The Bah‡`’ World, Vol. 18, Part Five: In Memoriam

The Bah‡`’ World, Vol. 18, Part Five: In Memoriam CECILIA MKIZE NODADA
1917-1980

Cecilia Mkize Nodada, whose nickname `Zimbili' means `two' in her native Zulu tongue, was born on 21 November 1917 in Inanda, a

¹ Editor's note: Dr. Ugo Giachery was appointed a Hand of the Cause on 24 December 1951.

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Picture in Upper Right Corner with the Caption: nbsp;Cecilia Mkize Nodada

village near Durban, South Africa. nbsp;She studied nursing and worked in this profession for thirty-eight years. nbsp;She was considered an exemplary nurse by her professional colleagues. nbsp;In 1949 she married Baptin Nodada, a Xhosa, and they had eight children, four of whom later became Bah‡`’s. nbsp;Cecilia and her husband constantly stressed the importance of education to the youth and, giving concrete form to their thought, they helped to pay the college fees of two young men who were distant relatives.
nbsp; nbsp; Cecilia was introduced to the Bah‡`’ Faith through her father's sister, Bertha Mkize, who presented her with a copy of The New Garden; and Ruth Kubone, a member of the Auxiliary Board, also came to Umtata, Transkei, to further her knowledge of the teachings. nbsp;She finally signed her declaration card in Umtata on 23 August 1966, her aunt countersigning it as her teacher. nbsp;At first Cecilia's heavy responsibilities as a nurse prevented her from being very active in Bah‡`’ community life. nbsp;She was also, in her own words, `one of those sleepy Bah‡`’s who need deepening in order to become fully aware of the significance of the Faith'. nbsp;This desirable deepening came in about 1974 as the result of a visit to Transkei of two distinguished African teachers, Robert Mazibuko and Joyce Dwashu. nbsp;As a result, Cecilia became enkindled with love for the Faith. nbsp;She visited and deepened some of the friends in Northern Transkei, especially those near the village where she lived after retirement. nbsp;She was fluent in Zulu, Xhosa and English, and was fond of both reading and writing. nbsp;She loved to teach but, unfortunately, she became ill when she did much travelling or walking. nbsp;This was probably an early sign of the cancer that would later develop.
nbsp; nbsp; She greatly enjoyed teaching children's classes--employing songs and plays--and strongly encouraged others to establish classes and showed them what to do. nbsp;She tried very hard, especially by example, to demonstrate to the friends in the rural areas how they could produce goods that could be later sold for cash to give to the Bah‡`’ Fund. nbsp;For instance, she grew beans and offered them for sale at the National Convention. nbsp;She encouraged the friends to use their money to go out and teach others about the Faith; at times she would also pay the bus fares of friends who wished to make local teaching trips.
nbsp; nbsp; Cecilia was deeply loved by the friends in Transkei because of her warm and loving spirit. nbsp;She was a quiet, modest and affectionate soul who was always surprising people with little gifts and presents. nbsp;When she was not knitting for the Fund she was knitting special little gifts for the believers--right up to the last few weeks of her life. nbsp;When friends forgot to write reports for the national committees, or hesitated to do so because of their poor skill in English, Cecilia would generously offer to do it for them. nbsp;The friends felt that they had in Cecilia a kind friend who was concerned for their welfare and happiness and who loved them.
nbsp; nbsp; In 1976 the National Spiritual Assembly of South and West Africa appointed her to the National Teaching Committee. nbsp;She served on this body, even though it required her making long trips to Johannesburg, until, in 1977, she was appointed a member of the Auxiliary Board for Propagation. nbsp;However, just two years later she became very ill with cancer against which she battled valiantly for more than two years; to the limit of her strength she

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was active right up to the last few months of her life. nbsp;Her absence from the first national convention of Transkei was so deeply felt that Counsellor William Masehla paid her a visit, hoping to transport her in a car. nbsp;This was not possible because of the advanced stage of her illness; it was apparent that she had only a few weeks of earthly life left. nbsp;One of her Bah‡`’ daughters remarked that throughout her illness Cecilia took comfort from the Bah‡`’ song Angene Ndibuyele Umva whose lyric attests `I'll never turn back from being a Bah‡`’'. nbsp;Finally, less than two weeks after the election of the first National Spiritual Assembly of Transkei, on 12 May 1980, in Dangwane village, our dear Cecilia followed the Messenger of Joy and departed for the next world. nbsp;The news of her passing saddened the whole Bah‡`’ community of this region, especially Transkei and its newly-formed National Spiritual Assembly, all of whose members attended her funeral on 16 May. nbsp;There were hundreds of people present on that day. nbsp;A bus-load of nurses in uniform attended, some of whom composed a guard of honour during the funeral while others made short addresses about her excellent work as a nurse. nbsp;Two Christian ministers were present, both of whom offered prayers and praised her character. nbsp;Even in death Cecilia Nodada, the first Bah‡`’ of Northern Transkei, was teaching; even two years after her funeral people who were present on that occasion are enquiring about the Faith she had espoused. nbsp;Her life was an enactment of her favourite song, Angene Ndibuyele Umva.
nbsp; nbsp; On 13 May the Universal House of Justice cabled:

GRIEVED LEARN PASSING CECILIA NODADA KINDLY EXPRESS OUR LOVING SYMPATHY FAMILY FRIENDS. OFFERING PRAYERS SACRED SHRINES PROGRESS HER SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.

NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF TRANSKEI

JEANNETTE OUTHEY
?-1980

The National Spiritual Assembly of New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands on 21 May 1980 cabled to the Universal House of Justice: WITH DEEP SORROW ANNOUNCE PASSING MADAME OUTHEY FIRST BELIEVER TERRITORIES ON 20 MAY . . .
Having learned of the Bah‡`’ Faith through Mariette Bolton¹ of Australia, Jeannette Outhey--thought to be the first Caledonian believer--declared her faith in Thio, New Caledonia, on 10 June 1961. She became a great friend of the untiring Australian pioneer, Margaret Rowling, who found the first Melanesian believers in that French-speaking territory. Jeannette took part actively in 1961 in the election of the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Noumea and served on that body for nineteen consecutive years. Such was her enthusiasm that she even wanted to participate in the election of officers two weeks before her passing, although she was suffering painfully from an incurable disease. In 1971, when the seat of the National Spiritual Assembly of the South West Pacific Ocean was transferred from Honiara in the Solomon Islands to Noumea, Jeannette was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly which was composed of believers from New Hebrides, New Caledonia and Loyalty Islands. Re-elected in 1972, she was able to make the trip of her life by going to the Holy Land the following year to attend the third Bah‡`’ International Convention. On the return journey she was also able to visit the resting-place of Shoghi Effendi before resuming her duties in New Caledonia. When her mother, the senior Bah‡`’ of the Territories, passed away four years later, Jeannette became free to accept the position of custodian of the National Haz’ratu'l-Quds in Noumea, a sensitive function which she discharged with zeal, competence and love until her last days. She made of this blessed spot a fragrant garden where local believers and transient guests enjoyed the generosity of her services, the affability of her character and her unequalled hospitality.
After having served the Cause of God for twenty years with love, devotion and perseverance, and having proclaimed its ideals to people of all backgrounds and races, both in the Loyalty Islands and New Caledonia, and even in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, Jeannette Outhey left this world under physical suffering but with mental

¹ See `In Memoriam', The Bah‡`’ World, vol. XV, p. 435.

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Picture in Upper Left Corner with the Caption: Jeannette Outhey

serenity. On 21 May almost all members of the Bah‡`’ community of New Caledonia gathered at her grave to pay public tribute to her in the presence of her sorrowing family and friends. The memory of this great figure of the Faith in New Caledonia will for a long time remain engraved in the hearts of all those who had the joy of knowing her. May the Abh‡ Kingdom, where she has taken flight, offer her unrestricted happiness.

THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF NEW
CALEDONIA AND THE LOYALTY ISLANDS<

KAMIL ABBAS
(KçMIL `ABBçS RIDç)
1911-1980
Knight of Bah‡`u'll‡h

>From his youth my late father took the service of the Bah‡`’ Cause as his principal aim. After completing his primary and secondary studies he began his Bah‡`’ service as a member of the youth committee of Baghd‡d. He began to study Persian, English and German and eventually excelled in these languages. He corresponded a number of times with the Guardian. While still a young man he became a member of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Baghd‡d and then was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of `Ir‡q.
In 1953 at the beginning of the Ten Year Plan he arose as a pioneer to the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean for which he was named a Knight of Bah‡`u'll‡h by Shoghi Effendi.¹ He remained there for approximately three months until forced to return to `Ir‡q due to his inability to obtain a residence permit.
In `Ir‡q he steadfastly served the Cause. He was sent on a number of missions to neighbouring Arab states at the instructions of the beloved Guardian, especially to Lebanon to which he travelled several times. He represented the National Spiritual Assembly of `Ir‡q at a number of Bah‡`’ Intercontinental Conferences and he likewise represented the Cause at several non-political conferences sponsored by the United Nations. Within the Bah‡`’ community he was a patient and

Picture in Lower Right Corner with the Caption: Kamil Abbas

¹ See Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bah‡`’ World, p. 52.

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exemplary believer, courageously defending the Faith, diffusing its wisdom among the friends, and respected and honoured by them. In 1957 he was appointed to the Auxiliary Board for the protection of the Cause. On a number of occasions his Bah‡`’ service took him to India and Pakistan and in 1966 he spent some time in êr‡n. He assisted Mr. Muhammad Husayn Rawh‡ni¹ in the delicate task of transferring the remains of the father of Bah‡`u'll‡h, M’rz‡ Buzurg, to a Bah‡`’ cemetery.² He also carried out, upon the instructions of Shoghi Effendi, various assignments relating to historic Bah‡`’ sites in Baghd‡d . For nearly twenty years he served as secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of `Ir‡q.
After his return from Tihr‡n in 1967 he remained in Baghd‡d due to the difficulty of travelling abroad. It was the will of God that he be one of the faithful friends who were arrested in December 1973 and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was so firm and steadfast in the Cause of the Blessed Beauty that the prison authorities watched my father carefully. At times they oppressed him and at times tried to persuade him to recant, but without avail. My father's course was to be firm in the service of the Faith of Bah‡`u'll‡h, to cling to His ordinances, and to proffer obedience and fidelity to the Universal House of Justice. A few months after he left the prison his health weakened, and on 5 June 1980 his spirit ascended to the Abh‡ Kingdom. It was my father's wish during the last years of his life to write a book on the blessed Cause and we may be certain that only his imprisonment prevented him from carrying out his intention. He ascended from this transitory life firm in the truth of God's mighty Cause.
Informed of my father's passing, the Universal House of Justice cabled on 15 June 1970 [sic]:

DEEPLY GRIEVED PASSING KNIGHT BAHAULLAH STAUNCH STEADFAST PROMOTER FAITH ABLE DEFENDER COVENANT KAMIL ABBAS WHOSE MANIFOLD SERVICES PIONEERING TEACHING FIELDS LOVINGLY REMEMBERED. PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS NOBLE SOUL. CONVEY MEMBERS FAMILY LOVING SYMPATHY.

DR. B. K. ABBAS

(Translated from the Arabic by JOHN WALBRIDGE)

CECILIA KING BLAKE
1911-1980

Picture in Middle Right of Page with the Caption: Cecilia King Blake

On 25 February 1911 a privileged soul, Cecilia King Blake, came into the world. She embraced the Bah‡`’ Faith on 20 October 1957 in Panama and almost immediately arose to serve as a pioneer in the ChitrŽ zone where she gave her services with great dedication and efficiency. In the closing years of the Ten Year Crusade there was an urgent appeal for pioneers to Nicaragua. In the period between May 1960 and April 1961 a contingent of pioneers arrived, including Cecilia. She had been on the front lines in the teaching field for more than a decade in Panama and on several occasions served as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly.

