Bahá’í World/Volume 27/Obituaries

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OBITUARIES

Grace Dean

4 September 1998 in Ohio, United States. Catherine Grace Dean was born 21 December 1913 in Arizona, United States, and embraced the Faith of Baha’u’llah there in 1951. She earned a B.A. in Social Studies and was trained as a fire safety specialist and elementary school teacher. Soon after her discovery of the Bahá’í Faith, she moved to an Apache reservation outside Gallup, New Mexico in order to spread the Bahá’í teachings. Because of her knowledge of Spanish, she was later encouraged to pioneer to Latin America. Mrs. Dean settled in Honduras in 1958 and discovered that she loved living among the indigenous peoples of Central America. She spent much of her time with the Garifuna Indians of Honduras, the Guaymi of Panama, and the

Mayan people of Mexico. Mrs. Dean moved to Panama in 1971 and Mexico in 1979, and in 1989 she pioneered to Belize, where she taught literacy courses. When too ill or short of money to remain in Central America, she would sojourn in the United States to rest and earn the funds necessary to return. The Universal House of J ustice wrote to her in 1974, “Your outstanding record of teaching the Indians of Central America and Panama under trying and frustrating conditions is well known to us and deeply appreciated.” 111 health forced her to return to her family in Ohio three months before her death. After her passing the House of Justice wrote that her “heroic work over period four decades” was marked by “sacrificial detachment and selfeffacing service in remote regions. ..

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The modesty and courage of such a life provide an enduring example of devotion to the needs of the world’s poor and downtrodden.”

Jean Deleuran

7 December 1998 in Provence, F rance. J ean Pierre Louis Deleuran was born 1 April 1911 in Copenhagen, Denmark, to Emil and Valborg Deleuran. In 1934 he graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts as an architect, but soon contracted polio. Despite his limited mobility—he used crutches or a cane for the rest of his life—Mr. Deleuran was active in the French Resistance during the Second World War and later devoted the majority of his life to serving the Bahá’í Faith. In 1944, he married Tove Larsen, with whom he raised one daughter. They became Bahá’ís in 1949 and were the first Bahá’ís to settle in the Balearic Islands, in 1953, thus earning the title Knights of Baha’u’llah. The four years spent in the Balearic Islands interrupted Mr. Deleuran’s successful career as an architect, a career later resumed in East Pakistan where the family lived for six years until 1963. Mr. Deleuran served on several Spiritual Assemblies in the Balearic Islands, Denmark, France, and Pakistan, including the first Local Spiritual Assemblies of the Balearic Islands and Denmark and the National Spiritual Assemblies of Denmark and Pakistan. Appended to a letter dated 29 September 1953 written on behalf of the Guardian to express his happiness that Mr. Deleuran had decided to pioneer, the following was written in the Guardian’s own hand: “Assuring you of my loving prayers for your

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success in the service of our beloved Faith, your true brother, Shoghi.” Tove Deleuran passed away in 1996.1

Rouhollah Golmohammadi

16 F ebruary 1999 in Uppsala, Sweden. Rouhollah Golmohammadi was born in 1929 in Tehran, Iran, to a Bahá’í family. Dr. Golmohammadi arrived in Sweden on 12 January 1960 as a pioneer, accompanied by his sister’s family. He became a member of the first Local Spiritual Assembly of the town of Uppsala the same year, and two years later was elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly of Sweden. Building on his experience in Iran as head of a textile factory, Dr. Golmohammadi earned his doctorate in organic chemistry at the University of Uppsala, where he also lectured. Dr. Golmohammadi married Elizabeth Beven in 1964. They had two children. In 1994, they pioneered to Hungary, where Dr. Golmohammadi soon became a member of that National Spiritual Assembly. He remained on the Assembly until his passing. Dr. Golmohammadi was able to attend the first Bahá’í World Congress held in London in 1963 and the first eight International Bahá’í Conventions as a delegate. The Universal House of Justice wrote that his “dedication to the Faith, his many years of devoted, persevering service in both the teaching and administrative spheres. . .in Sweden and latterly in Hungary, his gentle, loving, unifying spirit, all combine to win for him an enduring

1. See The Bahá’í World 1996—97, p. 307, for her obituary.

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place in the annals of the Bahá’í communities of those countries.”

