Bahá’í World/Volume 34/Obituaries

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[Page 237]

DAVID S. RUHE

On 6 September 2005, in Newburgh, New York, USA.

David S. Ruhe, born on 3 January 1913, was a medical doctor, an accomplished filmmaker, a Bahá’í administrator, a painter, and an author. A Bahá’í for more than six decades, he served on the Faith’s supreme governing body—the Universal House of Justice—for 25 years.

After graduating from the Temple University School of Medicine in 1941, Dr. Ruhe began his medical career during World War II as a malaria researcher with the United States Public Health Service. In 1954, he was named the first professor of Medical Communications at the University of Kansas Medical School. Among the innovations he introduced at the university were the use of optical fibers for endoscopic cinematography, the projection of high-definition images in surgical theaters, and the videotaping of psychiatric sessions for peer review. He made scores of medical films, winning the Golden Reel award, the Venice Film Festival award, and the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain award for his productions. In the course of his work in medical education, he was appointed director of the Medical Film Institute for the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Dr. Ruhe enthusiastically embraced the Bahá’í Faith in Philadelphia in 1941 and developed an extensive and profound knowledge of its writings and teachings. He served on numerous Local Spiritual Assemblies and national committees. Elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the [Page 238]United States in 1959, he served as its secretary from 1963 until 1968, when he was elected to the Universal House of Justice, on which he served for five terms of five years each, until 1993.

A prolific writer, Dr. Ruhe authored many papers and two books on aspects of medicine and medical audiovisual communication. Gifted with a capacity to nurture dedication in others, Dr. Ruhe also contributed to the educational work of medical institutions in Haifa during his years at the Bahá’í World Centre.

Dr. David Ruhe

While serving on the Universal House of Justice, Dr. Ruhe developed a passionate interest in the history and archaeology of the Holy Land and wrote Door of Hope, a detailed history of Bahá’í holy places in Israel, published in 1983. Later, he authored Robe of Light, an historical account of Bahá’u’lláh’s early years, published in 1994. During their vacations, he and his wife Margaret enjoyed visiting and supporting fledgling Bahá’í schools, universities, and radio stations around the world—from Thailand to Chile. Upon his 1993 retirement from the Universal House of Justice, Dr. Ruhe and his wife returned to New York State, where he produced a series of documentary ‎tv TV‎ programs about the Bahá’í Faith.

The Universal House of Justice wrote that Dr. Ruhe’s passing deprived the world community of a “steadfast, tireless, long standing servant.” It praised his “humanitarian spirit and strength of will” and called for memorial gatherings to be held everywhere, including commemorative services in his honor in all the Bahá’í Houses of Worship.

JOYCE DAHL

On 16 March 2006, in Monterey, California, USA.

Born Joyce Lyon in Burlingame, California, on 14 August 1908, Joyce Dahl first heard of the Bahá’í Faith while studying at Stanford University and joined the Bahá’í community in 1931 after a year in which she attended meetings in Paris, France. From the late 1930s through the 1950s, she served the United States Bahá’í community as a member of various committees. She was [Page 239]

OBITUARIES

also a founding member of the Local Spiritual Assemblies of Palo Alto and Monterey Carmel Judicial District. She married Arthur Ludwig Dahl in 1936 and raised four sons. The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States described Mrs. Dahl as "one of the most knowledgeable, capable, faithful and persevering Bahá’ís of her generation or any other." She was an enthusiastic international traveling teacher who made numerous journeys to, among other places, Barbados, the Falkland Islands, the Windward Islands, St. Lucia, the French Antilles, Haiti, French Guiana, and Hawaii. She served as an Auxiliary Board member in California from 1977 to 1986. Articles written by Mrs. Dahl were published in Bahá’í Magazine and previous volumes of The Bahá’í World.

MOHAMMAD-ALI DJALALI

On 22 April 2006, in Fuengirola, Spain.

Mohammad-Ali Djalali, born in the early years of the twentieth century, was serving as a Muslim cleric in Iran when a Bahá’í, after hearing one of Mr. Djalali's sermons criticizing the Bahá’í Faith, invited him to his house. Examining a book of Bahá’u’lláh’s writings in his host's home led Mr. Djalali to further investigation and eventual acceptance of the Faith. Possessed of an intrepid and independent spirit, Mr. Djalali dedicated himself to promoting the Bahá’í teachings in Iran, and further afield in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Responding to the 1953 call of Shoghi Effendi for the Faith to be taken to many countries of the world where it had not yet been established, Mr. Djalali was among the first Bahá’ís to reside in Morocco, for which Shoghi Effendi gave him the title "Knight of Bahá’u’lláh." From Morocco, Mr. Djalali moved on to Algeria, the Canary Islands, and settled finally in Spain, from where he continued to travel widely throughout the African continent, visiting Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Nigeria, and Mauritania. In the early 1990s, as opportunities for teaching the Bahá’í Faith opened in the republics of the former Soviet Union, Mr. Djalali traveled under arduous conditions, and despite his advanced age, to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The Universal House of Justice praised his "dedicated and selfless spirit as evinced in his tireless and historic teaching activities on several continents."