¹ See `In Memoriam', The Bah‡`’ World, vol. XIV, p. 373.
² See Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bah‡`’ World, p. 175; also The Bah‡`’ World, vol. XIII, p. 297.

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Her activities in Nicaragua were described in the Panama Bah‡`’ Bulletin of July 1980: `A Panamanian pioneer of great enthusiasm and joy, she arose to serve at fifty years of age, leaving Panama to offer her valuable services in Nicaragua and help in the formation of the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Bluefields, a very important factor in making possible the simultaneous election, in the memorable year 1961, of all the National Spiritual Assemblies of Latin America. From the moment she arrived at her pioneer post, "Miss Cecilia", as she was affectionately called by the local people whose confidence, love and esteem she immediately won, began to work for the Cause of Bah‡`u'll‡h, opening up every type of activity, including children's classes, literacy classes and firesides. She made long-distance, hazardous teaching trips to inhospitable places all along the Nicaraguan coast, carrying high the banner of the Most Great Name and proclaiming the healing message of the Bah‡`’ Faith in mountainous and rural areas.'
It is difficult to describe the wonderful work she carried out in the Department of Zelaya, Nicaragua. There she worked expanding the foundation of the Faith, deepening the believers and consolidating communities which were separated, in some instances, by distances of more than a day's journey over rivers, through jungles and along coastal beaches. The task was difficult but her spirit was indomitable in the service of the Cause. By great economic sacrifice she purchased in Rio Escondido a considerable piece of fertile land--a veritable paradise whose silence is broken only by the lapping of the sea waves--and donated it to the National Spiritual Assembly of Nicaragua with the hope that it would in future be the site of a permanent Bah‡`’ Institute.
In spite of her health, which was weakened by the difficulties of climate and food and her exhausting work among the indigenous people whom she loved dearly, Cecilia was always ready not only to teach the Bah‡`’ Faith but to defend it, even at the cost of her own life if circumstances should demand it. Her hand was always extended to assist the sick, protect the helpless and share her meagre bread with the hungry. She saw all the indigenous people as her children and at any moment would have given her life for them. Her heart was so large and generous that it almost would not fit in her chest. So exhausting were the conditions under which she laboured that her health broke down under the strain. One day we received her at the airport in Managua in a very serious condition and practically unconscious. It took two months for her to recover from that illness, and as soon as she regained a little strength, in spite of our pleas that she take a rest, she returned to her pioneer post because, she said, her indigenous friends needed her.
During the 1970s Cecilia settled in Costa Rica and continued teaching the Cause of Bah‡`u'll‡h with the same enthusiasm and dedication as before, in spite of age and broken health. Even from her sick-bed during her last days in this world she continued spreading the divine fragrances.
The Bah‡`’s of three countries--Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica--grieved at her passing on 27 June 1980, because upon the believers in those lands she had lavished the intense love of her great heart. DEPLORE LOSS OUR BELOVED SISTER COWORKER CECILIA WHOSE EXTENSIVE SACRIFICES GREATLY AIDED THE FIRM ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FAITH IN THE PACIFIC AND ATLANTIC REGIONS OF NICARAGUA, cabled the friends in Nicaragua. MAY THE BLESSED BEAUTY LOVINGLY PROTECT HER FOREVER.
A consolatory message from the Universal House of Justice was cabled on 1 August 1980:

SADDENED LEARN FROM YOUR BULLETIN PASSING CECILIA KING BLAKE. HER SELFLESS PIONEER SERVICE BOTH AT HOME AND ABROAD ADDS LUSTRE ANNALS FAITH COSTA RICA AND PROVIDES STERLING EXAMPLE HER COUNTRYMEN. PRAYING HOLY THRESHOLD PROGRESS HER SOUL KINGDOMS GOD.

The funeral was held in accordance with Bah‡`’ laws and was conducted with great dignity. The attendance was very large. Her grave was literally covered with flowers. Cecilia King Blake is in the Abh‡ Kingdom and from there she sends us her loving and kind smile.

SALOM…N ESCALANTE E.

(Translated from the Spanish by BARBARA BARRETT)

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Picture in Upper Left Corner with the Caption: John William Allen

JOHN WILLIAM ALLEN
1907-1980
Knight of Bah‡`u'll‡h

He knew very little of his new home. So when he and his wife Valera arrived at the border of Swaziland in a rented car on 19 April 1954, they had with them full camping provisions; though they never had to use them. They were responding to a letter from Shoghi Effendi urging them to take up residence in a virgin Bah‡`’ territory before the end of the first year of the Ten Year Crusade. God had granted their wish to join the legions of the Knights of Bah‡`u'll‡h. At that time they had no way of knowing that Swaziland would be their home for the rest of their lives. Nor could they know that this colonial territory would emerge as an independent nation before John's death on 31 August 1980, with more than 5,000 Bah‡`’s; with its own National Spiritual Assembly recognized by the government; with national, regional and local Bah‡`’ Centres; with the Leroy Ioas Bah‡`’ Teaching Centre named after John's longtime friend and confidant; and with other endowments.
Behind this spiritual triumph, guided always by Shoghi Effendi with whom the Allens had extensive correspondence and whom they visited while on pilgrimage in 1954, is the life-story of a man with the clear vision that the Cause of God must be the beacon toward which his entire life must be oriented to give it meaning and direction and success.
John Allen was born on 16 May 1907 in Auburn, California. His talent for organization and leadership emerged early. As a teenager he took full responsibility for managing a fruit orchard when his father fell ill. He was an excellent athlete and played on the football team at the College of the Pacific. He married at the beginning of the great depression and supported his family during those very difficult years through his initiative, imagination and tenacity as an automobile salesman. In 1945 he opened his own automobile dealership which grew and prospered until he left to pioneer to Swaziland.
John's relationship to the Cause of Bah‡`u'll‡h developed through his marriage. His wife, Valera, had become a Bah‡`’ in 1925, well before they had even met. A year after their marriage they moved to Sacramento. When the only Bah‡`’ couple in that town came to call, they simply assumed that John was a Bah‡`’ and he joined in the teaching activities. In those days there were no enrolment cards.
His business skills in bidding on government surplus at the end of World War II were put to use to serve the Faith. He secured for the Bah‡`’ faith registration as a charitable organization. Under this registration the Bah‡`’s were able to purchase government surplus at more than a ninety per cent discount on bid price. In his capacity as chairman of the Maintenance Committee at the Geyserville Bah‡`’ School, he equipped the school, from dormitories to kitchen, for almost nothing.
John Allen was a builder both of physical edifices and spiritual communities, and the two came together in his service to the Faith in Southern Africa. He was never happier than on the frequent occasions when he negotiated for a particularly difficult purchase of land, or the permits to build, or was able to lay out a new building. It was even his good fortune to be in Haifa when the Guardian asked the

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Hand of the Cause of God Ugo Giachery to lay out the position of the Archives Building. John helped Dr. Giachery drive the stakes and stretch the strings which marked the location of the first building to arise on the Arc around which will be located the international institutions of the World Order of Bah‡`u'll‡h.
He was a generous man. He helped pioneers settle in Swaziland, obtaining lists of employment opportunities, corresponding with pioneer committees, negotiating for residence permits, jobs, housing, cars, and often inviting newly-arrived pioneers to accept the hospitality of his home. Many times he contributed material support to make it possible for them to remain in Swaziland. He assisted with the education of many young Swazi students, some of whom lived in his own home.
Automobiles were a lifetime preoccupation. As a high school student he built his own `buggy' from the frame up, selling it to raise funds for college. Cars were designed for use and he did not spare them. In the early days when there were no paved roads in Swaziland he might drive more than an hour one way over very rough roads to collect a Swazi Bah‡`’ to attend a Nineteen Day Feast or a group of seekers to come to a fireside, repeating the journey when he took them home the same evening. Years later he wore out two trucks, even as his own health was failing, carting the materials and supervising the construction of two regional Bah‡`’ Centres, in Hlatikulu and Piggs' Peak, each a two-hour drive. He was appointed to the first Auxiliary Board by the Hand of the Cause Mœs‡ Ban‡n’ with responsibility for Northern and Southern Rhodesia, Nyasaland and Mozambique. Travelling in those countries over difficult roads he would sometimes carry a full set of tyres on the roof-rack to prevent delays. One of his strong points was his ability to anticipate both needs and consequences in the most diverse of circumstances.
As well as assisting in the spiritual development of Swaziland, John sought, with two of his sons, to participate in its economic advancement by rescuing a moribund pineapple industry. A noteworthy achievement was the establishment of a Swazi Farmers' Pineapple Settlement Scheme under which Swazi farmers, for the first time ever, were enabled to purchase and operate their own pineapple farms.
In the early teaching plans of the Guardian, the task of building world order fell to few hands. While in the United States John served on the Geyserville School Committee, the National Youth Committee and the National Teaching Committee. At the beginning of the Ten Year Crusade, when he was a member of the Asian Teaching Committee, he would laugh and say it was the committee's job to send Bah‡`’ pioneers to countries and islands neither they nor anyone on the committee had ever heard of. Nonetheless, he and his fellow committee members succeeded in turning naive intentions of devoted Bah‡`’s into the reality of service. As always, he was a salesman, with the gift of convincing people of their worth and their ability to accomplish things they feared to hope for, and to serve in ways they did not dream to be possible.
And then he came to Swaziland to become an example of what is possible if you have the courage to try and the determination to stay with it. The Faith quickly took root and the early Swazi believers were carefully nourished and deepened. Several members of the Royal Family became Bah‡`’s. Soon a Regional National Spiritual Assembly was formed for Southern Africa and he served as a member of that body, and of its daughter National Spiritual Assembly in Swaziland, for many years. Through triumph and heartbreak, John and Valera persisted at their post for more than a quarter-century. The Cause of God continues to grow in Swaziland, nurtured by the efforts at various times of almost a hundred pioneers, but increasingly its destiny must lie in the hands of the local believers taught so carefully and well.
John was the head of a large, active Bah‡`’ family, in addition to being an example of service to the Bah‡`’ world. His three sons, and their wives, have all served as Bah‡`’ pioneers. All eleven of his grandchildren are active in their service to the Faith as pioneers, travelling teachers and members of National and Local Spiritual Assemblies. John lived to see the birth of his first great granddaughter at the pioneering post of her parents in Zimbabwe.
John Allen was a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Swaziland when he died at Stanford, California, while on a visit to

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celebrate his fiftieth wedding anniversary. It was the bounty of God that his family, gathered from all over the world, were able to share the celebration of fifty years of devoted service to family, profession, and the vision of World Order, before his peaceful ascension. On 1 September 1980 the Universal House of Justice cabled:

HEARTS GRIEVED PASSING KNIGHT BAHAULLAH DISTINGUISHED PIONEER PROMOTER FAITH JOHN ALLEN. HIS RADIANCE PERSEVERANCE AUDACITY IN DEVOTED SERVICES FAITH IN NORTH AMERICA AND PARTICULARLY SOUTHERN AFRICA OVER SEVERAL DECADES SET SHINING EXAMPLE SERVANTS CAUSE GOD. ADVISE HOLD MEMORIAL GATHERINGS THROUGHOUT SWAZILAND BEFITTING HIS STATION. PRAYING SHRINES PROGRESS HIS NOBLE SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.

