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OBITUARIES
Margaret Kelly Bates
On 20 June 1997 in Costa Rica. Born in Lancashire, England, on 21 March 1897, Margaret Kelly married Marion Bates in 1929 and was widowed twenty-two years later. After declaring her belief in Baha’u’llah in 1956, Mrs. Bates dedicated her life to the development of Bahá’í communities all around the world. She served on several Bahá’í institutions, including Local Spiritual Assemblies in Nice, France, and Bombay, India. In 1957 Mrs. Bates and her daughter J eanne were the first Bahá’ís in the Nicobar Islands, earning the title Knights of Baha’u’llah. Also with her daughter, Mrs. Bates opened the Cocos Islands in the South Indian Ocean to the Faith and was the first Bahá’í to Visit British North Borneo. In 1960, in Ceylon, she saved the life of the
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Prime Minister’s son in her capacity as a professional nurse and received the “Keys of Ceylon” as a reward. At the request of the National Spiritual Assembly in the United States Mrs. Bates and her daughter gave lectures on the Bahá’í Faith throughout the country. In her desire to obey Shoghi Effendi’s exhortation that one should commit one ’s entire life to the teaching field, she pioneered to Costa Rica in 1970. After living for some time in the United States, Mrs. Bates moved back to Costa Rica in 1989, saying, “I will take my bones back to Costa Rica.”
Hugh Emery Chance
On 25 March 1998 in the United States. Hugh E. Chance was born into a Methodist family on 28 December 1911 in Kansas. It was during his first year at Cornell College in
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Iowa that he met his future wife, Margaret Chamberlin. During his wartime service with the US Navy, Mr. Chance was introduced to the Bahá’í Faith, to which he was attracted because its teachings coincided with his long-held ideals of unity, brotherhood, and world peace. He, his wife, and their daughter became Bahá’ís in 1954, and within two years they had attracted enough people to the Faith to form the first Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Davenport. By 1959 Mr. Chance was serving on the National Teaching Committee. In 1960 he was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and became its Secretary the following year. In 1963 Mr. Chance was one of the nine men elected to form the Universal House of Justice. Before the end of the year, the Chances had settled in Haifa, Israel, and remained there for thirty years. Mr. Chance’s training as a lawyer and his vast professional experience played a key role in the development of several departments of the Bahá’í World Centre, including the communications and information processing section and the Office of Public Information. He retired from the Universal House of Justice in 1993. With “hearts heavy with sorrow,” the Universal House of Justice described Mr. Chance’s passing as a “profound loss,” extolling him as a “staunch, far-sighted supporter” of the Cause of Baha’u’llah and praising the serVices he performed with “constant optimism, adamantine faith,” and an “indomitable will.” Mrs. Chance predeceased her husband by almost two years.
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Major E. Dunne
On 19 August 1997 in the United States. Born on 17 February 1908 in Oregon, in the United States, Major B. Dunne became a Bahá’í in 1947. Later that same year he married Zara Benson Phanco. In 1948, the Dunnes moved to Astoria, Oregon, to help in the development of the Bahá’í community and to form the first Local Spiritual Assembly. In response to the Guardian’s call for pioneers, the Dunnes moved to the Gold Coast (now known as Ghana) in 1953. Unable to renew their Visas, they moved to Liberia in 1954 and stayed there for eight years, leaving only to serve briefly in the Madeira Islands in 1962 and in the Canary Islands from 1967 to 1968. While in West Africa, Mr. Dunne served on the National Spiritual Assembly of West Africa and on the region’s Auxiliary Board for Protection. After a few years in the United States the couple again set out in 1975 as pioneers t0 Nevis in the Leeward Islands, despite their advanced age and deteriorating health. After twelve years in the islands, they pioneered to Mexico. In 1991, Mr. Dunne became seriously ill and had to return to the United States, where he passed away at the age of eightynine.
Roger J ohn Edwards
On 1 January 1998 in New Zealand. Roger John Edwards was born on 17 October 1953 in Auckland, New Zealand. Raised in a Bahá’í family, as a youth he traveled throughout the Pacific region sharing the message Bahá’u’lláh. He married Susan Still in 1977, after which the Edwardses moved to the Solomon Islands for
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one year, returned to New Zealand for a year, and then pioneered to Papua New Guinea, living for fourteen years in Aiyura and Goroka. Mr. Edwards lectured in Mathematics Education at Goroka Teachers’ College, where he twice served as the head of the Mathematics Department, and was well loved by his students and colleagues. From 1982 to 1991 he served as an Auxiliary Board member in Papua New Guinea and from 1996 to 1997 in the South Island of New Zealand. Mr. Edwards identified easily with youth, who often accompanied him on teaching trips and mountain climbing expeditions. The Edwardses raised four children.
