REGION.  PRAYING HOLY THRESHOLD PROGRESS SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.  MAY BELOVED FRIENDS MALAYSIA INCREASE FERVOUR SERVITUDE BAHAULLAH FOLLOW EXAMPLE DEPARTED FRIEND COMPENSATE HIS LOSS THEIR MIDST.  ASSURE FAMILY FRIENDS SYMPATHY.  ADVISE HOLD BEFITTING MEMORIAL MEETINGS.

    Inparaju was his actual name but early in life he became known as `Inbum', meaning `joy', `sweet' or `lovely' in the Tamil language.  Born on 9 March 1932 in Malacca, Malaysia, he was the second child of a school-teacher, Mr. J. V. Chinniah, who, like his wife Elizabeth Thyria Ratnam, was of Ceylonese origin. The family had a strong affiliation with the Methodist Church in Malacca.
    We know little of Inbum's childhood except that he was a brilliant student and an active sportsman.  He was a keen scout and rose to the rank of King's Scout, representing Malaysia at a Jamboree in Australia in 1949.  Although he did very well in his Cambridge examination that same year, family circum-

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stances prevented his pursuing his studies further.  He started off his working life as a teacher in Malacca High School where his father had served earlier.  In time Inbum rose to the post of headmaster of the Masjid Tanah Primary School.  When this appointment was made in 1957, he was the youngest person ever to have been made headmaster in the State.  At a later time he was appointed headmaster of a Secondary Continuation School in Jasin and, in 1965, headmaster of Sekola Menangah Jasin.

Picture in Lower Left Corner with the Caption:  Inparaju Chinniah

    By 1954 Malacca had become a hub of Bahá`í activity.  Among the many active workers there were school-teachers, one of whom was teaching in Malacca High School.  Inbum attended his first Bahá`í fireside--a talk on `The New World Order'--and often mentioned that if it were not for Mr. Kumara Das he might not have accepted the Faith.
    Inbum's marriage in 1960 to the exuberant and radiant Chinese Bahá`í Lily Leong, a fellow teacher at Masjid Tanah Primary School, drew considerable attention in Malacca where interracial marriages were still taboo.  Four lovely children were born to them.
    Early in his life, despite his quiet nature, Inbum's qualities of leadership emerged and it is not surprising that these characteristics were identified and made use of in his service to the Bahá`í Faith.  He served on the National Teaching Committee in Peninsular Malaysia in 1962 and 1963.  At the second National Convention of Malaysia in 1965 he was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly, serving as treasurer and later as secretary.  He settled in Kuala Lumpur.  His home at Setapak became, as it were, a mini-hostel, harbouring numerous students and Bahá`í youth.  One youth who stayed with him remarked, `Inbum had the unique ability to tap the latent potential in each individual . . . many were the leaders who were nurtured and trained under his able hands.'  During his years as secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly important organizational improvements were effected in the office of that body.
    In June 1972 the Hand of the Cause of God Rahmatu'lláh Muhájir visited Malaysia and while there encouraged Inbum to go to Africa as a travelling teacher.  Inbum spent six months in Tanzania on leave without salary and made a valuable contribution to the work of the Faith there.  A Malaysian travelling teacher who was in Tanzania in 1977 when Inbum was appointed to the Board of Counsellors for South-east Asia witnessed the great joy experienced by the African friends when they learned of his appointment.  He had served ably as a member of the Auxiliary Board for protection since 1972 and now he threw himself wholeheartedly into his role as Counsellor, on one occasion travelling the distance of a thousand miles by bus in order to attend a meeting in Bangkok. He was a living example of forgiveness, patience and consideration; he saw the good in every individual and never spoke ill of anyone.  He had a genuine humility and the gift of extending a tender and personal attention to those who needed his assistance.  His ready wit lightened all hearts.
    A sense of urgency was noted in the last few months of his life.  He often mentioned that he looked forward to early retirement in order to devote even more time to the Faith.  In December 1979 when news was received of the untimely death of the Hand of the Cause Rahmatu'lláh Muhájir, although Inbum could be seen consoling the Bahá`ís all across the country, it was obvious that no one was more