Reporting on the memorial services held throughout Swaziland, the Swaziland Bah‡`’ News stated: `The life and sacrifices of dear John Allen will long remain a shining example to all the believers in Swaziland to follow--this Knight of Bah‡`u'll‡h who brought us God's Message for our time.'

DWIGHT W. ALLEN

SARAH FLORENCE FITZNER
1906-1980
Knight of Bah‡`u'll‡h

On 19 October 1906 Sarah Florence Parry was born in Wrexham, Wales. Her family emigrated to Australia when she was six years old.
Florence became a teacher in the Education Department of South Australia. In 1927 a fellow-teacher, Miss Bertha Mochan (who later, as Mrs. Bertha Dobbins, became the Knight of Bah‡`u'll‡h for the New Hebrides) invited her to a meeting in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Hyde-Dunn in North Adelaide. Florence asked her friend, Harold Fitzner,¹ to accompany her, and they became regular attendants at these meetings. The sincerity and love of the couple who became affectionately known in the Australian Bah‡`’ community as `Father and Mother Dunn', and the truth and beauty of the Bah‡`’ Writings, deeply affected Florence and Harold. In 1928 they embraced the Cause.
In 1931 Florence married Harold Fitzner; this was one of the first Bah‡`’ marriages in Australia. They held firesides in their home regularly and many enquirers who attended subsequently accepted the Faith. Florence was a hard-working teacher of the Bah‡`’ Faith. Accompanied by her husband she undertook much extension teaching in country towns of South Australia, in addition to serving on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Adelaide, supporting various meetings at the Bah‡`’ Centre, assisting with children's classes, visiting the sick and elderly and other activities. They attended the Intercontinental Conference in New Delhi in 1953 where, in response to the great call issued by Shoghi Effendi for believers to arise and go to the virgin territories, they offered their services as pioneers to Portuguese Timor. Many difficulties had to be overcome before they reached their pioneering goal but with much prayer, persistence and dedicated effort Harold arrived in Portuguese Timor in June 1954; Florence joined him four months later. After his arrival he met distrust

Picture in Lower Right Corner with the Caption: Sarah Florence Fitzner

¹ See `In Memoriam', The Bah‡`’ World, vol. XV, p. 449.

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and opposition from some of the authorities and Florence helped to make life easier for Harold by sharing the problems and the tasks of daily living. Florence and Harold were honoured by the Guardian with the title, Knights of Bah‡`u'll‡h.¹
In time, opposition was overcome and they were accepted through their lives of loving service. They taught English to many students--Portuguese, Chinese, Timorese, Arabs and others of mixed blood--and created a schoolroom of their new house which was built in Dili. These students, many of whom later went abroad for further study, also learned from the Fitzners about the Bah‡`’ Faith. The Faith could not be taught openly in Portuguese Timor but, as the years passed, some of the local people embraced it.
Harold's deteriorating health became a cause of great concern for Florence. After a protracted period of illness he died at his post in 1969. Love for the Faith and for the Timorese people prompted Florence to remain serving in Timor and to continue teaching English. In 1973 she was privileged to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. She made occasional visits to Adelaide for dental and medical reasons and it was during one of these visits in 1974 that revolution broke out, making it unwise for her to return to her beloved Timor where she had served for twenty years. She continued teaching the Faith and supporting Bah‡`’ activities in her own and other areas of Australia, and in 1978 went as a travelling teacher to Tonga, Fiji and both islands of New Zealand. Health problems gradually prevented her from doing all she would have liked to have done in service to the Cause she loved so dearly. Florence passed to the Abh‡ Kingdom on 7 September 1980. After her passing the following cable was sent by the Universal House of Justice:

SADDENED NEWS PASSING DEVOTED MAIDSERVANT KNIGHT BAHAULLAH FLORENCE FITZNER HER DEVOTED SERVICES AND THOSE OF HER LATE HUSBAND HAROLD IN ESTABLISHING FAITH TIMOR LOVINGLY REMEMBERED. CONVEY SYMPATHY FAMILY FRIENDS PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HER SOUL KINGDOMS GOD.

JAMES CHITTLEBOROUGH

Picture in Upper Right Corner with the Caption: Louis Pierre Henri Dhacoo

LOUIS PIERRE HENRI DHACOO
1930-1980

Pierre Dhacoo was born on 16 February 1930 in Mauritius and was a member of a devout Christian family whose beliefs he adopted. On 1 March 1961 he accepted the Bah‡`’ Faith, expressly desiring to declare his acceptance on that day so he could begin his Bah‡`’ life by observing the Fast. Despite the opposition and disapproval of friends and relatives he served the Faith selflessly and unceasingly from the moment he embraced it. At first his employer expressed concern at his involvement with the Bah‡`’ community but Pierre's loyalty, integrity and devotion to duty soon caused his employer to change his attitude to one of appreciation and respect.
The nature of Pierre's employment required him to travel extensively during the day but he was never too tired at day's end to undertake teaching trips for the Faith. He discharged any task entrusted to him with a high sense of dedication, performing it to the best of his ability. Many were guests in his home, and many in need or in distress would knock at his door knowing that he would extend any

¹ See Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bah‡`’ World, p. 69.

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assistance within his power. He was admired for his devotion to his family and for his constant willingness to extend help to those within and without the Bah‡`’ community. He was even-tempered, humble and courteous, and nothing would dampen his spirit. He had the gift of seeing the humorous aspects of ordinary situations, and the anecdotes he would relate at Unity Feasts and social gatherings lightened all hearts.
He was an enthusiastic teacher, capable of presenting the Glad Tidings in simple and moving language. He served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Port Louis and on the National Teaching Committee. He was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly in 1968 and was a member of that body until his death. His service on these institutions was rendered in an unassuming and quiet yet dynamic way.
His passing on 5 October 1980 deprived the Mauritian Bah‡`’ community of one of its most valued servants. He was a dearly loved friend, a faithful co-worker and a true Bah‡`’ brother. He leaves a wife and five children who have all espoused the Faith. In a letter written on its behalf on 3 November 1980 the Universal House of Justice expressed sorrow at the passing of `an outstanding believer and devoted servant of the Cause of Bah‡`u'll‡h'.

S. APPA and S. MOOTEN

KARL DONALD STETTLER
1908-1980

Karl Donald Stettler was born in Canton, Ohio, U.S.A., on 17 October 1908 to Roman Catholic parents. A few years later his family moved to San Bernadino, California, where he attended school. While still a young man he was lured north to Alaska where he settled in Cordova and trained as a meteorologist. After completing his training, he travelled to all the weather stations throughout Alaska as a relief meteorologist.
While stationed at Point Barrow, he first heard about the Bah‡`’ Faith from a pioneer, Frances Wells.¹ She introduced me to Karl just before she left to pioneer once again, this time to Luxembourg. She suggested that I keep in touch with him and invite him to Bah‡`’ activities when he was in Anchorage. I discovered while talking with Karl that I had been binding his library collection on Alaska through the local book store. After that he brought his books directly to me. Dutifully, I sent him Bah‡`’ literature and notices while he manned weather stations out in the tundra. For my birthday, he sent his Bah‡`’ enrolment card. The next summer we were married.

Picture in Upper Right Corner with the Caption: Karl Donald Stettler

Karl was active on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Spenard and was a popular speaker and chairman for public meetings. He became the executive member of the Alaska National Book Sales Committee. Through him, the book sales were enlarged to include publications from Bah‡`’ publishers around the world. In 1960 he was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Alaska but in the same year the weather bureau sent him to Washington, D.C., for additional training in personnel work.
In 1970 Alaska was requested to send pioneers to Swaziland. Karl, myself and my daughter, Deanne, volunteered for this assignment. We became the first caretakers of the

¹ See `In Memoriam', The Bah‡`’ World, vol. XIII, p. 923.

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Leroy Ioas Institute at Mbabane. Karl was constantly working to improve the facilities.
During his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1973 Karl learned that George Ronald, Publisher, in England, could use his help. He had long nursed a desire to work at this publishing house for Marion Hofman. We moved to Oxford and lived in an apartment over the company's office. In this position Karl also worked for the Publishing Department of the Universal House of Justice.
In 1979 Karl's health forced him to give up this work to which he had devoted so much love. We returned to the United States and settled in Coos Bay, Oregon.
On 25 May 1979 the Universal House of Justice wrote to Karl, `On the occasion of your leaving the service of the Department of Publishing we take the opportunity of expressing to you our very warm thanks and commendation for the devoted services which you have rendered over the past few years. We are very happy that you and your dear wife have been able to visit the World Centre before going back to Oregon and we offer you both a very warm welcome. Your pioneering services in Africa are remembered by us and we are sure that wherever you may be you will continue to serve the Cause with steadfast devotion. We will offer prayers for you both at the Sacred Threshold.'
After a year's illness, Karl passed from this life on 7 October 1980. He was the first Bah‡`’ to be laid to rest in the Sunset Memorial Park in Coos Bay. On 21 October the Universal House of Justice cabled:

OUR LOVING SYMPATHY TO YOU LOSS KARL STEADFAST DEVOTED SERVANT BAHAULLAH.

Karl was a generous, loving, hospitable person and was happiest when our home was humming with Bah‡`’ activity. His quick wit made him many friends wherever he went. We miss you, Karl, but we know you are just as busy helping as before.

LUCILLE STETTLER

Picture in Upper Left Corner with the Caption: Alexe Cookson

ALEXE COOKSON
1918(?)-1980

GRIEVED LEARN PASSING DEVOTED MAIDSERVANT BAHAULLAH ALEXE COOKSON. ASSURE LOVING PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HER IMMORTAL SOUL KINGDOMS GOD. KINDLY CONVEY SYMPATHY FAMILY FRIENDS.

Universal House of Justice

Alexe Cookson was born on the Isle of Harris, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, about 1918. Completing her education at boarding-school, she trained as a nurse during World War II. In this period she married a New Zealand Air Force pilot. When peace was declared she emigrated to New Zealand with her young son. In 1964 Alexe became a Bah‡`’ in Wanganui. She tutored the hard of hearing, employment which enabled her to pioneer to the goal areas of New Plymouth and Nelson.
`To enumerate the many contributions Alexe made to the New Zealand community', friends have written, `would not be as Alexe herself would wish, as she was very self-effacing and humble, and saw herself only as a channel to

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serve the Cause of God; but among these were service on Local Spiritual Assemblies, pioneering, travel-teaching on the homefront and abroad, and service on committees. She was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly for ten years and was its secretary for eight, until her appointment as Auxiliary Board member for protection in 1978.' It was during this time that her fullest and richest service was rendered, based as it was on a depth of knowledge of the principles of Bah‡`’ administration combined with her natural capacity for winning the confidence of the friends and of tendering them advice and guidance.
In an entry in her diary in 1949 Alexe confided her concern for her children who were born of parents of different races: `Miscegenation is not an easy thing and sometimes I am hurt to the quick by what people say and sometimes I wonder "What have I done? Have I harmed these children? They are neither Celt nor Maori. As they grow up will the social distinctions--and they are quite definite--embitter them, influence them? So many problems! May God help us . . ."' Sorrow was changed to joy when she discovered the Revelation of Bah‡`u'll‡h. Alexe later wrote: `Well, God did help and heaped the mercy and bounty of recognizing Bah‡`u'll‡h on my heart and the words of `Abdu'l-Bah‡ were sweet to my eyes, The lovers of mankind, these are the superior men, of whatever race, creed or colour they may be. To have been able to share the dignity, the wisdom, the love of these words with my children was the greatest moment of my life.'
Alexe worked tirelessly all through the years to bring the message of Bah‡`u'll‡h to the Maori people. She had a great respect and love for them and prayed that this noble race would respond wholeheartedly to the Bah‡`’ Cause. She wrote and published Te Marama (The Light), a simplified introduction to the Faith which reflected her love for the Cause of Bah‡`u'll‡h and the Maori people.
In June 1980 she was enabled to make a brief visit to the Holy Land and finally she returned to her native highlands and the relatives of her youth. On 11 October 1980, shortly before she was due to come home to New Zealand, she died at Fort William, Scotland, and is buried at Kilmarcie Cemetery. She is remembered for her very strong sense of humour, her sense of justice and keenness of mind. On 12 October the Continental Board of Counsellors in Australia in its cable to the International Teaching Centre made reference to the GREAT LOSS PROTECTION BOARD OF THIS DEVOTED STEADFAST CONSECRATED MAIDSERVANT. In reply the International Teaching Centre cabled:

HOUSE OF JUSTICE AND TEACHING CENTRE SHARE YOUR DEEP GRIEF PASSING VALIANT DEVOTED MAIDSERVANT ALEXE COOKSON. WARMLY REMEMBER HER RECENT VISIT HOLY SHRINES. PLEASE INFORM HER FAMILY LOVING PRAYERS OFFERED PROGRESS HER SOUL AND THAT MANIFEST BLESSINGS OF BAHAULLAH BE SHOWERED UPON HER.

NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF
NEW ZEALAND

(assisted by IAN and JILL COOKSON)

SHAH BEHRAM MOBEDZADEH
(SHçH BAHRçM MòBIDZçDIH)
1901-1980

Shah Behram Mobedzadeh was an exemplary Bah‡`’--devout, self-sacrificing, sincere in his love for the friends and utterly devoted to the Faith. I first met him in Karachi in 1936. His face was spiritual, his eyes luminous, and his language was an exalted Persian, sweet and inspiring. I was strongly attracted to him at first sight. We met frequently thereafter. In all meetings he spoke of the Faith, its greatness and glorious history; and of `Abdu'l-Bah‡ and the beloved Guardian. He also spoke with great admiration of the early believers of India. It was my good fortune to travel in his company in 1975 and I availed myself of the opportunity of learning as much as I could of his life and of his record of service to the Cause of Bah‡`u'll‡h.
He was born on 25 January 1901 into a Zoroastrian family. His ancestors had been priests since the time of Zoroaster. His father, however, left his ancestral occupation and became an importer, trading in goods from India. Shah Behram was named by his father's sister who was reported to have said, during the naming ceremony, `God willing, he will

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live to see the Promised One foretold by Zoroaster, "Sh‡h Bahr‡m Varj‡vand" ("The Glory of God").' Shah Behram felt that her hope was fulfilled when he accepted the Faith of Bah‡`u'll‡h.

Picture in Upper Left Corner of Page with the Caption: Shah Behram Mobedzadeh

When he was sixteen Shah Behram was sent to the house of his sister in Isfah‡n in order to perfect his Persian. He learned of the Bah‡`’ Faith through the great teacher F‡dil Tihr‡n’ whose scholarship and good character deeply impressed him, and in 1925 he became a Bah‡`’.. `Immediately thereafter', Shah Behram told me, `I addressed a letter to the beloved Guardian expressing my utmost obedience and signed myself Shah Behram s/o (son of) Mobed Khuda Bux. Back came a reply in the name of Shah Behram Mobedzadeh. This will explain my surname "Mobedzadeh" which I accepted forthwith.'
In 1928 Shah Behram came to India with letters of introduction and worked in restaurants, first in Bombay and then in Calcutta, although for a few months he was penniless and near despair. In January 1932 he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and was privileged to be in the presence of Shoghi Effendi. Speaking of this experience later, Shah Behram remarked that the Guardian was so kind to everyone that each pilgrim felt that he had been singled out to be the recipient of a special measure of love, greater than that bestowed upon the others. `I cannot describe my parting from the beloved Guardian,' he said, `for my eyes were veiled with tears. He was filled with understanding and consoled me, emphasizing that I should meet the friends and impress upon them that nothing is more important than teaching and guiding seekers to the Cause. This I did both in India and êr‡n. Shoghi Effendi would ask me to chant and generously made a kind reference to me, saying that some Zoroastrian priests had accepted the Faith before me, but that I was the first among them to espouse it openly.'
Shah Behram henceforth became a tireless worker for the Faith--travelling, encouraging, inspiring. In 1947 he married Ridv‡n Kh‡num, the daughter of the distinguished Behman Behi, whose entire life had been devoted to the Faith. In 1945 she became caretaker of the children's hostel in Panchgani. The original hostel which housed twelve children grew to become the New Era High School where Ridv‡n continues to serve as superintendent. In 1964 Shah Behram was appointed a member of the Auxiliary Board and in this capacity travelled all over India. In his seventy-fifth year he remarked, `I do not feel the sting of age. I derive inspiration from the example of the late Hand of the Cause Tar‡zu'll‡h Samandar’ who even in his nineties travelled in service to the Faith like a young man. I know that there is only one joy in life--to surrender everything to Bah‡`u'll‡h, to live for Him and die for Him.'
During the last two years of his life he was often confined to bed but in spirit he was always preparing to travel and was full of plans to advance the work of the Faith. He spoke only of the greatness of the Cause, the lives of the martyrs, the services of the Hands of the Cause of God, and described interesting and inspiring situations that arose in his lifetime. On 17 October 1980 he bade farewell to all and started his journey in the world of immortals. The Universal House of Justice paid him a glowing tribute in its cable of 23 October:

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GRIEVED PASSING STEADFAST DEVOTED PROMOTER CAUSE SHAH BEHRAM MOBEDZADEH. HIS DECADES UNINTERRUPTED UNFORGETTABLE SERVICES CAUSE CONTRIBUTED STRENGTHENING FOUNDATION FAITH INDIA. OURSELVES AND MEMBERS INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CENTRE PRAYING ARDENTLY HOLY SHRINES BESEECH PROGRESS HIS SOUL ABHA KINGDOM. CONVEY WIFE FRIENDS OUR SYMPATHY. ADVISE HOLD BEFITTING MEMORIAL GATHERINGS.

(Based on a memoir by DIPCHAND KHIANRA)

LEONORA STIRLING ARMSTRONG
1895-1980

Rio de Janeiro: At dawn on 1 February 1921, the S.S. Vasari plowed through sparkling waters into the majestic harbor. Below deck, in second-class accommodation, watching, stood an attractive, cultured young woman, a lone American. In her heart she nourished the vision of an unspeakably glorious mission, the spread of the Light of God in this day to an entire continent. In her purse, all her savings, barely enough for two weeks' modest expenses. No friends in the city, no job. She spoke no Portuguese. Odd circumstances for one who so readily confessed a lack of self-confidence. Clearly her reliance was placed elsewhere.

Panama City: Half a century later at an international conference held in connection with the dedication of the first Bah‡`’ House of Worship in Latin America, this same slight and soft-spoken woman--Leonora Stirling Armstrong--was presented to the thousands of believers gathered there. Spontaneously they rose to pay tribute to her achievements. What emotions must have surged within her weakened frame, now bent with long toil, as she surveyed these children of her dream. For here were fervent followers of Bah‡`u'll‡h raised up from every country of Latin America, of every color, clime and custom. Here was her vision made real; like Saint Peter she cast the seeds, and now witnessed a heavenly harvest. Heartbreaks and anxiety; aches, pains and fevers--how they all took on divine meaning.

* * *

Picture in Upper Right Corner with the Caption: Leonora Stirling Armstrong

On 23 June 1895, in a pleasant two-story house, high on a rise overlooking the Hudson River and the Catskill range beyond, a first child was born to Samuel Norris Holsapple and his beautiful wife, Grace Stirling. They named her Leonora. The Holsapples were well-known in the then little town of Hudson, New York, where they had settled after their marriage. The gifted Mrs. Holsapple served actively in civic work, and had taught school. The childhood of Leonora was, however, soon overshadowed with tragedy and sadness, for her mother's health steadily declined. Just after her precious daughter's fifth birthday she died.
Mrs. Holsapple's untimely death had a profound effect on Leonora and her younger sister, Alethe. They never again had what could truly be called a home. `How we could endure', Leonora herself recounts, `through those years of our childhood and adolescence, such loneliness, such suffering, even cruelty, I do not know . . . I can remember how when still a small child, often at night before going to bed, I knelt down at my sister's bedside and in agony of soul, implored God with all the intensity of my being to let us feel His Presence, His nearness, His protection. Little

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did I then dream in what way, and how specifically, that prayer was later to be answered!'¹
Despite her suffering Leonora was a gifted student all through her childhood. In her high school graduating class she received the highest honors and was made valedictorian. She was able to enter Cornell University on a scholarship and was elected Phi Beta Kappa in her junior year.
Though she attended church from an early age, Leonora was somewhat disillusioned by what she experienced there. When she was about thirteen her maternal grandmother, `Mother Stirling', who had by then after long years of spiritual searching found and embraced the Bah‡`’ Faith, first began to teach her granddaughters the truths of the New Day. The example of Mother Stirling's devotion and many efforts to spread the Bah‡`’ teachings made a lasting impression on Leonora's sensitive nature. She was greatly attracted to the new Revelation and began to memorize passages and prayers from the Writings. Already at that time she made her own efforts to share the Message with her classmates and friends.
After graduation from college she taught Latin in high schools and was active in social work as her mother and grandmother had been before her. During this period she came in close contact with a number of prominent early believers, among them the Obers and, in particular, May Maxwell. `May, more than anyone else, helped me to feel the great love of Bah‡`u'll‡h and `Abdu'l-Bah‡, the reality of love, which I had longed to feel, and a deep bond was formed between us, which gave me the greatest joy I had known.'² Others, too, such as Roy Wilhelm and the Kinneys, inspired her with their immense devotion to the Faith.
The desire to pioneer first stirred in Leonora's soul when `Abdu'l-Bah‡'s Tablets of the Divine Plan were unveiled at the Bah‡`’ Convention held in New York in 1919. Spontaneously, and at once, she wrote to the Master, offering herself in service. Thou hadst, was His reply, expressed thy great wish to be of service to the Divine Threshold and to heal the infirm with the Divine Panacea--the infirm who is afflicted with passion and self. Spiritual malady is more severe than physical illness for it may be that the latter may be converted by the least remedy into health and vigor, while the former will not be cured by a thousand well-known remedies . . . My hope is that thou mayest become a spiritual physician.³
As Leonora recounts it: `This hope of the Master's became my highest aspiration and when, early in 1920, I read His Tablet to Martha Root, commending her teaching work in South America and stressing the importance of its being followed up by others, it at once seemed to me that here there might be a definite task for me. A letter to Martha brought an immediate reply, with all encouragement.'⁴ Martha Root had opened South America with her historic visit there in 1919. Her response to Leonora was whole-hearted. She shared thrilling accounts of her experiences and gave her young recruit a copy of her own diary notes from that period. Brazil was finally decided on as the best place to go first.
The grave concerns of relatives and friends alike now assailed her: to expose herself to the dangers and rigors of such a far-off country, much of it a jungle, alone, friendless, and without knowledge of the language--why it was nothing less than foolhardy! `I felt my resolution weakening, when some social work in the northern part of New York State gave me the sudden idea to slip up to Montreal to consult May Maxwell. Although ill, May, on hearing the situation, sat upright in bed and in ringing tones which still vibrate in my memory, said, "Leonora, what are you waiting for? Go!" "I will take the next boat," I replied.'⁵
And so it was that on 15 January 1921 she set sail from New York on a divine adventure destined to span no less than sixty years. In doing so, she became one of a handful of valiant souls who arose in response to `Abdu'l-Bah‡'s call during His Own lifetime, and the first Bah‡`’ pioneer to settle permanently in Latin America.
Had not the Master promised confirmation to those souls who, like unto Peter and Paul, would journey to South America with the requisite qualities of `perfect severance, devotion, firmness and steadfastness in the Covenant'?⁶ Leonora knew this meant severance

¹ Unpublished memoirs.
² ibid.
³ Tablet of `Abdu'l-Bah‡, Bah‡`’ International Archives.
⁴ Unpublished memoirs.
⁵ ibid.
⁶ ibid.