Louise Groger

22 March 1999 in California, United States. Louise A. Groger was born 11 April 1907 in San Francisco, California, to a Catholic family. She became a Bahá’í in 1936 and served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of San Francisco from 1938 to 1949. After the untimely passing of her husband in 1950, Mrs. Groger pioneered to Puntas Arenas, at the southern tip of Chile. She remained there for two years before returning to the United States. After the launch of the Ten Year Crusade, Mrs. Groger decided to return to Chile. She settled on Chiloé Island—the first Bahá’í to do so—and thus became the Knight of Baha’u’llah. She offered her home to young boarders, and sold fruit, jam, vegetables, and flowers to earn her living. The Universal House of Justice wrote after her passing, “DEEPLY SADDENED LOSS VALIANT KNIGHT BAHA’U’LLAH FOR CHILOE ISLAND GREATLY LOVED LOUISE A. GROGER. HER SETTLEMENT AND LONG YEARS PIONEERING THIS REMOTE ISLAND WILL EVER ADORN ANNALS Bahá’í HISTORY.”

Larry Hautz

Lawrence Albert Hautz was born 19 August 1908 in Ohio, United States. He became a Bahá’í in 1939, at the age of 31. He made his living as an insurance salesman and was able to Visit the Holy Land as a pilgrim after the Second World War. He was asked to stay for a total of ninety days to assist the Guardian to acquire property surrounding several Bahá’í holy

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places. Later, Mr. Hautz served for several years as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and on several national committees. Shortly after attending the fourth International Bahá’í Conference in New Delhi, Mr. Hautz and his wife Carol pioneered to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where they bought a plot of land and in time founded a motel, snake park, and an elementary school. Beginning with about twenty students, the school’s student body grew in time to over four hundred. About this school, the National Spiritual Assembly of Zimbabwe wrote, “In the height of racial discrimination in then Rhodesia, Larry took a bold step and against all odds established the first school on the supposedly ‘white owned’ property for the indigenous children.” Mr. Hautz also served on the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Harare. Carol Hautz passed away in 1971. “WE SHARE YOUR DEEP SENSE OF LOSS IN PASSING DEARLY LOVED LARRY HAUTZ,” wrote the Universal House of J ustice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Zimbabwe, 3 “FAITHFUL, GENEROUS, ENERGETIC SERVANT BLESSED BEAUTY.”

Tahereh Madjzoub

8 March 1999 in Harare, Zimbabwe. Tahereh Hezari was born 16 January 1925 in Qazvin, Iran, to a Bahá’í family. She married Rahmatollah Madjzoub in 1943. In 1954, in response to the call of the Ten Year Crusade, Mrs. Madjzoub and her husband pioneered to Turkey, where they remained until 1964, at which time they moved to Germany. In 1983 Mrs. Madjzoub

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joined her family at their pioneer post in Harare, Zimbabwe, where she resided until her passing. Throughout her life, Mrs. Madjzoub traveled frequently throughout Europe and Africa in service to the Faith, was a member of several Local Spiritual Assemblies and national and local committees, and was active in organizing Bahá’í activities wherever she lived. She kept her home open to all and was known as “clear mother” by the Bahá’ís of Zimbabwe. The Madjzoubs had three children. After her passing the Universal House of Justice wrote that her “STAUNCH FAITH, HER LONG-SUFFERING ATTITUDE IN HER ADVERSITIES, AND HER SACRIFICIAL ATTITUDES IN TEACHING FIELD WERE TRULY EXEMPLARY.”

Ethel Martens

10 December 1998 in Canada. Dr. Ethel Gertrude Martens was born 19 July 1916 in The Pas, Manitoba, Canada. The Martens family was one of the first Anglo families to live in The Pas, a small northern town built around a Hudson Bay trading post. During her undergraduate years, at the suggestion of a fellow Bahá’í student at the University of Manitoba, Dr. Martens began studying the burgeoning field of health education. After graduating, she worked as a Health Educator for Manitoba’s Ministry of Health and later gained a master’s degree in public health. Dr. Martens began studying the Bahá’í Faith during World War II but did not declare her belief in Baha’u’llah until 1953. In 1958 she was recruited by the government of Canada to be the first national Health Educator, with responsibility for indigenous