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heartbroken than himself; it was as though a lieutenant had lost his most admired general.  Thirty-five days later the lieutenant was to join his loved commander in the Abhá Kingdom.
    Inbum often jokingly remarked to his wife, `I may be poor in wealth, but I am rich in friends!'  The large gathering of mourners who came from all parts of the country to attend his funeral, and the torrent of telegrams and telephone calls that were received from all parts of the world, testify to what a rare friend he was.  His INSPIRED SERVICES WERE TREASURES TO SOUTHEAST ASIA, the International Teaching Centre cabled at the time of his passing.  Later, on 14 February, that institution wrote to members of the Continental Boards of Counsellors throughout the world:  `The loss of this devoted servant of the Faith is indeed great because of his knowledge,  wide experience, high efficiency and constancy, all sweetened by an unassuming and natural humility.'
(Adapted from Malaysian Bahá`í Bulletin)



ROSEMARY SALA
1902-1980


EXTEND LOVING SYMPATHY PASSING YOUR BELOVED COMPANION AFTER LONG YEARS UNITED SERVICE FAITH.  HAVE SENT FOLLOWING CABLE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY CANADA QUOTE EXPRESS OUR PROFOUND SORROW PASSING ROSEMARY SALA DEDICATED VETERAN SERVANT BAHAULLAH PIONEER TEACHING FIELDS AFRICA AMERICAS MEMBER FIRST NATIONAL ASSEMBLY CANADA TIRELESS EFFECTIVE DEVOTED BAHAI TEACHER THROUGHOUT LONG BAHAI LIFE.  ASSURE PRAYERS HOLIEST SHRINES PROGRESS HER SOUL WORLDS GOD UNQUOTE
Universal House of Justice
26 February 1980


Picture in Upper Right Corner with the Caption:  Rosemary Sala

When we returned to Canada in 1968,  after fourteen years of pioneering in South Africa, we felt we had not done much for the Faith in those long years.  In fact, we believed that any imprint we might have made would soon be blown over by the sands of time and be forgotten.  After Rosemary winged away on 20 February 1980 in Guadalajara, Mexico, due to cerebral thrombosis, I was flooded with messages from our former pioneer post.
    The Evening Post of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, under the headline `Service for Former P.E. School Library Pioneer', published the following item, together with a picture of Rosemary, in its issue of 18 March 1980:
    `A memorial service for a former Port Elizabeth woman, Mrs. Rosemary Sala, who pioneered school libraries in black schools, was held in New Brighton at the weekend.  The service was held at the Cowan High School, New Brighton.
    `Mr. Frank Tonjeni, principal of Cowan High School, said Mrs. Sala was interested in black education while she lived in South Africa  ."She was a very energetic woman and established libraries in all our secondary and high schools."
    `Mrs. Sala also established a Sala Prize at three of the schools for leadership and scholastic achievement.  "Above the door of our school library there is a plaque bearing her name," Mr. Tonjeni said.

