In Memoriam 1992-1997/Sara Frye
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IN MEMORIAM 1992—1 997
SARA FRYE 1914—1996
5am Frye
ara Margaret Frye was born in Washington, December 3, 1914. We do not know the
Pennsylvania, on
details of her early life or how she became a Bahá’í shortly after the death of her husband. A professional nurse since 1936, she was forced to retire in 1966 because of failing eyesight.
At the age of sixty—three, widowed and legally blind, she left a good job in Little Rock, Arkansas, in the middle of winter and moved to Pierre, South Dakota, where she took up residence in a hotel. Assisted by her efforts the first Local Assembly of Pierre was formed in 1977 with Sara as its chairman. While in South Dakota she was one of two adults blessed with the opportunity to work with the youth on the Pine Ridge Reservation—work that would spearhead the Amos Gibson Project in the 19805.
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She moved to South Carolina to help with the consolidation work after the advances made during the Five Year Plan (1974—79). In a matter of two years her father became ill, so she moved back to Pennsylvania to care for him until his passing.
In 1980 she pioneered to the Falkland Islands, living in rooms that used to house a bakery. The ovens were still intact, one of which had a false bottom used during the war years to safeguard the Bahá’í books and papers ofimportance. She lived there for two and a half years before moving to Denmark where she helped many youth come into the Faith.
Sara undertook a traveling teaching trip in January of 1985 to India and Western Samoa, following which she served the Faith in Tinian and Saipan in the Mariana Islands and Molokai in Hawaii.
Sara came back to the United States, settling in Selma, Alabama, a city noted For a history of racial difficulties. Accepting as a housemate a young black woman, she created something of a stir.
She moved to Springfield, Illinois, before going to Winter Haven, Florida. At the age of eighty she was planning to reenter the pioneering field. Her Local Assembly wrote, “The Assembly feels that Sara's most significant strength is her willingness to serve. Her long history ofservice is a lesson to us all. The Assembly hesitates to call Sara’s age and her legal blindness weaknesses; her indomitable spirit has turned these into something different.”
Sara passed away on May 9, 1996. She was eighty-one years old. In its message to the friends gathered at her funeral, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States wrote:
Indefatigable heroic maidservant Sara Frye will always be lovingly
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remembered. Her devotion to her Lord was exemplified by her services as a pioneer to the Falkland Islands, Denmark, Mariana Islands, and the Hawaiian Islands despite failed eyesight. Sara Frye’s dedication and commitment to the Faith of Baha’u’llah are her legacy to present and future generations and inspire each of us to greater service.