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from dearest friends, comforts, profession, from everything . . .'¹ Martha Root had herself impressed this upon her. And now she was to be surrounded and sustained by such divine confirmations.
Leonora's original intention had been to proceed from Rio to Bahia, the northeastern city mentioned by `Abdu'l-Bah‡ in the Tablets of the Divine Plan--the only city so blessed in the southern hemisphere. But the way opened shortly after her arrival in Rio to teach the Faith in Santos to the south. There she stayed with a family who, in a letter to Martha Root, had expressed interest in knowing more about the Faith. Her quarters were very humble but it was a start.
Life in her land of spiritual adoption was never easy. She often suffered from loneliness, meagre means, malnutrition and illness. Gradually as she became proficient in the Portuguese language, she was better able to support herself. Still, it required long working hours, sometimes at several jobs just to keep body and soul together. She found teaching English, which was the main avenue open to her, to be a valuable way of meeting people and interesting them in the Faith.
Just three months after settling in Santos, Leonora learned of the loss of her beloved grandmother, the spiritual mother of her heart. Later that same year a profounder grief overtook her when news came of the passing of `Abdu'l-Bah‡. She had so intensely longed to meet Him in this life. Providentially, from Bahj’ in June 1921, `Abdu'l-Bah‡ had revealed a second Tablet for her. This Tablet became a source of great comfort to her not only in that time of tragedy but throughout the long years ahead. The Master had addressed the envelope simply: `Brazil. To the Maidservant of God, Leonora Stirling Holsapple.' Amazingly it reached her, as the Master no doubt knew it would. In the text He refers to Leonora as a Herald of the Kingdom, calls upon her to thank God that thou hast enlightened thy sight, and art giving light to the sight of others, too, refers by name to a number of seekers, and promises that the intoxicated friends will grow in rapture and ecstasy, begin to break into melodies and harmonies and raise such a tune that will reach the Supreme Concourse and rejoice and exhilarate the holy ones. He, likewise, advises her to say that the entering into this Divine Cause is accompanied by everlasting honor and eternal sovereignty.²
`Soon the beloved Guardian's messages began to reach me, urging me never to become discouraged, rather to redouble my efforts, and guiding me with his unfailing wisdom.'³ Indeed, throughout his ministry Shoghi Effendi's esteem for her and her services was clearly evident. His love for her and his warm encouragement of her work lasted till the end of his life and are recorded in the tender words he addressed to her in many letters: `I feel deeply attached to your work.'⁴ `Your name I assure you will adorn the annals of the Cause and will inspire many a Bah‡`’ pioneer in future. You cannot realize the splendour and significance of the work you are doing at present.'⁵ `I will pray that you may be guided and fortified by the spirit of our beloved Master Who I am sure is guiding you, watching over you and sustaining you in your labours. Persevere and never lose heart.'⁶
A survey of Leonora Armstrong's tireless pioneer activities must necessarily span six decades of continual service. Her achievements marked a high tide of human endeavor. Whether in her constant teaching of individuals, her historic travels, the publicity she garnered for the Cause wherever she went, her herculean labor of translating, publishing and disseminating Bah‡`’ literature both in Portuguese and Spanish, her work in spreading the Message through correspondence, or her eventual material contributions to the community, she stands out eminently distinguished. Through the years she also engaged in social service whenever possible, and became known in the press as the `Nurse of the Poor'.
The first decade of these activities is marked by extraordinary travels. Twice during the ten years, her father sent funds for a return visit to New York. By careful economy she was able to visit many places along the way. By sailing

¹ Unpublished memoirs.
² Tablet of `Abdu'l-Bah‡, Bah‡`’ International Archives.
³ Unpublished memoirs.
⁴ From a handwritten postscript of Shoghi Effendi in a letter written to Leonora Holsapple, 30 July 1932.
⁵ From a handwritten postscript of Shoghi Effendi in a letter written to Leonora Holsapple, 18 August 1927.
⁶ From a handwritten postscript of Shoghi Effendi in a letter written to Leonora Holsapple, 5 April 1930.

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third class, she included countries not on her route. In this way she was able to emblazon the Cause of God in city after city up the Brazilian coast, into the heartland of the Amazon basin, and throughout the Caribbean Sea. Between these travels she raised the banner of the Faith in Sao Paulo, in Rio and particularly in Bahia through extended stays. A number of souls were attracted to the beauty of the Teachings. Alone in Manaus on the Amazon River, to cite one instance, during a short visit she proclaimed the Faith to 3,400 souls in public meetings and school gatherings.
In 1927 she became the first Bah‡`’ to visit and speak of the Cause in Colombia, Venezuela, Curaco, Trinidad, Barbados, Haiti, British Guiana and Dutch Guiana, thus complimenting and completing Martha Root's unfulfilled intention of raising the Call of God in all the Latin American countries. The visits of this pure. self-effacing soul, so modest in her personal life, were, paradoxically, always amply reported in the press. And she often enjoyed the spontaneous cooperation and support of various organizations in arranging public meetings. All this occurred in some places within hours of her arrival!
During her stay in Santos Leonora began her prodigious and historic task of translating Bah‡`’ literature into Portuguese; at first it was a simple pamphlet to distribute at her talks--often typed over and over on her small portable typewriter--later, as her skills developed, an intense outpouring of the major works of the Faith. In the end she had rendered into Portuguese a wide range of literature, and for several decades, under the guidance and with the generous assistance of Shoghi Effendi, had personally seen to its publication. When a Bah‡`’ Publishing Trust was founded in Rio, and the National Spiritual Assembly of Brazil came into being in 1961, she worked closely with these institutions, adding such long and weighty works as God Passes By and The Dawn-Breakers to her already highly-distinguished record of accomplishments.
By the late 1920s, having made many contacts in Spanish-speaking countries, Leonora was increasingly concerned with producing adequate Spanish translations as well. She decided to proceed to Spain for a course of study in the University of Madrid to better equip herself. In July 1930 she boarded a French ship which first took her to several ports of call in West Africa and then to Barcelona. As always she taught along the way. From Barcelona she proceeded to Madrid where through her efforts she was able to found the first Bah‡`’ group of Spain. As she fell seriously ill for a time, she was unable to enter the course at the University and shortly felt inspired to ask the Guardian for permission to come to the Holy Land and visit the Bah‡`’ Holy Places. He cabled her MOST WELCOME on 2 November 1930.¹ Leonora describes how, when meeting Shoghi Effendi, she `was awed, overwhelmed, by the spiritual majesty of his presence, his love, his purity'.² She frequently visited the Holy Shrines to pour out her heart in prayer. She had the immense privilege of meeting Bah’yyih Kh‡num, the beloved sister of `Abdu'l-Bah‡ on several occasions. `On the day set for my departure, the Greatest Holy Leaf was siting near the door and I knelt down before her in tears, while she gently, lovingly, stroked my head.'³ In saying good-bye, Shoghi Effendi emphasized that `of first importance is the direct teaching work, second in importance is the translation, and third social service, if you have time for it.'⁴
During the 1930s more travelling teachers visited South America and additional pioneer settlers gradually strengthened the work Leonora had begun. This was especially so after the launching of the first American Seven Year Plan in 1937 which aimed at the systematic spread of the Faith throughout Latin America.
For Leonora these visits reached their culmination when her beloved May Maxwell traveled to South America in February 1940. They were able to spend some wonderful days together in Rio, and then Mrs. Maxwell went on to Argentina, with the intention of visiting Bahia on her return trip. Leonora went home to Bahia to prepare for this visit, only to be met upon her arrival with the tragic news of May Maxwell's passing in Buenos Aires. She was able to attend the funeral and through this

¹ Cablegram of Shoghi Effendi, 2 November 1930, Bah‡`’ International Archives.
² Unpublished memoirs.
³ ibid.
⁴ ibid.

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visit came in contact with the handful of Bah‡`’s in Buenos Aires and Montevideo.
The following year, 1941, Leonora married an Englishman, Harold Armstrong, whom she had known for some time. He was destined to support and comfort her through the years ahead in her unceasing Bah‡`’ services. During the next two decades Leonora and her husband lived in various places in Brazil and raised several adopted children. In 1946 she helped form the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Rio itself. During the 1950s she spent much time at their farm outside Rio, and continued her important translation work. At this time she added Braille to her skills and undertook the transcription and distribution of Bah‡`’ literature in Portuguese Braille.
In 1961 the first National Spiritual Assembly of Brazil was established. Leonora could now rest assured that all the activities she had begun would be consolidated and perpetuated. One might have thought her work was drawing to a close, passed to the hands of the many capable younger believers. The crowning labors of Leonora's sixty years of international service, however, were still ahead. For it was in June of 1973 that the Universal House of Justice appointed her to membership on the Continental Board of Counselors in South America. Characteristically overwhelmed, and apprehensive regarding her own inadequacies, she nevertheless flew off to her first meeting with that Board in Lima, Peru. From the outset it was clear that the spiritual influence of direct contact with her fellow-believers in the various lands she would visit was to be far-reaching. During those first memorable meetings in Lima, young and old literally sat at her feet imbibing the radiant love, the immense tenderness, which flowed forth in waves of healing from her whole being. It was always a spiritual feast to be with her. She seemed to move in the shadow of her Guardian, and one always felt him close in her presence.
Among the joyful events of Leonora's latter years were the visits to Latin America made by the Hand of the Cause, Amatu'l-Bah‡ Rœh’yyih Kh‡num, the Guardian's widow, and the daughter of May and Sutherland Maxwell. It was in her presence, in April 1971, at the time of the dedication of the Mother Temple of Latin America in Panama, that the homage mentioned earlier, was paid to Leonora. On the several occasions that Amatu'l-Bah‡ visited Brazil, they spent as much time together as possible. Rœh’yyih Kh‡num recollects a little of their long association in the following words: `When Leonora went to South America she was over twenty-five years old and I was fifteen years younger. My first vivid recollection of her was when, on one of her return visits to America in the 1920s, she came to the hotel in New York where my mother and I were staying; she was tall and slender with brown hair, a sallow complexion and droopy brown eyes in which was an expression of sincerity, of purpose and purity of spirit. Her personality seemed to have united the tenacity of Martha Root with an unsureness of herself which she constantly overcame through her complete consecration to serving the Faith. I must have seen her many times before this, because she and my mother had a profound bond of love and I loved her too. Mother always took a keen personal interest in people and was very generous; she disapproved of Leonora's wardrobe and insisted that at her expense she go buy some summer frocks and other things. The only other intimate thing I remember about those hours we had together was her description of how she had been living--at least in the beginning--in the home of a family in a single room which had no doors or windows except one big door that opened onto the garden; she was greatly disturbed by two things, the huge cockroaches that crawled across the ceiling and sometimes fell on her in bed in the night, and the fact that she had an unwelcome admirer who would come into the garden and heave huge bouquets through the open door as a tribute to his would-be lady love. When she closed the door, in that tropical heat, she suffocated!
`Shoghi Effendi considered Leonora as one of the Faith's outstanding and most distinguished believers in the West, he never forgot the great historic significance of her arising to pioneer in Latin America before the passing of `Abdu'l-Bah‡, and in his letters to her he warmly praised her exemplary and ceaseless services, in which he took a keen interest.
`Our friendship, strong and deep in both our lives, was renewed and reinforced on the rare but prized occasions when we met during my visits to Latin America and spent as much