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    `Her permit to enter New Brighton was withdrawn in May, 1967.'
    Because of the Apartheid laws, social contact in South Africa was very difficult.  Rosemary succeeded in obtaining from the authorities permission to enter black townships, where she established libraries in eleven schools, placed over 10,000 books, and brought enjoyment to thousands of students.  She did this for ten years, her permit being renewed from year to year.  Later it was restricted, and finally it was withdrawn.
    Bahá`í News, South and West Africa, states in its February 1980 issue:
    `She is known in all the schools of New Brighton, Kwa Zakele and Zwide, and will live in our midst for ages as the mother of the Bahá`ís of New Brighton.  Many times have I heard her say:  "I have said the Greatest Name all over New Brighton and Kwa Zakele." . . . I will always remember her as the kindly lady who was never frightened--even of waiting for the local bus to take her into town . . . She was unceasing in her efforts to attract all levels of society to the Faith . . . I, for one, will never rest until I have done all the things she herself would have done for the Bahá`ís in the townships of Port Elizabeth.'
    There were many more similar eulogies.
    Rosemary was born Mary Scott Gillies in Glasgow, Scotland, on 4 May 1902 to Captain and Mrs. Malcolm N. Gillies.  When she was four her family brought her to Montreal, Quebec, where she was raised in a strict Presbyterian home.  She wanted to become an architect, but the only faculty that would then accept women students was in New York City, and her mother would not allow her to move.  She, therefore, had to be satisfied with graduating from Macdonald Teachers' College, near Montreal.
    In December 1927, in Montreal, three young Bahá`ís--Rowland Estall, George F. Spendlove1 and myself--started the first organized Bahá`í youth group of North America.  Within months a few young people were attracted, among whom was a teacher who taught in the same school as Rosemary.  She invited Rosemary who came out of curiosity.  The following summer Rosemary was invited to the Bahá`í school in Green Acre where she was deeply influenced by the renowned teacher, Mrs. Elizabeth Greenleaf.2  That autumn Rosemary declared her faith in Bahá`u'lláh.  Since we had three `Mary's' in our youth group, George Spendlove gave Mary Gillies the name Rosemary which remained with her all her life.  She was soon elected youth delegate to the National Convention in Wilmette and was active in various national activities with the result that long after our marriage which took place in 1934 I was known only as `the husband of Rosemary Gillies'.  During the past forty years we have attended many conventions, conferences, summer and winter schools, and on almost every occasion--even as recently as a year ago--I have seen young Bahá`ís with eager eyes, who have read her article `Marriage in the Bahá`í Faith',3 corner her and become involved in deep discussion.  Rosemary often said that because of that article she seems to have been used, all these years, as an unofficial Bahá`í marriage counsellor.
    Rosemary and I worked together as one breath and I beg forgiveness if, in attempting to describe her services, I enumerate my own.  In August 1938, while in Green Acre, we tried to induce a couple to pioneer in Latin America under the first Seven Year Plan.  By the time we reached our home in St. Lambert, Quebec, we realized that while trying to inspire others we had talked ourselves into going.  After six months of intensive preparation and an immersion course in Spanish, we set sail the following spring for Caracas, Venezuela, where we stayed for a year.4  We found the experience so joyful and thrilling that the desire to pioneer remained with us for the rest of our lives.  On our return journey to Canada we drove sixteen hours a day for eight days on a primitive, tortuous mountain road from Caracas to Bogotá, Colombia.  Since we were the first Bahá`ís to make that trip, Rosemary invoked the Greatest Name in every valley and hamlet.  We returned to Caracas in 1946 during the course of a four-month lecture tour which took us to every country in Latin America except Paraguay. One of the highlights for us was our visit, in Buenos Aires, to the resting-place of Mrs.

1 See `In Memoriam', The Bahá`í World, vol. XIII, p. 895.
2 See `In Memoriam', The Bahá`í World, vol. IX, p. 608.
3 The Bahá`í World, vol. VII, p. 761.
4 The Bahá`í Centenary:  1844-1944, p. 197.