MERE FOX

On 17 July 2005, in Whangerei, New Zealand.

Born in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, on 25 November 1907, Mere Fox hailed from a distinguished tribal ancestry. After becoming a Bahá’í, she served on the first Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Taupo, formed in the early 1970s, and continued this service for many years. She was also appointed an assistant to the Auxiliary Board member. "Aunty Mere," as she [Page 240]was affectionately known, devoted several decades to teaching the Bahá’í Faith among the Maori people, promoting its teachings at marae (tribal gathering places) around the country. In the mid-1980s, at the request of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of New Zealand, she was part of an ope (traveling team) that visited prominent Maori dignitaries and government departments. She became well known throughout the Bahá’í world when she appeared, at the age of 85, on a satellite television broadcast, performing with other Bahá’ís from New Zealand at the Second Bahá’í World Congress in New York City in 1992. The Universal House of Justice described her as “a staunch and devoted maidservant of Bahá’u’lláh for several decades, known for her dedication to the promotion of His Cause.”

WILLIAM S. HATCHER

On 27 November 2005, in Stratford, Ontario, Canada.

William S. Hatcher was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, on 20 September 1935. He received his BA and MA degrees from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and his doctorate in mathematical logic from the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland. After serving three years as associate professor of mathematics at the University of Toledo, Ohio, Dr. Hatcher settled with his wife, Judith, in Canada in 1968, where he worked as a professor of mathematics at the Université Laval in Québec City until 1995. Dr. Hatcher was preparing to enter the Christian ministry after undergraduate school when he encountered the Bahá’í Faith in a comparative religions course. He joined the Bahá’í community in 1957, forgoing a scholarship to Yale Divinity School.

Throughout his life as a Bahá’í, Dr. Hatcher served on numerous administrative bodies at the local and national levels. He was a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Switzerland (1962-65), the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada (1983-91), and the National Spiritual Assembly of the Russian Federation (1996). He played a vital role in promoting the academic study of the Bahá’í Faith through helping to found the Association for Bahá’í Studies of North America.

Dr. Hatcher's specializations included mathematical logic, philosophy, and the philosophical interpretation of science, religion, and ethics. He wrote more than 50 articles, books, and monographs, infused with a characteristic clarity of expression, humor, and warmth. These included Logic and Logos: Essays on Science, Religion and Philosophy (1990) and Love, Power, and Justice: The Dynamics of Authentic Morality (1998). The Bahá’i Faith: The Emerging Global Religion (1985), co-authored with Douglas Martin, was named by Encyclopedia Britannica in 1986 as book of the year in religion. On learning of Dr. Hatcher's passing, the Universal House of Justice wrote that the “Bahá’í [Page 241]world has lost one of its brightest minds, one of its most prolific pens," and that he would long be remembered for his "stalwart faith, forceful exposition, and penetrating insights which characterized nearly half a century of ceaseless services."

LAGILAGI SEREVI KEAN

On 28 September 2005, in Nasinu, Fiji.

Lagilagi Serevi Kean was born on 27 December 1963, the eldest child in a Bahá’í family. Her parents served the Faith with distinction in Fiji before moving to the Marshall Islands. One of Fiji's first well-educated Bahá’í women, Mrs. Kean was devoted to education, assisting in the development of kindergartens and encouraging youth to become well educated. She served as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Fiji. As chief officer for external affairs, she was actively engaged with the dissemination to the prominent people of Fiji of The Promise of World Peace, a statement by the Universal House of Justice prepared for the United Nations International Year of Peace in 1985. In March 2002, she spearheaded a public event for the release of the National Spiritual Assembly's document Multicultural Harmony in Fiji: Pathway to a Prosperous and Peaceful Future. She was the chief translator of documents from the Universal House of Justice and served as a representative for the Institution of Huqúqu’lláh. In recent years, she was an active and enthusiastic supporter of the training institute process.