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time together as my schedule permitted; the last time was at the meeting of the South American Counselors in Lima, Peru, at the end of the Green Light Expedition in 1975; always we would talk about my mother--our greatest mutual bond.
`The study of such a life as Leonora's, a life of complete consecration to Bah‡`u'll‡h and His teachings, a life of ceaseless work which lasted till a few hours before her passing at the age of eighty-five, a life in which it never even occurred to Leonora that she was sacrificing--such a life is a manual for every generation of Bah‡`’s to study and presents an enduring challenge to all those who would follow in her footsteps.'
Seven years of service were left to Leonora after she was appointed a Counselor. Her back somewhat humped, bent by years and years of translation and typing, literally often day and night, her neck stiff and increasingly painful, the valiant and indomitable Leonora, far from relaxing her efforts, extended her activities and travels immensely. Her husband had already passed away and between her trips she was able to concentrate long hours on the translation work. Gradually, however, her health began to fail. A serious illness finally confined her to bed, and during her last months she was moved to Bahia--the city where she had labored so arduously to establish the Faith sixty years before, a city now boasting ten thousand believers. Here the friends lovingly ministered to her last needs. Even in the final week of her life she rallied her strength for one last outpouring. Propped up in her bed she wrote out a translation of the newly-arrived English version of Bah‡`u'll‡h's Long Healing Prayer and of the Fire Tablet--a final legacy for her many spiritual children.
The longing for service came to her young. The vastness of Latin America was the arena of her sacrifice. There she poured forth her life, and having given up the world, she gained the Kingdom. At the end she was incarnate light. Even before she slipped from her earthly vesture, the unearthly radiance of her inner being surrounded those attending her. On 17 October 1980 her precious spirit quietly took flight to its celestial Source.
The Universal House of Justice promptly cabled the following tribute:

HEARTS SADDENED PASSING DISTINGUISHED COUNSELOR LEONORA STIRLING ARMSTRONG HERALD OF THE KINGDOM BELOVED HANDMAIDEN ABDULBAHA SPIRITUAL MOTHER SOUTH AMERICA. HER SIXTY YEARS VALIANT DEVOTED SERVICES CAUSE BRAZIL SHEDS LUSTRE ANNALS FAITH THAT PROMISING LAND. REQUESTING MEMORIAL SERVICES MASHRIQULADHKARS WILMETTE PANAMA URGE ALL COMMUNITIES BRAZIL LIKEWISE HOLD SERVICES. OFFERING ARDENT SUPPLICATIONS MOST HOLY SHRINE PROGRESS HER RADIANT SPIRIT ABHA KINGDOM.

HOOPER C. DUNBAR

LORETTA L. SCHERER
1907-1980

CARL A. SCHERER
1900-1982
Knights of Bah‡`u'll‡h

EXPRESS LOVING SYMPATHY LOSS YOUR DEAR PARTNER KNIGHT BAHAULLAH LORETTA SCHERER. YOUR JOINT SERVICES ENGRAVED ANNALS BELOVED GUARDIANS GREAT CRUSADE. ASSURE PRAYERS SACRED THRESHOLD PROGRESS HER SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.

Universal House of Justice
31 October 1980

SADDENED LEARN PASSING DEVOTED SERVANT CARL SCHERER KNIGHT BAHAULLAH MACAO. OFFERING ARDENT PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS SOUL KINGDOMS GOD.

Universal House of Justice
14 October 1982

Dad will always be remembered for his devotion, for his indefatigable travelling in the service of the Blessed Beauty, for his love for all races, for his patience and gentleness, and for his love of music and violin-making. He was born on 7 March 1900, the third of four children of Robert W. and Ida (Koch) Scherer, in New Ulm, Minnesota, U.S.A.
Mother will always be remembered for her kindness, her tireless devoted service to everyone, her consecrated promotion and protection of the Cause of God and for her beautiful smile. She considered unimportant her pre-

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Picture in Upper Left Corner with the Caption:
Loretta L. Scherer
Carl A. Scherer

Bah‡`’ life, but for the history books let me state that she was born on 8 December 1907 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the fourth of twelve children of Herman and Elsie (Lyman) Bremer. She married Dad on 28 February 1925. I was born on 22 September 1929, their only child.
We travelled and moved many times as my father was a salesman. From 1931 until 1936 we lived in China where Dad worked for the Texas Oil Company. Mother enjoyed horseback riding and acting in the theatre at this time. But always we gravitated back to Milwaukee where most of our family lived. Mrs. Florence Petersen, who was to become my mother-in-law, heard of the Bah‡`’ Faith first. Within six months she and her husband, Charles, and their son Glenn and I, became Bah‡`’s in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, on 12 January 1949. Glenn and I were married in August of that year and moved to Madison where Glenn was finishing his last year at the University of Wisconsin. We came back to Wauwatosa to visit in November, and what a beautiful surprise--my parents had just become Bah‡`’s and were present at the Feast. It was the happiest feeling being part of an entirely Bah‡`’ family.
When the Ten Year Crusade was launched in 1953, Mother and Dad volunteered to pioneer to Macao, for which service they were named Knights of Bah‡`u'll‡h.¹ Dad was appointed an Auxiliary Board member in 1954. Sometimes Mother travelled with him and sometimes she held down the homefront in Macao where they helped raise a Local Spiritual Assembly. She and Dad attended the Teaching Conference in Nikko, Japan, in September 1955 and both may be seen in the conference photograph, a copy of which hangs in the Mansion of Bahj’.
In 1958 Mother and Dad returned to the United States and lived for a short time in Shorewood, Wisconsin. Then, in 1959, they pioneered again, this time to Portugal. They lived in Lisbon for a short while and finally settled in Sintra (formerly Cintra) where they helped form a Local Spiritual Assembly. They made teaching trips to Faro, Portinao and Espina. Dad was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Portugal and had the privilege of voting for the members of the first Universal House of Justice. He voted by mail as he was unable to afford to travel to the Holy Land. Dad was very sick in January 1963 and, with their work completed in Portugal, they attended the London Conference in April 1963 on their way home to Milwaukee.
Their longing to be of service resulted in their winging their way, in 1970, to Funchal, Madeira, where they served with Ed Bode.² In March 1973 they went back to Macao, stopping in Haifa for pilgrimage. Mother's poor health and the difficulty of finding accommodation they could afford in Macao forced their return to the United States in June 1973. Here they settled in Burlington, Wisconsin, a homefront goal city. Mother suffered a cerebral haemorrhage on 1 October 1980. The Hand of the Cause Dhikru'll‡h Kh‡dem chanted prayers at her sick-bed. On 30 October she passed on and was buried in the Burlington Cemetery. On 10 October 1982 Dad died of congestive heart failure and was buried next to Mother. I thank God for my beautiful and extraordinary parents who have shown forth pure and holy deeds. Al-

¹ Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bah‡`’ World, p. 57.
² See `In Memoriam', The Bah‡`’ World, vol. XVI, p. 566.

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most everywhere they lived, even before they became Bah‡`’s, now seems to be blessed with a flourishing Bah‡`’ community. They lived in New Ulm, Minnesota; Milwaukee, Shorewood, Wauwatosa, Wausau and Burlington, Wisconsin; Austin, Texas; Kingston, Jamaica; Shanghai and Tsingtao, China; Mukden (now in Russia); Charlotte, North Carolina; Mechanicsburg No. 3, Pennsylvania; Evanston, Illinois; Macao; Sintra, Portugal and Funchal, Madeira. If it is true that the presence of pure and detached souls in a community attracts divine bounties, might we not confidently expect that Burlington, Wisconsin, Funchal, Shanghai, Tsingtao and Mukden will in time be abundantly showered with substantial blessings?

DOROTHY VIRGINIA (SCHERER) PETERSEN

HAROLD SHEPHERD
1909-1980

Harold Shepherd passed to the Abh‡ Kingdom on 13 November 1980 at his home in the Orkney Islands. The National Spiritual Assembly cabled the World Centre:

GRIEVED NEWS PASSING LAST NIGHT STALWART SERVANT BAHAULLAH HAROLD SHEPHERD. HIS STEADFASTNESS UNWAVERING LOYALTY LONG-STANDING PIONEER RECORD LABOURS ESTABLISHMENT CAUSE GOD SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS MADE HIM VITAL INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT FAITH ISLANDS NORTH SEA EARNED HIM GRATITUDE BRITISH BAHAI COMMUNITY. FAITHFULLY HE REMAINED AT HIS IMPORTANT PIONEER OUTPOST ORKNEYS UNTIL HE HASTENED ABHA KINGDOM. BESEECH PRAYERS PROGRESS HIS VALIANT SOUL.

Harold became a Bah‡`’ in October 1956. At the National Teaching Conference in Blackpool in January 1959 he and his family volunteered to pioneer to Iverness in the Scottish Highlands, the most northerly British goal town of the beloved Guardian's Ten Year Crusade. Harold, his wife and their two children, aged nine and eleven, spent the Easter holiday that year on a campsite on the outskirts of the town, waking up on the first morning to find the tent surrounded by snow. All doors seemed to be closed as neither accommodation nor employment could be found. They returned to Manchester but returned to Iverness in July intending to devote their summer holiday to attempting to get settled. Their faith was rewarded: within a week they had acquired a house that was to become a real Bah‡`’ home for countless pioneers, travelling teachers and friends, and would later become the `gateway to the islands', as most of the Bah‡`’s who travelled to the Western Isles, Orkneys and Shetlands passed through Iverness. It was virtually impossible for Harold, already in his fifties, to find work so he took on the task of running the home while his wife, Betty, worked full time as a teacher. Thus began twenty-two years of continuous, active service to the Cause of Bah‡`u'll‡h.
When Harold was serving on the Scottish Teaching Committee a project was developed under which Bah‡`’s of independent means spent three-month periods in Orkney. Harold purchased `Little Gorse Cottage' to further that project and that house, too, became a home for many pioneers and travelling teachers.