Alma Cynthia Gregory
On 5 December 1997 in the United Kingdom. Born on Long Island, New York, on 11 May 1904, Alma Cynthia Ginman was raised as a Bahá’í child from the age of seven, when her mother embraced the Faith. When she was a child, her Bahá’í education took place with the help of some of the first Bahá’ís in the United States. Ella Cooper, Hyde and Clara Dunn, and Ali Kuli Khan all helped to educate her in the fundamental verities of the Faith. In 1918 she was sent to Cheltenham Ladies College in England while her parents were living and working in China. Two years later she and her mother moved to London, where Shoghi Effendi visited them during his studies at Oxford. In 1933 Alma married Walter Ewart Gregory, an international ice-dance champion who served as a navigator—pilot officer during the Second World War and was killed in action in 1942. Mrs.
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Gregory assisted in the formation of many Local Spiritual Assemblies in the British Isles. She associated with such believers as Ethel Rosenberg, Dr. J . E. Esslemont, Martha Root, and Lady Blomfield, and in her later years inspired her fellow Bahá’ís with stories about them and their heroic efforts to serve the Bahá’í Faith. She served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles and on the Assembly Development Committee from 1948 to 1956. She moved to Stomoway in the Outer Hebrides in 1969 and remained there until her passing in 1997 at the age of ninetyfour. She is survived by one daughter.
Mashé’llah ‘Inziyati
On 4 July 1997 in Iran. At the time of his death Masha’lláh ‘Inayati was a sixty-three-year—old Bahá’í resident of Tehran. During a Visit to his native village of Ardistan to attend a meeting held to commemorate the anniversary of the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh, Mr. ‘Inayati was arrested in circumstances which are not clear. Taken to prison in Iṣfahán, he was severely beaten on all parts of his body and was held in prison for about a week before being taken to a hospital, where he was kept under armed guard, though it was only a minor matter for which he had been arrested. Reported to have been in good health before his arrest, Mr. ‘Inayati died of his injuries in the hospital.
Isaya Kulecho
On 11 February 1998 in Kenya. Isaya Kulecho was born in 1912 in Shiguru Village, Kabras Location, in the Kakamega District of Kenya. In 1950 he
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was appointed the Sub-Headman of his Location and in 1952 the Chief of Kabras Location. Mr. Kulecho entered the Bahá’í Faith in 1962, after which he served on various regional committees and on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Malava for nearly thirty years. He participated actively in local and regional teaching projects, attended international Bahá’í conferences that were held in Kenya and was personally visited by several Hands of the Cause of God, including Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih _I_<_hanum, Enoch Olinga, Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir, William Sears, and J ohn Robarts. As Chief, Mr. Kulecho defended the local Bahá’í community and freely offered the use of his large home for Bahá’í functions. He raised sixteen children.
Artemus Dwight Lamb
On 17 J anuary 1998 in San Salvador, El Salvador. Born 20 January 1905 in Iowa, United States, Artemus Dwight Lamb entered the Bahá’í Faith in 1939. He left the United States in 1944 to pioneer to Punta Arenas, Chile, and later moved to Costa Rica. Mr. Lamb lived in Central America and Mexico for the rest of his life. From 1951 to 1961 he served first on the National Spiritual Assembly of Central America and the Antilles and then on the National Spiritual Assembly of Central America; from 1963 to 1968 he served as an Auxiliary Board member for the region; and from 1968 to 1985 he served on the Continental Board of Counsellors for the Americas. In the last years of his life he wrote The Odyssey of the Soul as well as many booklets and pamphlets. At the time
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of his passing the Universal House of Justice described him as “dearlyloved,” “steadfast, noble-hearted, selfeffacing” and recalled his “sterling achievements” in Latin America with “keen admiration.”
Evotia Masipei
On 13 June 1997. Evotia Masipei was born on 27 November 1935 in Nanumea Island, Tuvalu (then Ellice Island), and was the first Tuvaluan to accept the Bahá’í Faith 0n Tuvaluan soil. She served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Bikenibeu for three years and raised six children.
Olive McDonald
On 26 J une 1997 in the United States. Born on 18 October 1914 in Pennsylvania in the United States, Olive Boutillier married John McDonald. In 1969 she entered the Bahá’í Faith and a year later pioneered to Chad, serving on the National Spiritual Assembly from 1971 to 1977. Highlights of her Bahá’í service include her establishment of Journal de l ’Unite', the national Bahá’í newspaper of Chad, her service as an office assistant to a member of the Continental Board of Counsellors, and the teaching of Bahá’í children’s classes.