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Indian and Inuit communities. After a three-month fellowship with the World Health Organization, spent studying health programs for indigenous people in the United States, Mexico, and Guatemala, she returned to Canada and founded a nationwide program to train community health workers. She earned her doctorate from the University of Saskatchewan in 1973, based on research done during the course of her work With indigenous Canadians. Dr. Martens traveled to more than eighty countries in the service of both her profession and the Bahá’í community. She was instrumental in developing health education programs in Cameroon under the auspices of the Canadian International Development Agency, was the Bahá’í representative to the World Health Organization, and after her retirement in 1979 was one Ofthe founders of the Bahá’í International Health Agency, serving as its Executive Secretary until 1986. During and after that period, she assisted Bahá’í development projects around the world to develop and implement primary health care programs.

Mary Elizabeth Martin

19 February 1999 in Haifa, Israel. Elizabeth Martin was born in Toronto, Canada, on 26 January 1931. From the time of her enrollment as a Bahá’í in 1954 until her passing Mrs. Martin made memorable contributions to the promotion of the Bahá’í Faith. Noteworthy among these are the assistance she rendered on behalf of the National Spiritual Assembly to the development of Canadian Local Spiritual Assemblies; the editing and publishing of ‘Abdu ’l—Bahd in Canada

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and Messages to Canada (the latter being the first compilation of the Guardian’s letters to the Canadian Bahá’í community); the contributions she made as a writer and director in the field of film production; her role in the formation of the National Spiritual Assembly of Iceland; her work as a photographer in the production of such items as a national advertising campaign in the mid1980s; the assistance she gave to the National Assembly of Canada in organizing both national and international Bahá’í conferences, as well as a series of National Conventions; as assistant to the National Secretary, with correspondence and other special projects; and her services as a Bahá’í pioneer. These, and the aesthetic contributions she made to the second Bahá’í World Congress in New York, as well as her efforts at the Bahá’í World Centre, will make her warmly remembered. In a message written at the time of her passing, the Universal House of Justice paid tribute to Mrs. Martin’s “MORE THAN FOUR DECADE‘S CEASELESS DEVOTION CAUSE BAHA’U’LLAH,” and wrote that they “GRATEFULLY RECALL INTEGRITY THAT CHARACTERIZED HER MANY SERVICES.”

Hugh McKinley

9 February 1999 in Suffolk, England. Hugh McKinley was born 18 February 1924 to a Bahá’í family in Oxford, England. In the course of his life-long service to the Faith, he pioneered to Cyprus, Greece, and Wales, went on frequent travel teaching trips throughout western Europe, and was a member of several different Local Spiritual Assemblies. Mr. McKinley was trained

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as an opera singer and gave his first professional concert in F ebruary 1953, but in September of that same year he gave up his career to pioneer to Cyprus. He and his mother Violet were the first Bahá’ís to move there, thus earning the title Knights of Baha’u’llah. After living for a short period in Ireland, Mr. McKinley pioneered next to Greece, where he became the literary editor of the Athens Daily Post for over a decade. Mr. McKinley was known in the European literary community as an accomplished poet and editor and was included in the International Who ’5 Who in Poetry. He edited the book The Earth IS But One Country by John Huddleston in the 19703, translated an abridged version of The Dawn-Breakers from Persian into Greek in 1973, and also translated the Gennan writings of Ondra Lysohorsky, a fiiend and fellow writer from Czechoslovakia. Mr. McKinley married Deborah Waterfield in 1979. In its message after his passing, the Universal House of Justice said that “HIS INDEFATIGABLE LABORS PIONEERING FIELD, HIS TEACHING ACTIVITIES COUPLED WITH PROFOUND KNOWLEDGE OF THE HOLY WRITINGS AND FIRMNESS N THE COVENANT BROUGHT GREAT VICTORIES TO THE CAUSE.”

