In Memoriam 1992-1997/Jan Dreyer

JAN DREYER

1931—1996

SADDENED NEWS PASSING OF DEDICATED TEACHER FAITH JAN DREYER. HER LONG AND INSPIRING RECORD PIONEER SERVICES IN EL SALVADOR LOVINGLY REMEMBERED. ASSURE FERVENT PRAYERS IN THE HOLY SHRINES FOR THE PROGRESS OF HER SOUL IN THE ABHA KINGDOM. KINDLY EXTEND HEARTFELT CONDOLENCES TO HER FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

Universal House ofJustiee

August 13, 1996 an Dreyer was born Elaine Schechter Jinto the Jewish home ofphilip and Sara Schechter on May 15, 1931, in Brooklyn, New York. Elaine was introduced to the arts as a young Child. She received singing and dancing lessons and first appeared professionally on stage at the age of four. She received classical voice and ballet training through her teens and was selected to attend the renowned New York School of Music and Arts. Shortly after graduating from high school, she began to travel with a well—known dance band as the principal female vocalist, visiting most of the major Cities of the United

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States. She spent her summers singing in the hotels of the Catskill Mountains of New York State. She performed as well in the Clubs of New York City under the name of Elaine Anderson for classical appearances and as Jan Winters when she was billed as a popular song vocalist, appearing with such well—known stars as Sammy Davis Jr. and Don Rickles. She moved to southern California to continue her show business career but abandoned it after being disappointed with the decadence there.

Besides having been blessed with an extraordinary singing voice and disarming amber green eyes that could perceive the auras emanating around those she met, Jan was exceptionally bright and articulate, a clear thinker, and a meticulous dresser. She easily entered the Los Angeles business world and became the manager ofa large employment agency.

In 1963 a neighbor investigating the Faith, well aware of Jaifs keenness, asked her to evaluate some passages of the Bahá’í Writings he was reading. He was so delighted with her Clear and positive insights that he suggested she attend a Bahá’í meeting herself—a suggestion she accepted. She would later relate how the talk struck her like a bolt oflightening as she listened to the young lady sharing the Message at the fireside, a woman seemingly speaking directly to her. She stayed up that entire night and most of the following day reading about the Faith, and she declared her faith in Baha’u’llah the following evening.

She was blessed with a deep understanding of the Faith early in her Bahá’í life, an understanding that led her to the front lines of service. She assisted in the formation of the Local Spiritual Assemblies in the California communities of Monterey, Morrow Bay, San Louis Obispo, and Redondo Beach. She also gave a class on Shoghi Effendi at the Geyserville

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School. She was briefly married to John Williams, and of their union :1 son, Tracy, was born.

Notwithstanding her chronic bouts with asthma, Jan’s earnest desire was to respond to the Guardian’s directives to pioneer overseas. She found a companion who shared this life—purpose in Marvin Dreyer. They met in 1968 when Jan was asked by the Los Angeles Local Spiritual Assembly to sing at an activity to proclaim the Faith. Marvin, a Bahá’í composer and guitarist, was asked to accompany her on that occasion. A Few weeks later, on his way to a study session at Geysetville, Marvin stopped in San Louis Obispo to say “Hello” to Jan and little Tracy. They had dinner together, and Marvin spent the night with a local Bahá’í, anxious to get an early start the next morning for Geyserville.

The morning Marvin was to leave, Jan suffered a severe asthmatic attack and needed to be hospitalized. Marvin postponed his trip to take care of two—year—old Tracy.

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Marvin took an apartment and nursed Jan back to health for the next three months. Jan’s brother, knowing of her desire to serve the Faith and thinking a change of Climate and surroundings might contribute to her health, offered to finance a year’s teaching trip to wherever she might like to go. However, Jan had fallen in love with Marvin. After many prayers, and considering what would be best for the Faith, Jan decided to travel teach in Latin America. She planned to leave Tracy in the care of pioneer friends in Honduras while she went on to visit the friends in Panama, the Caribbean, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. As Jan and Tracy were boarding the plane, Marvin asked for her hand in marriage, and Jan accepted. He was to catch up with them in Colombia six months later.

Three days later Marvin received a call from Jan’s pioneer friends and learned that she was gravely ill in a Honduran hospital. Marvin took the next plane to Central America. Upon his arrival Jan’s health returned, and they were married at a Bahá’í summer school in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. At the wedding Jan and Marvin met a pioneer to El Salvador who invited them for a week’s visit, an invitation they accepted.

Jan and Marvin arrived in El Salvador the first week of 1969. During their stay they were overwhelmed by offers to do folk concerts throughout Central America and the Caribbean. Although there were no US pioneering goals for El Salvador, they postponed their South American travels and took up temporary residence there. They sang, learned Spanish, and taught the Faith for a year. Shortly thereafter the US pioneering goals were expanded by three for El Salvador; and Jan, Tracy, and Marvin were delighted to fill them. A few years

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later, Jan and Marvin were blessed with the birth ofa daughter, Diann.

When Jan arrived in El Salvador, the Bahá’í community numbered less than four hundred. Jan and Marvin developed a slide show outlining the principles of the Faith, and together with a seasoned Bahá’í speaker and a bevy of Bahá’í youth and a sound system, they sang and taught throughout the countryside. The program consisted of popular songs to attract attention, an introductory talk on the Faith, the slide show, and then Bahá’í songs. Later the youth would discuss the Faith with members of the audience, and usually there were declarations. Within a few short years the El Salvador Bahá’í community had grown to over ten thousand as a result of the proclamation efforts. Jan, along with other team members, traveled to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras to share the teaching technique.

In 1972 Jan and her husband, upon the request of the Universal House of Justice, travel—taught using this formula in Mexico, Central America and Panama, Colombia‘ Venezuela, Trinidad, Barbados, St. Martinique, Antigua, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Puerto Rico. They also appeared on television and radio, proclaiming the Faith in each of these countries.

Jan’s dedication and organizational capacity bolstered the Bahá’í administration in El Salvador. She served on the National Spiritual Assembly and on the Local Spiritual Assemblies in the three cities where they resided. She also served on the National Teaching Committee, the National Proclamation Committee, the National Television Committee, and the National Correspondence Course Distribution Committee and as the Project Coordinator for various teaching campaigns in El Salvador. Jan weathered many

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physical and spiritual tests as a pioneer to El Salvador, on two occasions injuring herselFon teaching trips. She and Marvin often hosted youth breakfasts during the Fast. jan was a devoted wife and mother and a talented, obedient, radiant handmaiden of God. She was also the Bahá’í representative to the Office of the United Nations for Central America.

Jan Dreyer passed away on August 11, 1996, after suffering poor health for several months.

When they hear of the Faith or are visited by traveling teachers, people From different walks of life in the Cities of Central America and peasants throughout the countryside still ask about “Doria” Jan.

From an article submitted by

7M National Spiritual Assembly Oft/76 Babd’z’: of El Salvador