Donald Witzel
Donald R. Witzel | |
|---|---|
 Donald Witzel in 1972. | |
| Born | October 1928 Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. |
| Died | August 29, 2014 Barquisimiento, Venezuela |
| NSA member | Central America 1956 - 1961 Panama 1961 - 1963 Venezuela 1990 - 2010 |
| ABM | Americas 1963 - 1968 |
| Counsellor | South America 1968 - 1980 Americas 1980 - 1985 |
Donald Ross Witzel (October 1928 - August 29, 2014) was an American Bahá'í who taught the Faith in many countries including Korea, Japan, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, and most notably Venezuela for many years. He served as an inaugural Continental Counsellor for South America. He translated and produced 82 volumes of deepening material in Spanish.
Background[edit]
Donald was born in Los Angeles in 1928, and he became a Bahá'í at the Los Angeles Bahá'í Center in the mid-1940's.[1] In 1950 he married Mignon Thomasson, and they moved to Utah and Kansas for a short time.
He was in the Army reserves, and in 1951 he was called to active duty and deployed to Pusan and then Chonchon, Korea, as an officer in the Quartermaster Corps. He converted some to the Faith while in Korea. In 1952 he transferred to Tokyo, Japan, where Mignon was able to join him, and he continued to visit Korea along with John S. McHenry II, another Bahá'í in the military, to teach the Faith.
In 1953 he returned to the U.S., completed a degree at the University of California, and then pioneered to Managua, Nicaragua, to assist with the goals of the Ten Year Crusade. In 1956 he was elected to the Regional Spiritual Assembly of Central America, Mexico, and the Antilles, and in September 1957 he taught at the first Bahá'í Summer School of Nicaragua in Nandaime.[2] By 1959 the Witzel's had moved to Masaya, Nicaragua, as a stable Local Spiritual Assembly had been established in Managua.[3] They regularly visited the nearby Native American community of Monimbe to teach the Faith while living in Masaya.[4]
In 1960 Donald, Mignon, and their two children pioneered to Panama and in 1961 Donald was elected to the inaugural National Spiritual Assembly of Panama as Secretary.[5] In 1961 Donald, and Kirby Brown, spent a few weeks in Chiriqui Province, having been invited there to teach the Faith.[6] By 1963 Donald had been appointed as an Auxiliary Board member.[7] In 1964 he visited northern Colombia, which resulted in large growth in the Bahá'í community there.[8] By July 1965 the Witzel's had pioneered to Colombia.[9] In 1966 he was named executive Auxiliary Board member for South America. In 1967 Donald assisted some pioneers in traveling to teach the Faith to the Motilons, a remote Indigenous group who resided in the Andes mountains.[10] He pioneered to Venezuela in 1967.
In 1968 Donald was appointed as an inaugural Continental Counsellor for South America.[11] In August 1968 he first met with his fellow Counsellors and Hand of the Cause Jalal Khazeh in Cochabamba, Bolivia.[12] In 1980 the Universal House of Justice merged the Boards for North, South, and Central America into a single Board for the Americas, and introduced five year term limits. Donald was appointed to the new body and served until completing his term in 1985.[13]
In 1988 the Universal House of Justice appointed Donald to a committee which managed Bahá'í radio in Latin America, eventually managing nine Bahá'í radio stations. In 1990 he was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Venezuela, and he served on the body for twenty years. He also served on the Local Spiritual Assemblies of Palavecino and Barquisimento during this time, and served on the Venezuela National Commission for Bahá'í literature and on the executive committee for the Association for Bahá'í Studies in South America.
He passed away in Venezuela in 2014, and was survived by his children and grandchildren. The Universal House of Justice conveyed to following message to the National Spiritual Assembly of Venezuela following his passing
“His distinguished life of service to the Cause of God for more than six decades began in his youth as a pioneer with his wife Mignon to the Far East during the ministry of the beloved Guardian and continued in Panama and later in Venezuela until the end of his days. … His wide-ranging contributions to the progress of the Faith in such fields as teaching, Bahá’í literature, and social and economic development leave an enduring legacy from which future generations will benefit.”[14]
References[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ Obituary post on Facebook from Los Angeles Baha'i Archives
- ↑ Baha'i News (1957). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 321, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1959). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 335, Pg(s) 14. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1959). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 337, Pg(s) 12. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (July 1961). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 364, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1962). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 371, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1963). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 390, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1964). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 400, Pg(s) 11. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1966). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 419, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1967). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 436, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (August 1968). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 449, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1968). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 453, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (February 1981). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 599, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
- ↑ https://www.bahai.us/community/news/2014/november-december-2014/donald-witzel-was-counselor-pioneered-in-latin-america-and-asia/