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May Maxwell where we offered prayers.  In 1947 we were back in Venezuela, this time during the course of a Caribbean teaching tour.
    In Canada we were instrumental in the creation of the first summer conferences and the Laurentian Bahá`í School; and, as members of the Canadian National Teaching Committee, we helped to prepare the Canadian community for the election, in 1948, of its first National Spiritual Assembly on which we served for the following six years.1
    In 1952 Rosemary went on her first pilgrimage to Haifa as a guest of the Guardian.  Her second visit to the Holy Land was in 1968 as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of South and West Africa.
    With the announcement of the Ten Year Crusade we volunteered to pioneer.  The Guardian suggested Comoro Islands in the Indian Ocean, but since a visa was refused he gave us Zululand as a second choice.  We arrived in May 1954 and settled on a trading post in a native reserve, with no telephone or electricity.  We were two hours' distance from the nearest doctor or police station.  To our great disappointment, after one year our permit was not renewed.  We moved to Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, where we lived for thirteen years.  We had to return to Canada for three years--which was a culture shock in reverse--and were happy to pioneer again, in 1971, this time to Guadalajara,  Mexico.  Previous to this, however, we made a tour of the Far East.  We travelled all over Mexico, attended the Merida Conference and made two side trips to Panama.  Rosemary spent many weeks preparing illustrated albums about historical events related to the Faith which are on display at the Bahá`í Shrine in Montreal.
    Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih  Khánum wrote this about Rosemary:  `She was a remarkable woman, a very sweet one, and her devotion to the Faith was truly exemplary.  It never flagged but went on year after year to the very last breath.  May we all die as she did, with the good pleasure of Bahá`u'lláh.  She was also a devoted friend and a loyal one, and I shall miss very much receiving her letters . . . Rosemary will certainly go down as one of Canada's outstanding Bahá`ís as the Canadian community emerged and grew in stature and strength.'
    The Hand of the Cause John Robarts and his wife, Audrey, life-long friends, chose for Rosemary the following from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá:  O ye handmaid 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 shone forth like glittering stars in the skies of ancient glory, shedding their splendours across all the reaches of time.2
EMERIC SALA



ROBERT HAYDEN
1913-1980


Robert Earl Hayden was born in Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A., on 4 August 1913 of poor, uneducated parents.  At birth he was named Asa Bundy Sheffey, `Asa' being his father's name and `Bundy' the name of the family doctor who had attended his birth.  After the separation and divorce of his parents while he was still an infant, his mother put him in the care of friends, William and Sue Ellen Hayden, while she set about finding work to provide for him.  A job was found in Buffalo, New York, and she moved there, visiting Robert and the Haydens occasionally.  The Haydens did not like the name `Asa' for the boy and, hoping that they would be permitted to adopt him as their own, renamed him `Robert Earl'.  His mother did not object to this, especially since she felt that the child had a good home while she was working.
    It was during his pre-school years that it was discovered how little sight he had.  Nevertheless, he was provided with glasses and eagerly learned to read before entering school.  During his elementary school years he read a dictionary, an encyclopedia and any other available material, although he was placed in the sight-saving class.  When Robert entered school he

1 Shoghi Effendi in Messages to Canada, pp. 45, 74.
2 Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá, p. 23.

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Picture in Upper Left Corner with the Caption:  Robert Hayden