Hedi Moani

October 1999 in Devenport, New Zealand. Hediatollah Moani was born in 1944 in Mahmoudabad, Iran, a Caspian Sea town to which his family had pioneered. Mr. Moani came from a family of pioneers, six of his eight brothers having left home to serve in that capacity. Mr. Moani pioneered

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first to Indonesia and then moved to Australia in 1963, where he obtained a degree in architecture from Melbourne University. He lived in several Australian cities before moving in 1978 to the United States, and then later to New Zealand, where he lived the last seventeen years of his life. Mr. Moani felt so close to the Maori people that he changed the spelling of his last name—Ma’ani—to resemble theirs. He was well loved and widely known by the Australasian Bahá’í community, and was described by the National Spiritual Assembly of New Zealand as one with a “well trained mind, an eloquent tongue, and a quick wit. . .underpinned with wannth, a love for people, an instant recognition for their disposition, and an accepting humanity.” In addition to his service on several Local Spiritual Assemblies, he served for a time on the National Spiritual Assembly of New Zealand and was completing his Ph.D in religious studies at the time of his death. Mr. Moani was beaten to death in his New Zealand home sometime between 13 and 17 October 1999. A member of the predominantly Maori Ratana church, dismayed at the death of his church’s leader and angry at the conversion of several members of the church to the Bahá’í Faith, pleaded guilty to killing Mr. Moani but was later declared not guilty by reason of insanity. Among the seven hundred people present at Mr. Moani’s funeral were members of the Ratana, Ringatu, Anglican, and Muslim faiths, as well as a large number of Bahá’ís from around the region. Due to the religious motivation behind his death, Hedi Moani was declared a martyr

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by the Universal House of Justice, who said also that “his commitment to the upliftrnent of the Maori people of New Zealand. . .will long serve as an encouragement to others.”

J ose Moucho

14 October 1998 in Adelaide, Australia. Jose Maria Marques Moucho was born 13 May 1917 in the Alentejo, Portugal. He became a Bahá’í in 1950 and was named a Knight of Baha’u’llah in 1954 when he pioneered to East Timor, then governed by Portugal. Soon after his arrival, he was imprisoned by the local authorities for his Bahá’í activities. He was able, however, to smuggle a telegram to the Bahá’í World Centre, which enabled Shoghi Effendi to effect Mr. Moucho’s release. Mr. Moucho encountered further difficulty as a result of discrimination by the Catholic Church and the local government, and found it difficult to gain employment. He remained in the country, however, founded his own coffee plantation, and was eventually accepted by his neighbors as one oftheir own. He lived in East Tirnor for nineteen years, where he served at different times as the Secretary, Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and Treasurer of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Dili, East Timor’s capital. Mr. Moucho married Maria Olga in 1957. Together they had four children.

Ali-Akbar Nadji

4 December 1998 in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Ali-Akbar Nadj i was born on 5 February 1914 to a Bahá’í family in Ashgabat. Mr. Nadji was a student at the Leningrad Mining Institute in 1938 when he was arrested

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for his ties to the Bahá’í community and sent to Siberia. He lived there eighteen years before returning to his home, where he began working in the Turkmen Academy of Sciences as a photographer. He married Malike Nadji a year later, in 1957. They had two children. Beginning in 1960, he began traveling to Moscow and Leningrad in order to educate officials there about the Bahá’í Faith, in the hopes of gaining official recognition and legal registration of the Bahá’í communities in the Soviet Union. He did not achieve the national recognition he sought, but the Bahá’í community of Ashgabat was eventually recognized at the state level as a result of his efforts. He was a member of the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Ashgabat, formed in 1989, and participated in the first National Convention of the Bahá’ís of the USSR in 1991. In the words of the Universal House of Justice, his “EXEMPLARY STEADFASTNESS AND DEVOTION KEPT BANNER FAITH ALOFT FOR DECADES DURING DIFFICULT TIMES IN REGION,” and his “LOVE AND ATTACHMENT TO THE CAUSE HELPED REVIVAL BAHA’t INSTITUTIONS TURKMENISTAN.” Philip O’Brien

9 January 1999 in London, England. Philip O’Brien was born 23 May 1927 in Troy, New York, United States, to Irish Catholic parents. After completing degrees in Theater Studies and Psychology, he began working in the performing arts industry in New York City and Los Angeles. An actor, producer, and director, Mr. O’Brien was a well-known figure in the theatrical world in Ireland and the United

