In Memoriam 1992-1997/Ruth Shook Armstrong Fendell

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IN MEMORIAM 1992—1997 33

RUTH SHOOK ARMSTRONG FENDELL 1908—1992

uth Fendell, early Bahá’í pioneer to

Latin America, was born in 1908 in Tacoma, Washington, and grew up in Lima, Ohio.

She was zealous in her conviction of the oneness of mankind even before she learned of Baha’u’llah’s teachings. For example, as a child in a Catholic school in the state of Washington, she was outraged by her teachers refusal to permit Ruth's Native American playmate to participate in the

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schools Invite a Friend to School Day.” Later, when she was a soloist in a Baptist choir, Ruth walked out of a church service in protest when a black woman was not allowed to enter.

Ruth was operating her own photography studio in Lima, Ohio, when she met Dorothy Baker, later a Hand of the Cause of God. She studied the Faith with Dorothy and declared herself a believer in the early 19405. Shortly thereafter Ruth set out to become one of the first pioneers to Colombia.

Ruth had been diagnosed with a pretubercular condition, and her doctor recommended a cold climate at a high altitude. She was offered employment as a teacher of x—ray technology in the Colombia hospital system. Owing to the demands of the war, air transport was limited, so Ruth traveled mostly by train and by car, meeting with the Bahá’ís in Mexico and Panama on her way. However, in the airport in Panama City she met Jacob “Jack” Davidson Fendell, a journalist living in Bogota where Ruth was about to settle. They were married in 1942.

In Colombia, as in Panama and later in Costa Rica, Ruth was an active teacher of the Faith, and she was especially effective in

Ruth Shook Armstmng Fendell

her capacity as hostess to the many visiting people of prominence with whom Jack had contact. It was well known that Ruth was a Bahá’í as she was enthusiastic in sharing her beliefs. At her table many eminent persons came to know Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings. She liked to include Bahá’í friends in her entertaining during the evenings of the Fast so that the new teachings would be especially noteworthy. Although Jack was not a Bahá’í, he was always very supportive of Ruth’s teaching activities and was well loved by the Bahá’í community. Their home was often the guest house for visiting Bahá’í teachers and was also the site of large gatherings of the friends for Holy Day Observances.

In 1948, following the revolution in Colombia, the Fendells moved to Panama. In 1952 they moved to Costa Rica with their two children, Jim and Elaine.

Ruth was well known in the town of San Miguel de Escazfi for her perseverance and assistance with the formal education of the children offamilies working on her

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coffee farm. She was very active as a Bahá’í traveling teacher to the port cities of Limon on the Atlantic coast and Puntarenas on the Pacific. She was also very prominent in local women’s activities, serving as president of the Women’s Club of Costa Rica and organizing fund—raising activities for the National Children’s Hospital (Hospital Nacional de Nifios). She was also a painter, giving art lessons to private students.

Ruth donated an attractive piece of property on a hillside overlooking the Central Valley to be the site of the future House of Worship in Costa Rica.

With several other pioneers she founded the Escuela Tntercontinental—a Bahá’í primary school for Children in kindergarten through grade three. The school was recognized by the Ministry of Education and its teachers included Alan Pringle, Emma Lawrence, Artemus Lamb, Valeria Lamb Nichols, and Theodore Cortazzi. The school operated from 1954 until 1957 when a polio epidemic swept through Costa Rica, and Ruth was stricken. It left her weak in her left side for the rest of her life. Fortunately she had always been ambidextrous and was able to continue with her painting and the teaching of her art students.

One of Ruth's most important artistic contributions to the Faith was her design and implementation of the gardens at the House of Worship in Panama. Raquel Constante, member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Panama at that time, recalls:

While the Temple was being constructed, Ruth designed and submitted her ideas for the gardens surrounding the Temple to the Universal House of Justice, who accepted her ideas, and she supervised the installation of the gardens. From time to time, she visited

the gardens, bringing plants, decorative rocks, and ideas for the beautification of the gardens on the Temple site. Although she was advanced in age and not too well, she worked long, hard hours in the hot sun to make the Bahá’í gardens as outstanding as possible to

complement our beautiful Temple.

Elaine Fendell, Ruth’s daughter, remembers that the fulfillment of her mother’s creative designs for the Temple gardens was possible in large measure owing to the loving and respectful relationship between Ruth and Richard Mirkovich, who served as building and grounds supervisor during that time. He understood her vision and painstakingly nurtured the hundreds of seedlings that she brought from her greenhouse in Costa Rica. It was truly a labor of love, which resulted in the beautiful gardens enjoyed today.

Ruth Shook Fendell passed away on December 10, 1992,” in Escazfi, Costa Rica. The Universal House ofjustice recognized her longevity as a pioneer in its condolence message of December 15.

Saddened passing capable veteran pioneer Faith Ruth Fendell. Her services over 50 years Latin American field unforgettable. Offering prayers Holy Shrines progress her soul realms on high.

Adapted from an article by Catherine E. Schmitz

2' Before her passing Ruth had also contributed to

the development of the Charles Wolcott Youth Institute in Santa Ana, Costa Rica.