George Richardson Mather
On 10 August 1997 in the United States. George Richardson Mather was born 2 November 1919 in New York and became a Bahá’í in 1952. He studied business and transportation and was certified as a commercial pilot. He and his wife, Shirley, and their three children were living in Delaware when they decided to pioneer in 1970. Settling in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, in June 1972, they
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remained there until their retirement in 1986. They then moved to St. Kitts in the Leeward Islands and stayed for seven years. Mr. Mather served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the West Leeward Islands. The Mathers returned to the United States in 1994.
F lorence Virginia Mayberry
On 9 May 1998 in the United States. Born in 1906 in Sleeper, Missouri, Florence Virginia Wilson demonstrated from early childhood great enthusiasm for learning. During her youth, she met several Bahá’ís who profoundly influenced her search for spiritual truth. Not until a few years after her marriage to David Mayberry in 1936, however, did she intensify her study of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings, enrolling in the Bahá’í Faith in May 1941 in Reno, Nevada, where the first Local Spiritual Assembly in the state was elected shortly afterwards. She was appointed as a member of the first Auxiliary Board to the Hands of the Cause of God serving in the Western Hemisphere in 1954 and in 1959 was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States. Shortly after the Mayberry family pioneered to Mexico in 1961 Mrs. Mayberry was elected to serve on the National Spiritual Assembly of that country and participated in the first International Bahá’í Convention in 1963. In 1968 she was appointed to the first Continental Board of Counsellors for the Protection and Propagation of the Bahá’í Faith in North America. Five years later the Universal House of J ustice named her one of the three Counsellor members
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of the newly created International Teaching Centre, and she served in that capacity until 1983. Mrs. Mayberry wrote short stories, many of which were published in Ellery Queen ’5 Mystery Magazine. She also authored several books, including an autobiography. Mrs. Mayberry is survived by her son, Michael Mayberry, three grandsons, and three great-grandchildren.
Andrew S. R. Mofokeng
On 11 December 1997 in South Africa. Andrew S. R. Mofokeng was
born in Fouriesburg, F ree State, South
Africa, on 29 August 1933. He first
heard of the Bahá’í Faith as a student
in Swaziland in 1954 and became
the first Bahá’í in Western Township,
Sophiatown, that same year. Upon
his enrollment in the Bahá’í Faith he
was asked by a committee responsible for the propagation of the Bahá’í
Faith to share Bahá’u’lláh’s message
in Swaziland, Basutoland, and South
Africa. From 1956 to 1963 Mr. Mofokeng served on the first National
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of
South and West Africa, becoming its
first Recording Secretary at the age
of twenty—one—the youngest in the
Bahá’í world. Within a few months
he was also the Corresponding Secretary. He alternated between these
capacities until he pioneered to Basutoland (Lesotho) in 1963, where he
was soon elected to the National Spiritual Assembly. From 1957 to 1965
Mr. Mofokeng served as an Auxiliary
Board member to the Hands of the
Cause of God in South Africa and
Basutoland. Mr. Mofokeng was the
liaison officer between white manag
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ers and black employees in the mines in Orange Free State, South Africa, and an English/Sesotho interpreter in the High Court of Basutoland. He taught the Sesotho language at the University of Witwatersrand, wrote poetry in English and Sesotho, and translated a number of books into Sesotho, including the first prayer book in that language and The Eternal Covenant. The Universal House of Justice wrote that “his teaching and administrative endeavors [have] left an enviable record of service that future generations may well emulate” and shared with the Southern Afn'can Bahá’í community a “profound sense of loss.” Mr. Mofokeng is survived by four children.
Guy Murchie
On 8 July 1997 in the United States. Guy Murchie was born in 1907 and became a Bahá’í in 1939. He was a reporter and artist for the Chicago Tribune, covering the early years of World War 11. After leaving the T ribune in 1942, he became a flight instructor and navigator, while continuing to write and illustrate. He later founded Apple Hill Camp, an international summer camp for children in New Hampshire, which he operated for eleven years. Mr. Murchie authored three bestselling books, all of which were Book of the Month Club selections, including The Seven Mysteries ofLife. Isaac Asimov said of Mr. Murchie’s book Music of the Spheres, “One can only stand amazed at the breadth of Mr. Murchie’s understanding and his ability to put the facts and speculations of science into colorful and nontechnical language.”
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Lois Nolen
On 2 December 1997 in the United States. Lois Nolen and her husband Richard were designated Knights of Baha’u’llah for pioneering to the Azores from 1953 to 1962. In 1970, after the passing of her husband, Mrs. Nolen moved to British Honduras (Belize), where she served as Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly from 1971 to 1973. In the 1980’s she served at the Bahá’í World Centre in Israel. The Nolens are survived by five children.