Professionally, Mrs. Kean worked in the finance section of the Ministry of Education, handling sensitive financial matters. Shortly before her passing, she had been promoted to a newly created position in which she traveled throughout the country to assist schools in developing financial accountability. Mrs. Kean worked conscientiously to bring indigenous Fijians, Indians, and other races together. The Universal House of Justice remarked on her "notable contribution to the promotion of multicultural harmony in Fiji," and wrote that she "will long be remembered for the dedication with which she carried out the duties of Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer of the National Spiritual Assembly at various times over a period of some twelve years of distinguished service on the national body."

BETTY KOYL

On 21 April 2006, in Lillehammer, Norway.

Born on 14 January 1917, Betty Koyl spent her early years as a Bahá’í in New York City and Chicago. In the 1940s and 1950s, in the face of threats to her safety, she carried out extensive travels to the Southern states of the United States of America, promoting concepts of the oneness of humanity in racially segregated places such as Little Rock, Arkansas, and Winston-Salem, North [Page 242]Carolina. In 1960, she moved to Norway to help establish Local Spiritual Assemblies in towns on the southwest coast and later, in the east interior. From the mid-1970s she remained in Lillehammer, where she continued to serve the Bahá’í community with selfless devotion and warm humor. The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States wrote, "we recall with admiration and deepest appreciation her 46 years of patient, wise and indefatigable efforts, in several different localities in her adopted Norwegian home ... to form and maintain Local Spiritual Assemblies, those precious points of light in a Europe darkened by immorality and indifference to religion."

MARIJKE (MARIA JOHANNA) VAN LITH-BOXMAN

On 16 January 2006, in Leiderdorp, the Netherlands.

Born in Bandung, Indonesia, on 16 January 1924, Marijke van Lith-Boxman moved with her family to the Netherlands when she was a young girl.

She married Jacobus Eduard "Bob" van Lith in 1950. The couple lived in Amsterdam, where they were introduced to the Bahá’í Faith in 1951, joining the community the following year. They had seven children. Mrs. van Lith devoted her energies to her large family, as well as to publishing and translations into Dutch of Bahá’í literature. She also served on the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Haarlem. In 1976, Mr. and Mrs. van Lith moved to Suriname, settling in Paramaribo. They both served on the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Suriname, formed in 1977. Mrs. van Lith was soon afterwards appointed as an Auxiliary Board member for Suriname and French Guiana. She traveled widely throughout South America and the Caribbean for the next 17 years. In 1982, she went to Colombia to receive training at the Ruhi Institute and enthusiastically promoted its educational activities on her return. Following her husband's passing in 1983, Mrs. van Lith continued traveling, teaching, and assisting Bahá’í communities in Suriname. She was instrumental in establishing the Surinamese World Religions Day Foundation along with prominent leaders of the Hindu, Muslim, Christian, and Bahá’í communities. She traveled to some 40 countries promoting the Bahá’í teachings, including Russia, Indonesia, and New Zealand. Following her return to the Netherlands in 1994, Mrs. van Lith dedicated herself to her family and attending conferences as a representative of the Bahá’í International Community. These included the Beijing Women's Conference in 1995, Habitat II in Istanbul in 1996, and the Parliament of World Religions in Cape Town in 1999. A passionate advocate for women's rights, she met and conversed about the Bahá’í teachings with HRH Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands at an event called "Women and Labour 1898-1998." Mrs. van Lith served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Leiderdorp from 1994 until her passing on the morning of her 82nd birthday. On hearing of her passing, the Universal [Page 243]

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House of Justice wrote that her "longstanding dedication to the promotion of the Cause is recalled with gratitude and admiration."

FREDERICK PALMER LOCKE

On 19 January 2006, in Limbe, Malawi.

Frederick Palmer Locke was born in Port Said, Egypt, on 20 March 1921. His early years were plagued by a congenital heart condition and, after his family sought a better climate by moving to California, USA, he was often confined to bed for months at a time. He enrolled in college several times but always had to drop out because of his health. Mr. Locke had known about the Bahá’í Faith since the 1940s when his sister Isobel (Sabri) embraced its teachings. He registered himself as a Bahá’í in 1967, after his first marriage ended in divorce, and dedicated himself completely to the service of the Faith. He remarried in 1970 and served on the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Grass Valley, California. In February 1975, he and his family moved to Malawi. Mr. Locke served the Faith in many capacities in Malawi, as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly, attending six International Conventions as a delegate, as treasurer of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Blantyre, and on numerous national committees. Mr. Locke was deeply respected and admired by many people, including numerous friends of Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, and Christian origins, who delivered words of love and respect at his funeral.