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The fruit of their pioneering was the establishment of a strong Local Spiritual Assembly in Iverness. This accomplished, Betty and Harold, in September 1972, pioneered to Uganda where Betty could bring her professional knowledge and experience to the running of Claire Gung's kindergarten. Harold had already suffered a heart attack before leaving for Africa but this did not prevent him from fulfilling his pledge. He was soon appointed to the committee charged with the care of Bah‡`’ properties which included two Bah‡`’ schools and three teaching institutes in different districts, as well as the House of Worship and Haz’ratu'l-Quds on Kikaaya Hill in Kampala. He became the vital force, together with Stuart Rhodes from the United States, in renovating the House of Worship. On an occasion when thieves broke into Claire Gung's kindergarten¹ Harold was wounded in his efforts to protect Miss Gung. Only a providential fall over a roll of carpet protected him from fatal injury, as the knife, or panga, had been aimed at his head.
In February 1976 Harold's health deteriorated and he returned to Iverness alone, as Betty could not at that time leave `Auntie' Claire to cope unaided at the kindergarten. They had intended to meet again at the Nairobi Conference in October. This separation was possibly Harold's greatest sacrifice for he had always been part of a family team. He did not return to Africa. In May of that year he had another heart attack which brought Betty back to Scotland. Later in 1976, when he recovered, they pioneered to the Orkney Islands, a post they had offered to fill in 1972 as a possible alternative to Uganda. Harold became the chairman of the Orkney Local Spiritual Assembly, an institution for whose establishment he had worked so hard in earlier years. Even as his health deteriorated Harold offered unwavering support to Betty in her service as a member of the Auxiliary Board for Propagation in Scotland.
Harold Shepherd's life was dedicated entirely to serving Bah‡`u'll‡h. Though not young when he embraced the Cause, he learned by heart numerous Tablets and prayers; they were his spiritual food. He was the embodiment of worship and of service. The harvest of his labours is evident in the development of the Faith throughout the north of Scotland and the Scottish Islands, and he had his own special part to play in service to the Faith in Uganda. On 17 November 1980 the Universal House of Justice cabled:

PASSING DEVOTED SERVANT BAHAULLAH HAROLD SHEPHERD DEPRIVES BRITISH COMMUNITY OUTSTANDING VETERAN BELIEVER WHOSE DEDICATED SERVICES ASSOCIATED HISTORIC EPISODES AFRICA PROJECT TEN YEAR CRUSADE. FIRM ESTABLISHMENT FAITH SCOTLAND ORKNEYS. COMMUNITY COMPENSATED HIS UNFLAGGING DEDICATION BRILLIANT EXAMPLE RISING GENERATION. EXTEND LOVING SYMPATHY MEMBERS FAMILY ASSURE PRAYERS SACRED THRESHOLD PROGRESS HIS SOUL.

(Adapted from a memoir in Bah‡`’ Monthly News Service, United Kingdom, February 1981)

SOLOMON KAHALOA
1932-1980

It is impossible to speak of Solomon Kahaloa--known as `Sol' to his many friends--without speaking of his family, for it was as a family that they served the Cause of Bah‡`u'll‡h. One of Sol's sons was the first to accept the Faith through the teaching of various friends, including David Schreiber, the Knight of Bah‡`u'll‡h for the Leeward Islands, but in a very short time the entire family had embraced it and begun to serve actively on their home island of Hawaii in the State of Hawaii.
The Kahaloa family, drawing strength from Sol, was instrumental in forming the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Puna, Hawaii. An old-fashioned house raising, in which Bah‡`’s from all over the Island took part, provided the first Bah‡`’ Center for the Puna community. It was situated, as is the present Center, on land donated by Sol. He was well-known in Hawaii, and later on Guam, for his Hawaiian luaus, complete with kalua (or pit-roasted) pig and Hawaiian music. One of these events was the scene of the declaration of twenty-six souls including some tourists

¹ See p. 209.

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Picture in the Upper Left Corner with the Caption: Solomon Kahaloa

from passing buses. Sol had arranged a hukilau (an outdoor feast at which a large fishing net attached to a long rope is placed in and then pulled from the sea). As these visitors to Hawaii assisted in hauling in the rope they were themselves drawn into the ocean of the Most Great Remembrance.
In the early 1970s the Kahaloa family moved to South Hilo on the Big Island where they rented a large house for the purpose of attracting and teaching youth about Hawaiian arts and crafts as well as introducing them to the Bah‡`’ Faith. They worked tirelessly before, during and after the 1974 Bah‡`’ International Youth Conference, an event still warmly remembered there and around the world by Bah‡`’s and non-Bah‡`’s alike.
Guam, a goal of the Hawaii Bah‡`’ community, has a sizeable population of Hawaiians, and the Kahaloas have relatives there. Those facts, and the desire to serve as pioneers, brought Sol, his wife, Emily, and their two youngest children, Bonnie and Sam, to the tiny southern village of Inarajan in 1975. The family immediately plunged into Bah‡`’ activities. Sol continued the tradition of preparing one of his famous luaus with its blend of physical and `spiritual' food. The family lived at first in an old wooden house near Inarajan Bay. A few months after settling into their home it and all their possessions were swept away by typhoon Pamela. With the assistance of their son, Greg, helpful friends and the Red Cross, the Kahaloas were moved into a small apartment a few miles further south. That apartment and two vacant ones became the site of a Bah‡`’ winter school later that year, and a nearby private beach owned by Sol's employer was made available for a Bah‡`’ youth camp-out, activities for which, as always, Sol and his family provided the food. Later they moved to Mangilao in the central part of Guam where their home again became a center for Bah‡`’ activity and the sharing of Hawaiian-style hospitality.
In 1980, at the request of the National Teaching Committee of the Mariana Islands, Sol made a trip to the small neighboring island of Rota. Emily met him at the airport upon his return. On the way to their home their vehicle was struck by another car, injuring both Emily and Sol. A few days later, on 1 December 1980, Sol succumbed to his injuries and pneumonia. During his last days he talked animatedly of the Rota teaching trip, the great potential for teaching the Faith there, and his plans to move his family to that island to spread the Message of Bah‡`u'll‡h. Throughout his years as a Bah‡`’ he gave open-handedly of his possessions, his kindliness, patience and love, and finally his life itself for the love of his Lord. He lived and died with the promise of Bah‡`u'll‡h . . . We behold you from Our realm of glory, and shall aid whomsoever will arise for the triumph of Our Cause with the host of the Concourse on high and a company of Our favored angels.¹ We, his co-workers who are left behind, joyfully trust that Sol has joined that favored company. The Universal House of Justice, in its cable of 4 December, gave voice to the thoughts of the Bah‡`’s of Hawaii and Guam:

GRIEVED LEARN PASSING SOLOMON KAHALOA DEVOTED PIONEER. ASSURE FAMILY FRIENDS ARDENT PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS SOUL.

RICHARD GRAHAM

¹ Gleanings from the Writings of Bah‡`u'll‡h, p. 139.

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Picture in Upper Left Corner with the Caption: `Ismat Vahdat

`ISMAT (ESMAT) VAHDAT
1900-1980

Mrs. `Ismat Vahdat, who was born and raised in êr‡n, was an example of devotion in her Bah‡`’ life. Her faith radiated from her face. She was always cheerful, confident and a source of comfort to the friends.
When, in 1943-1944, the beloved Guardian called for Iranian pioneers, she volunteered to go to `Ir‡q, although she was a single woman, having been widowed at an early age. When the government of `Ir‡q required the pioneers to leave that country she went to Tihr‡n to serve in the Education Centre, an institution that catered [sic] for Bah‡`’ orphans and needy children. Under her management the children had a very happy home. However, the Guardian's call for pioneers during the Ten Year Crusade again stirred her heart. She left Tihr‡n in 1955 or 1956 and after a brief visit to India pioneered to Indonesia where she moved from place to place as the need arose in order to be of use to the Bah‡`’ community.
From 1970 until her life ended on 9 December 1980 she served in the hostel for Bah‡`’ children in Mentawai in Padang. This institute was created in 1970 by the Hand of the Cause of God Rahmatu'll‡h Muh‡jir who had advised Mr. Manœchihr Tahm‡sibiy‡n, a young Persian pioneer in Thailand, to re-establish himself in Padang to manage the hostel. Mrs. Vahdat, who at that time lived in Java, was requested to settle in Padang in order to assist in developing the project. Her passion for the Faith of Bah‡`u'll‡h, her deep love of children and her experience in the Education Centre in Tihr‡n made her service in the hostel a blessing. Scores of the children of Mentawai and of other parts of Indonesia consider `Ismat Vahdat as their mother. When the news of her death reached the World Centre, the Universal House of Justice cabled on 22 December:

SADDENED NEWS PASSING STAUNCH STEADFAST DEVOTED PIONEER ESMAT VAHDAT. HER SACRIFICES PATH PIONEERING SERVICE FAITH OVER THREE DECADES HER MOTHERLY LOVE CARE BAHAI CHILDREN HOSTEL PADANG UNFORGETTABLE. OFFER ARDENT PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HER SOUL.

PEDRO VARGAS
1940-1980

Pedro Vargas, a Toba Indian, born on 7 August 1940 in Argentina, was among the first of his tribe to embrace the Bah‡`’ Faith and is to date the most distinguished of its followers among his people to have passed to the worlds beyond.
The first efforts to enrol the Tobas of the Chaco province of Argentina were undertaken immediately following the Continental Conference held in La Paz, Bolivia, in August 1970. In three successive projects more than one thousand people entered the Cause. The records of the first believers to accept the Faith in the locality of Makalle bear the name of Pedro's father, Vicente Vargas, who was well-known as a former tribal leader or cacique and as a pastor of a local evangelical church. Pedro was respected by his people as one of the `learned'. Like his father, he had served as pastor of an Indian church and was well versed in Christian scriptures. He was also knowledge-

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Picture in Upper Left Corner with the Caption: Pedro Vargas

able about the medicinal properties of the plants and herbs native to the Chaco and their application to various human ailments.
From the moment of his acceptance of the call of the New Day Pedro arose, first, to deepen his knowledge of the fundamental verities of the Bah‡`’ Faith, and then to travel and share it with his Toba brethren. Later, in response to the goals of the Nine Year Plan, he made the first translations of the Bah‡`’ Sacred Writings into the Toba language. Though the written form of Toba is still in its early stages of development and few members of the tribe are familiar with its use, Pedro could both read and write his native tongue. His translations include a selection of prayers, selections from The Hidden Words of Bah‡`u'll‡h, and `Unity in Diversity', one of `Abdu'l-Bah‡'s discourses from Paris Talks.
Among Pedro's accomplishments was his continual participation in teaching projects which were to raise the standard of Bah‡`u'll‡h throughout the Chaco area and bring His light to thousands of new souls. In 1972 he took part in the opening of the Miraflores reservation and continued until his death to nurture that community as a travelling teacher. In 1975 he joined the team that opened to the Faith the Bartholome de las Casas reservation in the province of Formosa. In 1977, at the invitation of the National Spiritual Assembly of Paraguay, he assisted in the enrolment of the first Toba believers in the locality of Cerrito near Asunci—n. The following year, accompanied by Francisco G—mez, he made an historic fifteen-day journey on foot into an area of the Chaco now known as `the impenetrable' because of its thick thorn forests, wandering riverbeds, bothersome mosquitoes and poisonous snakes. Pedro and his companion left Bah‡`’ literature along the way with those in the Toba settlements and with the white criollos who offered them water and kindness during their tortuous and wearisome journey.
Pedro served for a number of years as chairman of the Regional Teaching Committee and attended many Bah‡`’ conferences including the International Music Festival held in Rosario del Tala, Entre Rios, Argentina, in 1973 where he presented his Toba rendition of the Spanish hymn El es el Rey de los Reyes. He is also the author of a rendering, in the musical style and language of his people, of a portion of the Tablet of Ahmad as well as chants of the Greatest Name in Arabic, Spanish and Toba. He loved singing devotional music and possessed a rich musical voice, a recording of which is still in existence. He was a commanding speaker and often conducted study classes. I remember well an address that he gave in Makalle, his home town, on the subject `The Kingdom of God on Earth' which he based on the eleven principles enunciated by `Abdu'l-Bah‡ in Paris Talks. I was deeply impressed by his grasp of the true significance of the Bah‡`’ Revelation in relation to the establishment of the World Order of Bah‡`u'll‡h.
Suffering was one of Pedro's constant companions throughout his years as a Bah‡`’. Shortly after he accepted the Faith he lost his only infant daughter in an accident. Later on he suffered a paralysis of his lower extremities which he overcame after a long period of convalescence. At times, because of the harsh conditions encountered while travelling to deliver the message, he would experience great pain; nevertheless, he would only comment that whatever befell him was according to the wisdom of God. In the last year of his

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life Pedro and his family moved to the capital of Resistencia province where he hoped to find work that would allow him to travel regularly to surrounding areas on weekends. A local Centre had recently been constructed there and Pedro consented to live in it and extend hospitality to the Bah‡`’ visitors who arrived from time to time. He also contributed to the completion of the building. He had just finished repairing the windows and was about to begin constructing a porch when he passed away on 15 December 1980. The municipal employees who attended to the legal formalities asked who was this man--apparently poor and bereft of worldly goods--that so many people should have come to attend his funeral, a Bah‡`’ service. His fellow believers and Toba brethren wept tears of great sadness at the news of his passing.
One day when Pedro and I were discussing the difficulties some pioneers were having in adapting to their new post, Pedro remarked: `A pioneer is like a tree which has been transplanted to a new spot in the garden. Before the tree can take root again it must first shed all its old leaves. Only then will the new sprouts be forthcoming. You who are pioneers must pass through the same process. These friends are only shedding their old leaves.'
Now that Pedro himself has shed his earthly form, may God grant that the tree of his eternal being be adorned with fragrant leaves and blossoms in the Kingdom of Abh‡. His Bah‡`’ life was one of truly fruitful service and exemplary steadfastness in the early years of the Cause among the Toba people.

