Audrey Robarts

Audrey with her husband John.

Audrey Robarts (1904 - August 22, 2000), was a Canadian Bahá’í who was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for pioneering to Bechuanaland (now Botswana). Her husband John Robarts was a Hand of the Cause.

Life

Robarts was born Audrey Fitzgerald in Montreal in 1904. In 1928 she married John Robarts, and they both became Bahá’ís in 1937 and began actively teaching the Faith. Audrey was serving on the Regional Teaching Committee of Ontario as of 1944. In 1946 she was the guest of honor at a luncheon held at the Government House of Manitoba which she had assisted in organizing and at which the wife of the Lieutenant-Governor of the Province was introduced to the Faith.

In 1953 at the beginning of the Ten Year Crusade they decided to pioneer to Bechuanaland, which had not been opened to the Faith and was designated a goal area by Shoghi Effendi, with their youngest son Patrick and daughter Nina, a child at the time, and were named Knights of Bahá’u’lláh when they arrived in 1954. In 1957 John was named a Hand of the Cause of God by Shoghi Effendi. Also in 1957 the Robarts pioneered to Bulawayo, South Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe), and they remained in the country until 1966.

In 1966 Audrey and John returned to Canada and they settled in Rawdon, Quebec, however they continued to travel the world for the Faith. In 1969 Audrey visited Rhodesia, stopping in Bulawayo, Plumtree, Filabusi, Gwarda and Burnside. John's health began to fail in the late 1980's and by 1990 Audrey had secured a room at a nursing home near their house for him to be cared for. He passed in 1991. In 1992 Audrey visited southern Africa at the request of the National Spiritual Assembly of Botswana who addressed her as the "beloved mother of our country."

In early August 2000 Audrey was admitted to a nursing home in Rawdon and the following message was sent to the Bahá’ís of Canada:

"I write to you today to share news and to relay a request for prayers for Audrey Robarts, who is in the last days of her life on this planet. Audrey is in a nursing home in Rawdon, Quebec, just a few blocks from her home, surrounded by family members who have gathered at her bedside. She and her family are asking for prayers for the swift passage of her soul into the next world. She is serene and happy and joyously looking forward to her journey."

She passed on August 22, 2000.

References

• Obituary published in Bahá’í World, Vol. 29, p 272.