JOHN MCHENRY III

On 18 January 2006, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

John McHenry III, who was born on 22 November 1932 in Evanston, Illinois, was serving as an Army private stationed in Japan when he began to travel to Korea in the company of several other Bahá’í servicemen to promote the Bahá’í teachings. Despite a history of Bahá’í visitors dating back to the 1920s, no Bahá’ís had settled in Korea before 1953. The country elected its first Local Spiritual Assemblies in 1956 and, with the encouragement of Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, Mr. McHenry was able to establish permanent residence there in 1957. He settled in Kwangju and joined the teaching faculty at Chosun University. Mr. McHenry traveled throughout South Korea giving public talks about the Bahá’í Faith. In January 1963, he was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member. In 1964, Mr. McHenry married Ok-Sun Pak, with whom he raised three children. That same year, Korea's first National Spiritual Assembly was formed, by which time the Bahá’í community numbered several thousand. The McHenrys returned to the United States in 1966 but stayed determined to contribute to the development of the Bahá’í community in Korea. They moved back in 1969 and stayed until the mid-1970s. During this time, South Korea's Bahá’í population doubled, and Bahá’í marriage and holy days gained official recognition. Mr. McHenry also served as the first [Page 244]Continental Counsellor to reside in Korea. On his return to the United States, Mr. McHenry worked for many years as a computer specialist in Washington, DC, and Denver, Colorado. He and his wife moved to Albuquerque in 1987. There, he served at various times as secretary or treasurer on the Local Spiritual Assembly. He maintained his great passion for teaching the Bahá’í Faith and held study classes. He passed away after a long and courageous battle with cancer. The Universal House of Justice, on learning of his passing, praised his "eagerness and reliability" and "staunchness of faith worthy of emulation."

RUTH KATHARINE MEYER

On 29 March 2006, in Linderos, Chile.

Born on 17 January 1908, Ruth Katharine Meyer was a conservatory-trained pianist who, with a degree in business administration and economics, worked as an economic analyst for the US government in Washington DC, where she became a Bahá’í in 1945. Despite being unfamiliar with Spanish, she volunteered to move to Latin America in 1947 after Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, wrote about the great need for Bahá’ís to settle there. She arrived in Caracas, Venezuela, after traveling through several Caribbean islands teaching the Bahá’í Faith. Funding her travels through school-teaching, office work, and other jobs, she visited Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and Argentina. In 1953, she opened the Venezuelan island of Margarita to the Bahá’í Faith and was honored by the Guardian with the title "Knight of Bahá’u’lláh." For 11 years, she assisted in the building of Bahá’í communities in several localities, before moving on to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. She was elected to the inaugural National Spiritual Assembly of the Leeward, Windward, and Virgin Islands and served as its secretary. She participated in a number of projects in Venezuela and the Caribbean, taking the Bahá’í teachings to indigenous people. In 1969, Ms. Meyer moved to southern Chile. The following year, she was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member and spent more than a decade traveling across Chile and to several islands, as well as parts of Argentina and Bolivia. In 1979, she published a book in English and Spanish describing the Bahá’í Faith’s development in Latin America. She was an independent and energetic woman, and the Universal House of Justice wrote that Ms. Meyer’s "many services to the Cause, including her pioneering in Chile over several decades and her dedicated work in the Mapuche region will long be remembered."

‘IZZATU’LLAH RASIKH

On 7 April 2006, in Rockville, Maryland, USA.

The fourth of eight children born into a Bahá’í family in Tehran, Iran, Dr. Rasikh began his career as a physician in 1943 in Khoramshar. He pursued a specialty degree in chest medicine at the University of Paris in France, serving [Page 245]as a member of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Paris during his studies. On his way back to Iran in 1952, he joined the first group of pilgrims after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War to visit the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa. There he had the opportunity to meet Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith. In Tehran, Dr. Rasikh was appointed medical director of a chest hospital operated by Iran's social services system, but he gave up the position four years later to answer a call for Bahá’ís to settle in Indonesia. From 1956 to 1958, he served as professor of medicine at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta. In 1957, he was elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly of South East Asia. Health concerns forced him to leave in 1958. He went to the University of Mississippi, USA, for advanced studies in cardiology, and then went into private practice in Tehran in 1960. In 1968, he moved to the United States, beginning with a residency in psychiatry in Memphis, Tennessee. For 12 years, he was an attending psychiatrist at a hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina. On his retirement in 1984, he resided in Maryland and Florida before settling in McLean, Virginia. He continued to devote considerable time to Bahá’í activities. In 1985, at the request of the Universal House of Justice, he traveled to Pakistan to counsel Bahá’í refugees who had fled Iran after the 1979 Revolution. He also supported the launch of Payam-e-Doost, a program of the Bahá’í International Radio Service, and wrote numerous articles for the Persian-language periodical Payam-e Bahá’i. In his 70s, he made an extended visit to Albania to promote the Bahá’í teachings. Dr. Rasikh passed away at the age of 88 after a long illness. On hearing of his passing, the Universal House of Justice described him as a "steadfast, stalwart servant of Bahá’u’lláh, who has left an exemplary record of Bahá’í service spanning more than half a century. His courage as a pioneer to Indonesia... his humanitarian endeavors in several countries as a medical expert, and his constant study of the Writings and authorship and translation of articles are outstanding."