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States. Mr. O’Brien became a Bahá’í in 1961 and one year later was elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of Beverly Hills, California. In 1963 he was invited to become the coordinator of activites at the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, a position which he occupied until 1966, at which time he pioneered with his wife to Ireland. Mr. O’Brien served on L0cal Spiritual Assemblies in America, Ireland, and England. Mr. O’Brien also served on the National Spiritual Assembly of Ireland from 1972 to 1979, save for one year in 1975. He was known by his friends for his sharp intellect, by his colleagues for his professionalism and skill as an actor, and although socially shy, as a compelling and energetic public speaker. He married Jane Moore. The couple had four children. The Universal House of Justice lovingly remembered his many achievements in service to the Faith, noting also that “HIS INDOMITABLE FAITH COUPLED WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR PRODUCED A JOYOUS AND GALVANIZING EFFECT UPON THE FRIENDS.”

Hassan Pishrow

9 June 1998 in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Hassan Pishrow was born 15 November 1936 in Ashgabat, and was Assistant Professor of Persian at the State Institute of World Languages of Turkmenistan. He became a Bahá’í in 1989, at the age of53, and was soon an active promoter of the Bahá’í Faith. Mr. Pishrow was a member of the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Ashgabat from 1989 until 1992, at which time he was elected

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to the Regional Spiritual Assembly of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. He attended the seventh International Bahá’í Convention as a delegate and also served as a member of the Auxiliary Board. In its message after his passing, the Universal House of Justice said “HIS SERVICES TO RENEWAL Bahá’í ACTIVITIES [in Turkmenistan] LOVINGLY REMEMBERED.”

Ruhu’llah Rawhani

21 July 1998 in Maflhad, Iran. Ruhu’llah Rawhani was born in 1946 in Najafabad, Iran. He was executed by the Iranian government under questionable circumstances. He was kept in solitary confinement for the ten months preceding his execution, denied a proper trial as defined by Iran’s Constitution, and hanged. The Rawhani family was notified after the fact. Mr. Rawhani had been arrested and imprisoned on two prior occasions for participating in Bahá’í activities. The Iranian government initially denied that it had executed Mr. Rawhani, calling him “an imaginary individual,” but later confirmed it, saying he was guilty of “criminal acts against national security.” Mr. Rawhani was accused of converting a young Muslim woman to the Bahá’í Faith. She later stated that she was not a convert but had been a Bahá’í all her life. Mr. Rawhani supported his family as a medical supplies salesman and was the father of four children.

Gama] Rushdy

8 February 1999 in London, England. Gamal Rushdy was born 6 July 1923 in Alexandria, Egypt, the third son

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of Abdu’l-Rahman Rushdy, one of the early Egyptian Bahá’ís. After completing commercial school at the age of sixteen, Mr. Rushdy began working as an accountant. In the years that followed, he undertook further studies until he became a member of the French Institute of Chartered Accountants, and later the Chief Accountant with the British Company in Alexandria. Mr. Rushdy married Hoda Enayatallah Ibrahim Ali in 1952, and in 1955 the family pioneered t0 Ethiopia, where Mr. Rushdy worked as Chief of the Finance Division of the Imperial Highway Authority. In addition to serving on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Addis Ababa, Mr. Rushdy served on the Regional Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís Of North-East Afn'ca from 1962 to 1966. Having survived an attempt on his life in 1964, and feeling confident that the Ethiopian Bahá’í community was firmly established, in 1967 Mr. Rushdy pioneered with his family t0 Burundi. They remained there until 1989. While in Burundi, Mr. Rushdy served as the legal representative of the Burundi Bahá’í community, as an Auxiliary Board member, and as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Burundi, from the time Of its establishment in 1974. One of Mr. Rushdy’s most significant accomplishments in Burundi was achieving the legal recognition of that country’s Bahá’í community, in the face of repeated bans and restrictions on Bahá’í activity by the government. After twenty-three years in Burundi, the Rushdys moved to London, where Mr. Rushdy coordinated

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the Bahá’í Office of Arab AEairs until his passing. The Rushdys had three children. The Universal House of J ustice wrote of its deep grief at the news of his passing, and said that “HIS DEVOTED SERVICES TO CAUSE OF GOD EVER SINCE HIS YOUTHFUL YEARS...REMEMBERED WITH HIGH ADMIRATION.”