Cora H. Oliver
On 23 October 1997 in the United States. Cora Oliver became a Bahá’í in New York in May 1930. In October 1939, she became one of the first pioneers to Panama. Responding to the call to open virgin territories to the Bahá’í Faith, in 1953 Ms. Oliver moved to British Honduras (Belize), thereby earning the title of Knight of Bahá’u’lláh. Her activities in British Honduras included the establishment of many local Assemblies. She served on the National Spiritual Assembly from the date of its inception in 1967 until 1973, when she returned to the United States after a short stay in Guatemala.
Ronald J ames Parsons
On 9 July 1997 in Canada. Ronald James Parsons was born on 8 May 1926 in Moose J aw, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 1949, he married Rita Olive Blake and in 1961 declared his faith as a Bahá’í. Before discovering the Bahá’í Faith, Mr. Parsons was an ordained minister. He served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada from 1964 to 1970
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and again from 1971 to 1974. Mr. Parsons was also a member of several Canadian Local Spiritual Assemblies and served on the Auxiliary Board throughout the 1970’s and 80’s. He worked as a teacher, Vice-principal, and principal and authored two books and many articles on the Bahá’í Faith. Mr. and Mrs. Parsons raised four children.
Shahrém Rezé’i
On 7 July 1997 in Iran. Shahrém Reza’i, a young Bahá’í serving as a conscript in the army near the city of Rasht, was shot in the head by his weapons training officer on 6 July 1997 and died the following day. In court the officer claimed the shooting was an accident and was released after a few days, once the court established that the man killed was a Bahá’í. The court excused the officer from paying the blood-money normally required in such instances, ordering him to pay only the cost of the three bullets used to kill Mr. Reza’i.
Sheila Rice—Wray
On 2 May 1997 in the Dominican Republic. Sheila Daisy Reid Nelson was born 8 November 1908 in South Dakota, in the United States, and became a Bahá’í at the age of thirty. She wrote to the Guardian, asking where she should go to help complete the goals of the first Seven Year Plan, and left Chicago in 1947 to travel through Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic, spurred on by a cable from Haifa that read “Advise Latin America Loving Prayers Shoghi.” Eventually settling in Paraguay in 1950, she later moved to Bolivia and t0 the Dominican Repub 277
lie at the request of Dorothy Baker. From 1954 to 1957, Mrs. Rice-Wray was a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Central America. From 1957 to 1961, she served on the National Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Greater Antilles as the treasurer, and from 1961 to 1983 she was the treasurer of the National Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the Dominican Republic, where she remained until her death. Mrs. Rice-Wray studied education and architectural engineering and was an accomplished painter. The gallery at the DominicanAmerican Cultural Institute in Santo Domingo bears her name.
Mozaffar Samandari
On 12 September 1997 in Indonesia. Dr. Mozaffar Samandari was born in Rasht, Iran, on 10 June 1928. He and his wife pioneered to Indonesia in 1957, deliberately choosing to live in many remote areas of the country. Dr. Samandari served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Southeast Asia from 1959 to 1960 and on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís Of Indonesia from 1963 until it was disbanded in 1974, after which he was one of the few pioneers able to remain in the country. He supported his service to the Bahá’í Faith by working as the head of several different hospitals in Indonesia. He also developed programs of systematic education in the Bahá’í writings and translated them from their original Arabic and Persian into Indonesian.
Marguerite (Margot) Worley On 21 June 1997 in Brazil. Marguerite (Margot) Gleig was born on 25
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April 1910 in Bahia, Brazil. After living in England for six years, her family moved back to Brazil in 1921, where she studied under Leonora Holsapple, the first Bahá’í pioneer to that country. In the 1930’s she met Roy Lee Worley, the American viceconsul stationed in Bahia. During a trip to the United States to visit Lee’s family, the couple Visited the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette, met May Maxwell, and later embraced the Bahá’í Faith at the home of Stanwood Cobb. Following their marriage on 2 March 1939, Mr. and Mrs. Worley returned to Brazil, where they raised a family of three children. Mrs. Worley was active in spreading the message of Bahá’u’lláh and helped to form the first Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Salvador, Bahia, in 1947. She was elected the Chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of South America and in 1961 became the chairman of the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Brazil. From 1958 to 1968 she served as an Auxiliary
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Board member. When her husband retired in 1968, the Worleys returned to the United States and took up residence in California. From 1968 to 1976 Mrs. Worley served on the Regional Teaching Committee of southern California, traveling to Mexico and French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname and helping to establish the National Spiritual Assembly of Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. In 1976 she and her ailing husband returned to Brazil, where Mr. Worley passed away two years later. In the 1980’s Mrs. Worley started the Bahá’í children’s school “Flower Garden,” holding classes until the last week of her life. At a special meeting on 31 March 1998, the Special Commission for the Defence of Women’s Rights of the State of Bahia posthumously recognized the services that Marguerite Worley rendered “to the unity of mankind through her activities in building the administration of the Bahá’í community throughout South America during the years of 1950 to 1960.”
