In Memoriam 1992-1997/Henrietta Crittenden Clark Trutza

In Memoriam 1992-1997 Henrietta Crittenden Clark Trutza

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HENRIETTA CRITTENDEN CLARK TRUTZA

1923-1993

OUR HEARTS DEEPLY SADDENED BY NEWS PASSING DEARLY LOVED HENRIETTA TRUTZA FAITHFUL HANDMAIDEN BAHÁ’U’LLÁH WHOSE MANY YEARS PIONEERING SERVICES ALONG WITH HER DEAR HUSBAND HAVE LEFT ENDURING CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRESS FAITH PACIFIC AREA. HER SPIRIT DEVOTION DURING PERIOD WORK WORLD CENTRE EXEMPLARY, KINDLY CONVEY OUR LOVING SYMPATHY MEMBERS HER BELOVED FAMILY. FERVENTLY PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HER ILLUMINED SOUL ABHÁ REALM.

Universal House of Justice November 16, 1993

A picture of stately elegance, Henrietta welcomed members and guests to her home, wherever she lived. Welcoming people for firesides, Feasts, and Holy Days, she frequently wore a beautiful hostess gown, given to her in St. Lucia by Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhiyyih Khánum.

Henrietta was born on January 6, 1923, in Denver, Colorado, to Elizabeth Crittenden Clark and George Nathaniel Underwood Clark. Her paternal grandmother, Josephine Hall Clark, and great-aunt Henrietta Clark Wagner were among the first Bahá’ís in the United States. Henri, as she was known to many, was therefore a third generation Bahá’í, as were all but one of her seven brothers and sisters.

When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited the United States in 1912, the Clark home on 4141

--- 55 A member of the first Spiritual Assembly of Los Angeles in 1910.

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Henrietta Crittenden Clark Trutza

Xavier Street was one of the places He honored with His presence. The home was later owned by a succession of Bahá’ís before being purchased in 1990 by the Denver Spiritual Assembly. It is now listed on the register of National Bahá’í Historic Sites, and restoration efforts have been undertaken by the Clark House Council. Henrietta served on the Council and provided invaluable information about the home as it was during the time of the Master's visit when He blessed it saying, "God willing, it will always be a Mashriqu’l-Adhkár." Henrietta verified the authenticity of the family rocking chair that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had used—a chair in which all the younger children had been rocked.

Henrietta met and married Herbert Buder. The couple lived in Austin, Texas, and they had four children before the marriage dissolved. Henrietta and the children remained in Austin, and she hosted many Bahá’í meetings there, was appointed an assistant to an Auxiliary Board member, and served on the Spiritual Assembly. The children were included in activities, and they remember visits from prominent Bahá’ís such as Florence Mayberry, Curtis Kelsey, Jack McCants, and the Hand of the Cause of God Dr. Ugo Giachery.

Among the seekers who attended her firesides were Phil Trutza, his wife, and son. Mrs. Trutza was terminally ill with cancer and accepted the Faith before her death. Phil also declared his faith in Bahá’u’lláh. In 1961 he and Henrietta were married, and they raised five teenagers.

Henrietta attended the first Bahá’í World Congress at Royal Albert Hall in London in 1963. A short time later she and Phil attended a teaching conference in Texas and were inspired to pioneer. They went to St. Croix in 1964 with three of their children—Anne and Bob Buder and Sam Trutza. Henrietta and Phil then moved to St. Lucia where they operated their own construction business. They endured many obstacles and were favored with many bounties. They worked closely with Esther Evans, Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for the Windward Islands. Henrietta was elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Leeward, Windward and Virgin Islands when it was formed in 1967, and as a member of that institution she went to Haifa as a delegate to the Second International Convention in 1968.

Circumstances forced the Trutzas to leave St. Lucia in 1969. Henrietta and Phil returned to the United States and served as caretakers of the Bahá’í Center in Washington DC. A series of moves followed as Phil pursued opportunities in the construction industry. Wherever they were, Henrietta was busy with Bahá’í activities, and during this time their goal was to replenish their resources so as to return to the pioneering field.

By the late 1970s their goal was achieved, and Henrietta and Phil went to Pohnpei [Page 98](then Ponape) in the Caroline Islands, taking their granddaughter Felicia with them. They designed and built the Haziratú’l-Quds there, and Phil built a similar edifice on the island of Yap. Henrietta developed a deep and lasting friendship with Knight of Bahá’u’lláh Virginia Breaks, with whom she often worked to achieve Bahá’í goals. She and Phil stayed with Virginia during their time in Pohnpei.

Henrietta made extensive traveling teaching trips and assisted the consolidation work of local communities throughout the islands. On one such journey she made an arduous two-week boat trip with Felicia as her sole companion. They traveled to remote atolls where isolated Bahá’ís were reported to be living. She always went equipped with the utmost courage and a faith in Bahá’u’lláh, never knowing what would lie around the corner.

In 1979 after two years in Pohnpei, the Trutzas went to American Samoa and later to Western Samoa where Henrietta served on the National Teaching Committee. She continued her traveling teaching to remote areas to assist with Local Assembly elections each year.

In 1983 when Phil’s contract expired, the couple was invited to serve at the Bahá’í World Centre, where they remained until 1987. Henrietta served at the International Teaching Centre while Phil worked as project manager for the restoration of Holy places in Akká, Bahjí, and Haifa. Most notably he oversaw the restoration of the house of ‘Abdu’lláh Páshá and the roof of the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh. Phil suffered a stroke in 1987 leaving him unable to work, so the family returned to American Samoa. Henrietta cared for Phil, and both continued to serve on the Spiritual Assembly of Tafuna and to host events at home. Additionally Henrietta served on the National Teaching Committee.

Phil passed to the Abhá Kingdom February 1, 1989, becoming the first Bahá’í pioneer to be buried in Samoa. Soon after his death Henrietta returned to the United States settling in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where she found employment with the Public Defenders Office. She was serving on the Cheyenne Assembly and was active in community affairs when she began to plan another pioneering venture to Puerto Rico with her sister, Josephine Johansen. In the summer of 1993, before the dream could be realized, Henrietta was diagnosed with a terminal illness. She moved to Syracuse, New York, to be cared for by her granddaughter Felicia Canfield, and there she peacefully ascended to the Abhá Kingdom November 8, 1993.

During her life of service to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, Henrietta was guided by the quality of radiant acquiescence, and she will long be remembered for her unfailing devotion, dauntless courage, and countless acts of kindness.

Natalie Reyes with assistance from Felicia Canfield, Linda Buder, and Anne Garrett-Wermuth

56 See Virginia Breaks, pp. 101-4.