was registered as Robert Earl Hayden.  Not until his fortieth year did he come to know that this was not his legal name.  Only in 1978 was it made legal.
    All his basic education was received in Detroit.  Since there was no money for college when he finished high school, he gave up hope of acquiring a higher education.  However, the social worker who served his family interceded because of the obvious capabilities of the young man and enabled him to receive a four-year scholarship to Detroit City College, now known as Wayne State University.  In the summer of 1938, four years after completing his college work, he entered the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for advanced study.  It was there that he entered a competition for a Hopwood Award, and that summer won a minor award for poetry.
    In 1940 he married Erma Inez Morris.  The following year they moved to Ann Arbor where Robert began graduate work in earnest and also took advantage of the opportunity to study with W. H. Auden, who at that time was visiting poet at the University of Michigan.  In 1940 Robert Hayden's first book of poetry Heart-Shape in the Dust was published by a small press in Detroit.
    A daughter, Maia, was born in 1942, and that same year Robert won a major Hopwood Award for Poetry.  He received a Master of Arts degree in English in 1944 and that fall was appointed Teaching Fellow in English.  He held that position for two years, the first black person to have been given that opportunity at the university.
    In 1946 Robert and his family moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he taught at Fisk University for twenty-two years.  Meanwhile, he continued to write poetry, his first love.  He could not find a publisher, but from time to time his poems would appear in magazines, including Atlantic Monthly and Poetry.  In 1962 Ballad of Remembrance was published in England.  Then, between 1966 and 1978, New York publishers and others brought out Selected Poems, Words in the Mourning Time, Angle of Ascent, Night-Blooming Cereus and American Journal.  These accomplishments led eventually to other recognition:  the reception of the Grand Prize for Poetry at the first World Festival of the Arts in Dakar, Senegal, 1965; the Russell Loines Award for poetry, National Institute of Arts and Letters, 1970; election by the Academy of American Poets as its 1975 Fellow; membership in the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters; and appointment (1976-1978) to the post of Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.--these are a few of the many honours given him.  In the last-named post he was enabled to bring the Bahá`í teachings to the attention of the manager of the Senate Chambers and some other government officials.  On 3 January 1980 he was invited to the White House to read, along with other poets, and was received with genuine warmth by President and Mrs. Carter.
    Robert was not a joiner and past experience had made him wary of institutional religion.  However, the Hand of the Cause Dorothy Baker, through the instrumentality of Katherine Mills of Ann Arbor, had convinced him of the truth of the Cause of Bahá`u'lláh and he joined the Faith in 1943.  During his Bahá`í life he served on the Local Spiritual Assemblies of Nashville, Tennessee, and, while he held the consultantship at the Library of Congress, of

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Falls Church, Virginia.  He also spoke about the Faith many times on television and radio.
    Robert was often asked to give talks on the Faith.  After a few such addresses he steadfastly refused these requests, firmly convinced that he could serve the Cause better as a poet.  In this role he always strove for excellence.  He received many requests to give readings of his poetry and always complied if it was at all possible.  Readings took him to many places in the United States.  At these presentations he usually read poems he had written containing direct reference to the Faith as well as those on other subjects.  He prefaced the readings with explanatory information about the Bahá`í Revelation.  Most of all, however, wherever he went he was recognized by all who met him as one who promoted a universal point of view as found in the Faith of Bahá`u'lláh:  whether in the classroom, on the lecture platform, or in social gatherings, this was the only view he held valid.  In his work this also was true.  In a letter written to an inquirer in December 1970 he had this to say:  `I think of the writing of poems as one way of coming to grips with inner and outer realities--as a spiritual act, really, a sort of prayer for illumination and perfection.  The Bahá`í Faith, with its emphasis on the essential oneness of mankind and its vision of world unity, is an increasingly powerful influence on my poetry today--and the only one to which I willingly submit.'
    From 1968 until his death Robert Hayden was an associate editor of World Order, a Bahá`í periodical published under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States.  He made constant efforts to raise the standard of the poetry used in the publication.  World Order was very close to his heart, and he thought of his work for it as a real service he could render the Faith.
    On 28 February 1980 the Universal House of Justice cabled:

GRIEVED PASSING ESTEEMED SERVANT CAUSE ROBERT HAYDEN.  HIS NUMEROUS HONOURS AND DISTINGUISHED CONTRIBUTION POETRY AMERICA ADDS LUSTRE ANNALS FAITH.  KINDLY CONVEY TO FAMILY LOVING SYMPATHY ASSURANCE PRAYERS PROGRESS HIS SOUL.
ERMA HAYDEN



