Doris Richardson
Doris Richardson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1901 Ontario, Canada |
| Died | May 13, 1976 Grand Manan Island, Canada |
| NSA member | Canada 1948 - 1949 |
Doris Richardson (1901 - May 13, 1976) was a Canadian Bahá'í who served on the first National Spiritual Assembly of Canada and was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for pioneering to Grand Manan Island.
Biography[edit]
Doris was born in 1901 in Ontario. When she was sixteen she married Mr. Richardson, an American from a strong Catholic family. She investigated Christian Science in her youth.
She was introduced to the Bahá'í Faith by Howard Colby Ives and Mabel Ives, and became a Bahá'í in 1939. She moved to Scarborough, Ontario, and was a member of the cities first Local Spiritual Assembly, and she held firesides every Saturday which became the center of teaching activity. She served on the first Teaching Committee of Ontario and traveled to visit communities across the Province throughout the 1940's, and she also traveled to other parts of Canada, teaching at the Maritime Summer School in 1947.[1] In 1948 she was elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly of Canada.[2]
In 1951 she pioneered to the Maritime region of Canada and served on the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Moncton in New Brunswick. At the beginning of the Ten Year Crusade in 1953 she pioneered to Grand Manan Island. She managed a summer hotel, the Marathon Inn, on the island from 1953 to 1974 and later became a girls' school matron.
In 1957 the first Grand Manan Island local declared due to Doris's teaching.[3] In 1958 she attended an Intercontinental Bahá'í Conference in Chicago and wrote an article about it which was published in a local Grand Manan paper, the first article on the Faith published in the area.[4]
Doris passed away due to cancer on Grand Manan in 1976. The Universal House of Justice conveyed the following message after her passing:
ASSURE PRAYERS SHRINES PROGRESS SOUL ABHA KINGDOM KNIGHT BAHAULLAH DORIS RICHARDSON HER DEVOTED SERVICES CAUSE ENRICH ANNALS FAITH CANADA.
References[edit]
- Obituary published in The Bahá'í World Vol. 17, pp 410-411
- Redman, E. The Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, George Ronald Press, London. pp 276-277
Notes[edit]
- ↑ Baha'i News (1947). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 197, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1948). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 207, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1957). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 321, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1958). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 330, Pg(s) 20. View as PDF.