John Sargent

12 August 1998 in Zimbabwe. John Sargent was born 18 January 1923 in the United States and was a prospecting geologist and curator by trade. He entered the Bahá’í Faith in 1962 and three years later pioneered to what was then Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Edith Anderson, his first wife, passed away in 1961. They had one son. In 1968, Mr. Sargent married Aili Honkanen, with whom he had a daughter. His work allowed him to travel often, an opportunity he used to spread the teachings of the Faith. Mr. Sargent served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of South-Central Africa from 1967 to 1969 and on the National Spiritual Assembly of Zimbabwe from 1970 to 1977, and again from 1980 to 1985. Before he passed away, Mr. Sargent had completed much research in preparation for the writing of the first Bahá’í history of Zimbabwe, and he had established the country’s first Bahá’í library. He was also the first to successfully introduce the Bahá’í Faith to a Zimbabwen chief.

Ferdosieh Soltani

26 September 1998 in Mogi Mirim, Brazil. Ferdosieh Badii was born in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on 2 February 1929 to a Bahá’í family. She

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married Qodratullah Soltani in 1948 and later moved with him to Iran. In 1955 she and her husband left Iran to pioneer to Brazil. They settled in $50 Caetano, in $50 Paulo state, where Mrs. Soltani served on the Local Spiritual Assembly for two years. In 1963, they moved to Mogi Mirim. In addition to serving on the Local Spiritual Assembly of that City, Mrs. Soltani contributed greatly to the construction and operation of the Centro Educacional Bahá’í Soltanieh, serving on the school’s administrative council and board. The Soltanis had two children. The Universal House of Justice wrote that “HER DEVOTED SERVICES NEARLY FOUR DECADES IN PROMOTING VITAL INTERESTS FAITH BRAZIL HIGHLY VALUED.”

Peggy True

27 May 1998 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands. Marguerite Elizabeth Trauger was born 24 October 1912 in Middletown, New York, United States. She married George True in 1934 and became a Bahá’í in 1936. In 1953 the Trues were the first Bahá’ís to settle in the Canary Islands, thus eaming the title Knights of Baha’u’llah. Mrs. Tme served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the National Spiritual Assembly of the Canary Islands. She was an author of a guide book and several children’s books, and was also a fashion designer and dressmaker. The Trues raised two children.

Peter Vuyiya

7 June 1998 in Eldoret, Kenya. Peter Vuyiya was born in Kenya 16 March 1922 to a Quaker family. He was educated at Makarere University in Uganda

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and subsequently earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Cambridge University in England and a master’s degree in agn'cultural education from Oregon State University in the United States. From 1948 until his retirement in 1972, he served with the Kenyan Civil Service as District Agricultural Officer and Provincial Agricultural Officer. Later, with the Ministry of Lands and Settlements, he was Chief Technical Officer at the Ministry’s Nairobi headquarters. He embraced the Bahá’í Faith in 1953, after hearing a passage from the book Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era read by a Bahá’í to one of Mr. Vuyiya’s colleagues. “There was something far-reaching in the passage on the unity of mankind,” Mr. Vuyiya later recalled. Mr. Vuyiya was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Kenya in 1969, was appointed by the Universal House of Justice as a Continental Counsellor for Africa in 1973, and in 1988 was asked by the House of Justice to serve as a Counsellor member of the International Teaching Centre in the Holy Land, 21 post he held until 1993. He had four children with his wife Ruth. The Universal House of Justice wrote that his decades of service “BEAR ELOQUENT TESTIMONY STERLING QUALITIES WHICH CHARACTERIZED HIGHLY VALUED EFFORTS THIS DISTINGUISHED PROMOTER FAITH.”