GERTRUDE SCHMELZLE

On 24 July 2005, in Caloundra, Queensland, Australia.

Born on 9 March 1922 in Datteln, Westphalia, Germany, Gertrude Schmelzle served the Australian Bahá’í community with great distinction. She and her husband became Bahá’ís in 1962, eight years after they had moved to Australia. Mr. Schmelzle's mother had been raised in the German Templar colony in Haifa, Israel, and had, as a child, encountered ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. From the time of their joining the Bahá’í community, Mr. and Mrs. Schmelzle hosted countless gatherings, open to people from diverse cultural backgrounds and walks of life. Their home was always welcoming and many relied on Mrs. Schmelzle for counsel and kindness. For more than four decades, she served the community in various capacities, as a member of Local Spiritual Assemblies and regional committees, and as an assistant to the Auxiliary Board. [Page 246]Mrs. Schmelzle greatly respected, and was devoted to, the indigenous population of Australia. She enjoyed close friendships with Aboriginal elders and their extended families. Her numerous visits took her to remote areas including Woorabinda, Alice Springs, along the Murray River, and from Cairns through the bush to aboriginal communities. Other travels included attending the One Tribe Institute in North Queensland, the opening of the Bahá’í House of Worship in Western Samoa, and a Health Conference in India. As a natural health practitioner, she was dedicated to a holistic approach combining scientific knowledge and an acute diagnostic skill. Her expertise was sought by many, including three Hands of the Cause of God—Amatu’l-Bahá Rúbiyyih Khánum, Mr. John Robarts, and Mr. Abu’l-Qasim Faizi. With her husband’s support, Mrs. Schmelzle also carried out invaluable historical research about Haifa’s German Templar community, gathering photographs and interviews with its members. One interviewee, a 96-year-old woman, recalled sitting on the lap of Bahá’u’lláh when He sojourned briefly at her family’s home. On learning of her passing, the Universal House of Justice praised Mrs. Schmelzle’s “great devotion” and “fidelity for many decades, during which time she made a distinctive contribution to the advancement of the Cause.”

SATANAM SINGARAVADIVELU

On 6 July 2005, in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.

Satanam Singaravadivelu was born on 15 October 1940 in Seremban, Malaysia. His parents were ethnic Jaffna Tamils and devoted Hindus who had migrated to Malaysia from Ceylon. Mr. Satanam became a Bahá’í in April 1960 and devoted his energy to youth activities and widely promoting the Bahá’í teachings including to the Asli people and Tamil-speaking populations, sometimes traveling hundreds of miles by motorcycle. He made extensive visits to Sabah, Sarawak, Burma, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sikkim, India, Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu, and Thailand. Mr. Satanam served on Local Spiritual Assemblies in Seremban, Jelebu, Port Dickson, and Rantau. He was a keen children’s class teacher, his warm and loving nature being a natural magnet for young people. He was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member in 1979. He served in this capacity until 1993, when he moved to Cambodia. He was also appointed as the first representative of the Institution of Huqúqu’lláh for West Malaysia. He served again as an Auxiliary Board member in Cambodia and played a key role in the re-formation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Cambodia following decades of civil war. Mr. Satanam and his wife moved to Indonesia in 1996, settling in a remote and difficult locality where their home became a haven and refuge for a sorely persecuted community. He encouraged and assisted the Bahá’ís to start small, sustainable socioeconomic projects. In 1999, after another move, he was appointed an Auxiliary Board member for [Page 247]Laos. From December 2003 until his passing, Mr. Satanam battled cancer but continued to visit Bahá’í communities and promote the training institute process. In its message of condolence, the Universal House of Justice wrote that Mr. Satanam's life was "distinguished by over forty years of service to the Faith" and that his "contributions to the development of the Cause in many countries in Asia, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, and Malaysia, and his distinguished service as a member of the institutions in those areas are recalled with deep appreciation."