EUGENE DORNBROOK

MANòCHIHR HAKêM
1910-1981

Manœchihr Hak’m, son of Dr. Arastœ Hak’m, was born in Tihr‡n in 1910. After receiving elementary and secondary education at the Tarb’yat School, he studied medicine in France for the next nine years on a government grant. He completed a course in general medicine and specialized in teaching anatomy. He and his wife, Germaine, were married in 1938; they had two children, Paul and Christine.

Picture in Upper Right Corner with the Caption: Manœchihr Hak’m

He returned to êr‡n, served his term of conscription, and for two years worked at the University of Tihr‡n where he established a Chair of Anatomy. He returned to Paris where he took his degree at the Medical College and then won the agrŽgation for professorial rank in the Universities of France. Returning to êr‡n, he taught in the University of Tihr‡n for the next thirty years. He was renowned for his researches in anatomy, his discoveries being twice cited in Le RouviŽr, the standard work on the subject. His writings have become part of the textbooks used in many medical colleges. He was also well-known as a specialist in gastroenterology. In 1976 he was decorated by the French government with the LŽgion d'honneur for his humanitarian services. At the time of his death, Professor Hak’m had retired from the University of Tihr‡n and had been associated for several years with the work of the medical school of the National University of êr‡n.
Professor Hak’m was no less distinguished in his work for the Bah‡`’ Faith. Over a long period he was a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of êr‡n, and several times its chairman; he was a member of various

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other Bah‡`’ bodies, as well. He laboured long to extend and organize the facilities of the Bah‡`’ hospital in Tihr‡n and was for many years chairman of its Board of Directors.
At about 5.30 p.m. on 12 January 1981 some assailants, posing as patients, gained admittance to Professor Hak’m's surgery and shot him dead. The newspapers, aware for the most part that he was killed because he was a Bah‡`’, feared to report it. One lone exception was the daily Miz‡n of Tihr‡n which mentioned it briefly in its issue of 17 January. The magazine Tib va D‡rœ, No. 62, 4 February 1981, carried an article by Dr. Shukru'll‡h Asad’ mentioning Professor Hak’m's achievements. This assumes special import by virtue of the fact that the author was fully aware of the reason which brought about the assassination. Shortly after his tragic death, Professor Hak’m's residence and its contents were confiscated under a government order issued, significantly, several months prior to this event.
A befitting funeral was given him on 15 January, and at memorial meetings held on 19 and 20 January, warm and endearing tributes were paid to the nobility of his life, a fruitful and honourable life that had been devoted to study and research for the welfare and well-being of all people. There were many in all parts of the country who had such faith in his skill and healing power that they used to speed to him when ailing and return home hale and hearty. More than four thousand Bah‡`’s attended the funeral of Professor Hak’m. An eyewitness described it as `a truly great event . . . This remarkable gathering had a tremendous effect on the morale of the Bah‡`’s as a demonstration of love, unity and the readiness for sacrifice by the beleaguered and oppressed Bah‡`’ community in the Cradle of the Faith.'
Moving tribute was paid Professor Hak’m by his daughter, Christine Samandar’-Hak’m, in her book Les Baha'is ou victoire sur la violence (Lausanne: Editions Pierre Marcel Favre), written shortly after his death. Upon its publication the Universal House of Justice, on 25 March 1982, cabled the National Spiritual Assembly of Switzerland requesting that it relay LOVING CONGRATULATIONS to the author on the publication of her VALUABLE BOOK WHICH WILL ASSUREDLY CAUSE SOULS HER DEAR FATHER AND OTHER MARTYRS REJOICE ABHA KINGDOM.

(Translated from the Persian by RUSTOM SABIT)

SUBHê ELIçS
1902-1981

The passing of Subh’ Eli‡s on 26 January 1981 in Alexandria, Egypt, after a five-day illness, has ended a period of sixty years of devoted, loving and fruitful service to the Cause of Bah‡`u'll‡h.
Born to Coptic Christian parents on 17 May 1902 in an obscure village in the heart of the Nile delta, his childhood was marked by extreme hardship. With the premature death of his young father in 1906, the four-year-old Subh’ was left to the care of an ageing, rich and kind yet helpless grandfather. His widowed young mother, who was then pregnant with her second son, Sabr’, was forced to leave her house and return to that of her parents in a nearby village, due to the machinations and unbearable treatment of one of her deceased husband's brothers. Subh’, who was not allowed to move with his mother, received his only tuition at the reading class conducted by the village priest. Bible reading was the only subject taught in these classes held in the village church, with the priest expounding the narrow and literal interpretations which he himself had accepted through a similar education. Subh’, however, had a flexible mentality and was able to investigate truth for himself independently of the traditional process. He recognized the limitation and prejudice of his tutor and observed the fanatical behaviour of high-ranking clergy on their visits to his village. At an early age he displayed courage in rebuking and criticizing them publicly.
In 1911 Subh’ was surprised and overwhelmed with joy to discover that he had a brother, when Sabr’ was mature enough to be claimed from his mother by the family of his father. The reunited brothers formed a deep attachment which led them ultimately to material success and which was heightened by the spiritual bond that the Faith of Bah‡`u'll‡h

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Picture in Upper Left Corner with the Caption: Subh’ Eli‡s

provided. Soon after being brought together the young men, again through the plotting of their cruel paternal uncle, were denied any share in the inheritance of their grandfather, were dismissed from their home and driven from their village. Homeless and wretched, the two boys made their own way unaided. They were then attracted to the Bah‡`’ Faith through the kindness and love of another uncle, the late Ibr‡h’m `Abdu'l-Mas’h, whose sterling character and lofty idealism stood in marked contrast to all they had witnessed. Subh’ embraced the Faith in March 1921 and proceeded to attract Sabr’'s interest simply by requesting him to carry some Bah‡`’ books to friends with the purposed order that he was not to read them. It was not long until Sabr’ asked his brother how to declare himself a Bah‡`’, apologizing for disobeying the instruction that he was not to read the books he had delivered on Subh’'s behalf. Subh’'s zeal was such that he immediately made it known to his relatives that he was a member of the Bah‡`’ Faith, ably meeting the opposition they cast up. A few years later the brothers settled in Alexandria where Subh’ remained virtually for the rest of his life. In 1934 Sabr’ began his service as a pioneer, going first to Ethiopia, and later to a post further afield where he continues his work to this day.
In the early months of his life as a Bah‡`’, Subh’ yearned to make pilgrimage to the Holy Land and attain the presence of `Abdu'l-Bah‡, but alas his heart's desire was shattered by the passing of the beloved Master. A few years later he corresponded with Shoghi Effendi and received many inspiring replies. He had the privilege of making two pilgrimages and on each occasion had the bounty of meeting the Guardian. He lovingly cherished these experiences and in the eve of his life would speak tearfully of them to the young Bah‡`’s.
Subh’ was elected to the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Alexandria, formed in 1924, and served on that body until the disbandment of the Bah‡`’ administrative institutions in Egypt in 1961. He also served as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of North East Africa. Characteristic of the early days of the Bah‡`’ administration in Egypt were the efforts of the believers to grasp the purpose of the New World Order and to witness its divine institutions come into existence. Under the unerring guidance of the beloved Guardian they longed to exercise their sacred responsibilities. They made devoted efforts to achieve recognition of the Faith as an independent religion and to secure the right for Bah‡`’s to follow their teachings in matters of personal status. They were inspired and encouraged in taking this course by the historic verdict of the High Muslim Court in 1924 which ruled that the Bah‡`’ Faith is totally independent from Isl‡m. Subh’'s own contribution in those days was considerable. On the death of an infant son in September 1945 he refused to have the child buried in the Coptic or Muslim cemeteries and requested that the authorities allocate a burial ground to the Bah‡`’s of Alexandria. Although his request was not granted, from that time onward Bah‡`’s were permitted to inter their dead in `civil' cemeteries which had previously been restricted to non-Egyptian libre penseurs. He raised his six surviving children as devoted and active Bah‡`’s, three of whom followed the example of their uncle Sabr’ in marrying

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Bah‡`’s of Muslim background despite the wrath of fanatical non-Bah‡`’ relatives. These marriages added lustre to the Bah‡`’ community as living examples of the capacity of the teachings of Bah‡`u'll‡h to unite people of different backgrounds.
In 1977, despite failing health, he taped a five-hour recording giving a comprehensive historical account of the development of the Bah‡`’ Faith in Egypt and, in particular, Alexandria Quite often, when the Faith was attacked in Egyptian publications, the writers received a spirited reply from Subh’, either published in the same manner, or in the form of a personal letter. His greatest share of service to the Faith took place during the tumultuous, though blessed, decade that followed the proscription of Bah‡`’ activities in Egypt in 1961. The Bah‡`’s were subjected to a series of arrests, trials and sentences of imprisonment, notably in 1965, 1967 and 1972, and Subh’ played his full part in these events. In prison he conducted himself in a manner that inspired his Bah‡`’ fellow captives and filled his awe-stricken captors with perplexity. On two occasions he simply presented himself at police headquarters before the authorities had an opportunity to arrest him at home. Released from prison on bail pending his trial, he would painstakingly compile materials for the use of the non-Bah‡`’ lawyers who were to defend the Bah‡`’s.
He passed on to the Abh‡ Kingdom without having lived to witness the fulfilment of his heart's desire, the restoration of freedom and recognition to the Bah‡`’ community of Egypt, which even today is still withheld. His friends there find solace only in remembrance of his great service which was worthy of emulation. `His passing', his brother wrote to other members of his family, `has scalded my heart . . . He was made homeless in early boyhood, yet he spread a shelter of loving protection over me. To me he was a father and a mother . . . Embracing the Faith in his early youth, he remained faithful and stalwart . . . Over a period of sixty years the torch of his faith kept burning . . . My only refuge is to turn my face towards the Supreme Ruler, that He may bestow on him the best of rewards.'
On 11 February 1981 the following cable was received from the Universal House of Justice:

DEEPLY GRIEVED PASSING VALIANT PROMOTER DEFENDER CAUSE SUBHI ELIAS. HIS DEDICATED SERVICES OVER SEVERAL DECADES LOVINGLY REMEMBERED. ASSURE RELATIVES FRIENDS FERVENT PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS SOUL.

(Compiled from tape-recorded accounts of SUBHê and SABRê ELIçS)

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