Bahá’í World/Volume 20/Doris Lohse
DORIS LOHSE
1899—1990
GRIEVED LEARN PASSING DEVOTED RADIANT PIONEER DORIS LOHSE. HER LONG RECORD SELF-SACRIFICING SERVICE CAUSE GOD PIONEERING FIELD, THE SPIRIT OF INFECTIOUS JOY WITH WHICH SHE CONVEYED MESSAGE FAITH UNFORGETTABLE. ASSURE PRAYERS SACRED THRESHOLD PROGRESS HER NOBLE SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.
Doris Lohse was born on 7 October 1899 in Brussels, Belgium, the daughter of a respected family from Berlin. She and her siblings spent their youth in Belgium under the shadow of the disturbances created by the first World War.
She learned of the Bahá’í Faith in the 1920s and immediately embraced it. Shortly after, she emigrated to the United States where she pursued her studies and for many years worked for the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., as a translator. In time, her entire family joined her in America and, in turn, each one of them accepted the Faith.
A11 other love was dedicated to Bahá’u’lláh and to serving His Cause. In her free time she fully engaged herself in promoting race unity and in teaching countless children’s classes. Even in her later years she always felt a very strong connection with young people.
Doris Lohse attended the first European Bahá’í Conference held in Geneva in May
Doris Lohse
1948, 100 years after the historic conference of Badasht. The conference took place in the Hotel de la Paix in which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had stayed during his trip through Europe. Doris was one of the American pioneers who, in response to the call of the Seven Year Plan of the Bahá’ís of America (1946—1953), settled in 10 European countries.
After her first pioneer posts in Belgium and Luxembourg she went to Zurich, Switzerland, at the request of the European Teaching Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States. For the then four-strong Bahá’í group in Zürich, hearing that she was coming was wonderful news!
A period of fruitful teaching activity began for Doris, pursued steadfastly in spite of the fact that only a handful of people showed interest. Doris’s knowledge of English and German and her firm grasp of Bahá’í history and teachings proved invaluable. As a result of new enrolments, the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Zurich was established, with great joy, in 1950. Doris later moved to Germany and pioneered to Bonn. She was
also elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Germany and Austria.
In 1962 Doris settled in Switzerland, first in Biel and then in Lucerne. “With indefatigable devotion”, wrote Josef Aregger in the Swiss Bahá’í News after Doris’s passing, “she continued to serve the Cause, giving talks, organizing gatherings, going out of her way to strike up conversations with people, dedicating much time to translation and to the comparative study of religion. Her thoughts and her actions were tempered by her hospitality and her sense for the universal.”
After National Spiritual Assemblies had been established in all ten goal countries of the second Seven Year Plan and when Doris had, so to speak, reached retirement age, the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States suggested, offering financial support, that she return to her second homeland, having successfully fulfilled her assignment, to enjoy some well—deserved peace and quiet. Her response, “That doesn’t even come into question”, still rings in my ears. She really did want to serve Bahá’u’lláh to the very last breath.
During the fall of 1987 the infirmities of old age began to manifest themselves, and in April of 1988 a move to the Eichhof Nursing Home became necessary. Here she was lovingly cared for and she would often say: “I am so happy, so grateful, that I am permitted to be here in Switzerland, in Lucerne.”
Her passing on 18 May 1990 saddened all who had known her. Her humble, joyful spirit and her example in the pathway of service will serve as a shining star in the firmament of European Bahá’í history. Of all the statements of appreciation Doris Lohse received, the most beautiful came in the form of a telegram from the Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum:
DESIRE PAY TRIBUTE DORIS LOHSE MY OLD PERSONAL FRIEND WHO CAME FROM DISTINGUISHED EARLY JEWISH BAHÁ’Í FAMILY IN BERLIN. DORIS, WITH A HEART FULL OF LOVE FOR BAHÁ’U’LLÁH, CONSTANTLY SERVED
HIM, IN HER LATER YEARS MOSTLY AS A DEVOTED PIONEER IN EUROPE. HER SELFLESS SPIRIT, AMIABLE AND UNASSUMING PERSONALITY, UNFLAGGING DEVOTION TO SPREADING THE FAITH SHE LOVED SO WELL, FOR MANY YEARS, WITH THE DIRECT APPROVAL AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF HER BELOVED GUARDIAN, NO DOUBT NOW ENTITLE HER TO THE REWARD OF THE FAITHFUL AND DISTINGUISHED SERVANTS OF THE BLESSED BEAUTY IN THE ABHA KINGDOM. WOULD DEEPLY APPRECIATE YOUR ASSEMBLY PLACING SOME FLOWERS ON HER GRAVE IN MY NAME.