John Wade

26 November 1998 in Bristol, England. John Wade was born 20 April 1910 in London. He j oined the Bahá’í Faith in 1955, along with his wife Rose, and was soon elected to London’s

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Local Spiritual Assembly. After the passing of the Guardian in 1957, Mr. Wade and his wife became the caretakers of Shoghi Effendi’s resting place in London. They raised three children. In 1965, while he was serving on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís Ofthe British Isles, Mr. Wade was asked to come to the Bahá’í World Centre to serve as the first Secretary—General of the Bahá’í International Community, a position which he filled for fifteen years. Mr. Wade helped organize the first Bahá’í World Congress in London in 1963 and, while serving in Haifa, the International Bahá’í Conventions of 1968, 1973, and 1978. Rose Wade passed away in 1987. Following his return to England, Mr. Wade and his second wife, Carolyn, took up the editorship of the Bahá’í' Journal, the newsletter of the United Kingdom’s Bahá’í community. After Mr. Wade’s passing, the Universal House of J ustice wrote that “HIS INDOMITABLE FAITH, HIS WISDOM, HIS LOVING SPIRIT AND TIRELESS SERVICES CAUSE SPANNING OVER FOUR DECADES WERE MOTIVATED PASSIONATE DEVOTION BAHA’U’LLAH.”

Dora Wedge

3 December 1998 in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. Alice Dora Wedge was born 29 July 1916 in the southern Yukon. Mrs. Wedge was a highly respected, widely loved elder of the Tlinget/Tagish Nation who played a key role in the expansion and development of the indigenous Canadian Bahá’í community. She became a Bahá’í in 1961 and thereafter shared the Bahá’í teachings with many First

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Nations peoples, and was a member of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Carcross for thiIty-three years. “Auntie Dora’s” home was always open to travelers and for Bahá’í meetings. Around 1950, she married Harold Wedge. They had four children.

O.Z. Whitehead

29 July 1998 in Dublin, Ireland. Oothout Zabriskie Whitehead was born 18 March 1911 in New York City, United States. Mr. Whiteheadcalled “Zebby” by those who knew him—grew up in upper-class Manhattan, and defied his family’s wishes by dropping out of Harvard University to pursue an acting career, becoming an accomplished stage and screen actor. From the 1930s through the 19605 he worked with several notable dramatists, including Noel Coward, Lillian Gish and John Ford. He was probably most famous for his role as Al in the 1940 film version of The Grapes of Wrath. Mr. Whitehead became a Bahá’í in 1950 and was able to meet Shoghi Effendi while on pilgrimage in 1955, an experience about which he spoke of the rest of his life. In 1963, after serving on the Local Spiritual Assemblies of both New York and Los Angeles, he left the United States to pioneer to Ireland. He served on that country’s National Spiritual Assembly from 1972 to 1974 and from 1975 to 1987. Mr. Whitehead wrote three collections of biographies of early Bahá’ís—Some Early Bahd ’z’s Of the West, Some Bahd ’z's t0 Remember, and Portraits of Some Bahá’í' Women. He also contributed regularly to Bahá’í journals. In a letter to the Irish National Spiritual Assembly,

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written after Mr. Whitehead’s passing, the Universal House of Justice said that Mr. Whitehead’s “LONG YEARS SELF-SACRIFICING DEVOTION TO THE CAUSE OF GOD. . .CONSTITUTE IMPERISHABLE RECORD LIFE EXEMPLARY SERVICE.”

Rúḥíyyih Zahrai

19 July 1998 in Verdun, Quebec, Canada. Rúḥíyyih Zahrai was born Rúḥíyyih al-Tahhan on 1 October 1928 in Damascus, Syria, to a Bahá’í family. Mrs. Zahrai settled in several countries throughout the Arab world in order to serve their nascent Bahá’í communities. She pioneered to Iráq in 1949 and married Shahab Zahrai in 1955. They had five children. After their marriage they moved to Oman and then in 1959 to Kuwait. The following year they moved to Qatar and finally to Lebanon in 1967. Mrs. Zahrai worked most of her life as a skilled tailor and was known for her honesty and integrity. In 1986, in the midst of the Lebanese civil war, her husband was kidnapped in Beirut. For three years Mrs. Zahrai stayed in Beirut, trying to find him. In the the interviews she conducted about her husband, Mrs. Zahrai did not hesitate to affirm her belief in the Bahá’í Faith in front of people from groups often very hostile to the Bahá’í Faith and its teachingsSyrian anny officers, Iranian Embassy officials, and local militia leaders. During the war, her neighbors would often gather in her apartment and ask her to chant prayers to end the constant bombardment. She never found her husband. Finally, in 1989, the Zahrai family moved to Quebec.