ANGELINE GIACHERY
?-1980


Angeline Giachery, whose pure and angelic spirit returned to God on 23 April 1980, was born in Sweden towards the end of the nineteenth century.  The solemn beauty of her native land, bejeweled by thousands of rivers and lakes, and dotted with serenely tranquil and majestic forests, impressed itself upon her gentle spirit and found reflection in her stainless character.  Highly sensitive to the divine intelligence and exquisite harmony that rule the universe, she found perfection in all created things.  The inner happiness which suffused her being was crowned by her peerless love for the Creator.  Her childhood and adolescence were richly blessed and congenial.  As a small child she studied music passionately and became an accomplished violinist.  She was educated in Sweden and England and was a diligent student who took delight in her studies.  She enjoyed the rational sciences--particularly mathematics--liberal arts, literature and the poetry of both countries.  Travels

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in Europe and abroad completed her education and widened her perspective, preparing her to make what she would later recognize as the supreme choice of her life.  In the early 1920s she was introduced to the Revelation of Bahá`u'lláh while visiting friends in Boston, U.S.A.  Her conversion was immediate, sincere and total:  she dedicated the rest of her life to ardent service to the Cause of God and to bringing happiness to her fellow man.  A short time later I met Angeline in the home of mutual friends; she was gentle, gracious, cultured, elegant and happy.  In her presence one seemed to sense the fragrance of the pines and firs of the Varmland forest, the most romantic and beautiful region of Sweden.  We met frequently and a mutual affection developed.  On 24 February 1926 we were married in New York City.
    Now a considerable part of her time was spent in the company of early believers, many of whom had been in the presence of `Abdu'l-Bahá.  Her heart was filled with joy and wonder.  She gathered accurate notes and treasured the early translations of Sacred Writings that loving friends gave her.  Her knowledge of the Teachings became greater day by day.  She attended meetings, lectures and classes and formed deep and lasting friendships with her fellow Bahá`ís.  The early writings of the Guardian which were then becoming available enkindled her with new hope and inspiration.  Her home was opened to seekers, firesides were maintained, and her melodious eloquence conquered many hearts.  Increasingly immersing herself in the writings of Shoghi Effendi she preoccupied herself with the questions:  How to serve the Cause more fully?  How to multiply my efforts?  She arranged music recitals to attract outstanding and influential people and her efforts were most successful.  Trips in America and Europe gave her the opportunity to spread the teachings--seeds which were never lost--but as time went on the desire to pioneer in Europe or in Latin America was uppermost in her mind.  At the end of World War II she was able to leave for Rome, a city she had visited in her youth; she rejoiced at the thought of being closer to the Holy Land and to the Guardian whom she greatly revered and honoured with all her heart.  Reaching Naples on 20 February 1947 she was distressed by the misery and destruction which were to be seen everywhere, and by the spectacle of countless cold and hungry children.  After a twelve-hour journey on an ancient and overcrowded bus she reached the Eternal City.  A cabled message from the Guardian--SUPPLICATING ABUNDANT BLESSINGS NOBLE MISSION--brought great cheer.
    Despite the difficulties life in war-torn Italy presented Angeline was able to establish herself, and by the end of March the first Italian believer was enrolled in Genoa.  A cable from the Guardian arrived on the thirty-first expressing HEARTFELT CONGRATULATIONS and urging ALL OTHER PIONEERS EMULATE NOBLE EXAMPLE.  It was signed, LOVING APPRECIATION, SHOGHI.  The events of the years and months that followed were recorded by Angeline in her diaries in which she poured out her supplications to God for greater assistance, her humble gratitude for His bounties and her happiness.  She looked up old friends; volunteered her services to an association that provided assistance to orphans and displaced persons; made contact with cultural groups, literary figures, art circles, embassies and the Dante Alighieri Society--always winning, with her gracious manner, new friends and interest in the Cause.
    By Ridván 1947, the anniversary of the foundation of Rome, electric lights came back in the streets; by Ridván 1948 the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Rome was elected.  Shoghi Effendi was overjoyed.  He requested a photograph of the Local Spiritual Assembly, had it framed and personally placed it at the head of his bed in the room he often occupied when staying overnight in the Mansion of Bahjí.
    The need for Bahá`í literature became evident.  Angeline happily initiated a new activity, producing an introductory pamphlet in Italian which was sent to prominent citizens and to four hundred public libraries.  This was followed by a new edition of Dr. Esslemont's Bahá`u'lláh and the New Era, a special copy of which, bound in tooled green leather, was sent to the Guardian, who placed this, too, in his room at Bahjí.  Until 1964 when she returned to America, she served as chairman of the Italian Publishing Committee, a field which gave scope to her artistic and administrative skills.  Under her direction and guidance

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many of the major Writings of the Faith were translated into Italian and published in attractive editions.
    As the Faith became known throughout the entire Italian peninsula the Bahá`í community grew and new centres were established on the mainland and the offshore islands.  Angeline became increasingly involved with travelling, teaching and encouraging the friends.  Following the appointment by the Guardian of the Hands of the Cause of God,1 and the creation of the Auxiliary Boards, she was appointed to the Auxiliary Board for the propagation of the Faith in Europe, serving in that capacity from Ridván 1954 until her return to America in 1964.  Her arena of service included not only Italy but Corsica, Malta, Rhodes, Greece, Monaco and Switzerland.  The great tests of that period, including the passing of the beloved Guardian, challenged her capacity as she moved from one community to another, exhorting the friends to unity and faithfulness to the Covenant.  Her tact, the immaculacy of her mind, and her strong awareness of divine assistance enabled her to maintain the integrity of the administrative order and inspire greater efforts among the believers, resulting in a considerable increase in their numbers.
    Her assistance at the Italian end of the magnificent enterprise of securing materials for the construction of the superstructure of the Shrine of the Báb is inestimable, calling as it did for infinite patience, time and attention to detail, and extending from 1948 to the end of 1957.
    Early in 1964 she began the painful task of detaching herself from the many friends she had made in Italy over the course of seventeen years; it was agonizing to leave all those she had guided into the Faith and with whom she had worked to build up sixteen Local Spiritual Assemblies.  Upon settling in La Jolla, California, intensive teaching activities were undertaken, including several firesides a week and travels that took her through Arizona, Oregon, Washington and as far north as the Yukon Territory of Canada where, north of Whitehorse, a large cabin capable of holding forty students at a Bahá`í school bears her name.  Crossing to Alaska she captivated the affection of the Indians; here the elders of a venerable clan, during a jubilant official ceremony, invested her with the title Princess of Tlingit Eagle Tribe--their escutcheon represents a flying eagle.  She formulated at this time a plan to unite in the Faith all the people of the Arctic territories, from Finland to Alaska.  At the Intercontinental Conference in Helsinki in 1976 the plan again received some consideration.  After the conference she travelled to the Arctic region of Finland and on her return journey met with a serious accident which started her physical decline.  Undaunted, however, she travelled to Sweden and to the Arctic region of Norway, and the following year returned to the Arctic regions of Finland and Sweden.
    When she had taken her leave from the beloved Guardian on 23 December 1954 he had said that she would return to the Holy Land after the Archives building was completed but that in the meantime he wished her to travel and see the friends.  Angeline promised herself that from then on she would wholly dedicate herself to travelling and teaching.  In the years that followed she visited countless centres on five continents participating in every type of activity that circumstances demanded of her from simple fireside talks to the presentation of the book The Proclamation of Bahá`u'lláh to Pope Pius XII, to His Highness Malietoa Tamumafili II and to Umberto II of Italy.
    She grew frail in the last months of her life and sorrowed that she could no longer travel.  Her end came suddenly, but until the very last moment the name of God was on her beautiful, smiling lips.  Her mortal remains are now gathered in a befitting sepulchre in Cap d'Ail Cemetery, near Monaco, facing the blue Mediterranean Sea she was so fond of.  May present and future generations keep alive the memory of this true lover of God, and maidservant of  Bahá`u'lláh.
Her inconsolable UGO





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