Edward Bode
Edward Bode | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | August 25, 1906 Missouri, USA |
| Died | March 13, 1976 Funchal, Madeira Islands, Portugal |
| NSA member | Netherlands ???? - ???? |
Edward L. Bode (August 25, 1906 - March 13, 1976) was an American Bahá’í who served on the Inter-America Committee and pioneered in South and Central America and later pioneered to Europe where he served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Netherlands.
Biography[edit]
Bode was born in a small town in Missouri in 1906, his father was a German who had emigrated to America as a child. The family moved to St. Louis when he was around three or four where he grew up and worked in a hardware store in his youth. In about 1923 the family moved to California and Bode began working in Hollywood as an actor and assistant director and through work he met Mary Hotchkiss, a Bahá’í who had acted in plays in New York who introduced him to the Bahá’í Faith.[1]
In 1936 Bode married Mary and they settled in California where they served on the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Beverly Hills.[2] As of January 1941 Bode was serving on the Regional Teaching Committee for California, Nevada and Arizona.[3] In December that year he was delegated by the Inter-America Committee to supply information about the climate and other physical conditions in Latin America to prospective pioneers,[4] and in 1942 he and his wife, Mary, continued serving on the Inter-America Committee.[5] In late 1942 he presided over an afternoon session at a Teaching Conference held in Alhambra, Southern California.[6] In February 1943 both Bode and his wife had to step down from the Inter-America Committee.[7]
In 1946 the Bodes pioneered to Brazil arriving in Rio de Janeiro to settle in March,[8] and they helped form an official Bahá’í group and Bode was appointed to the Portuguese Publishing and Distributing Committee.[9] While on the Committee he oversaw the translation of God Passes By and publication of a translation of Some Answered Questions and had the translations copyrighted with the Brazilian National Library.[10] In 1947 both Bode and and his wife helped form the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Rio de Janeiro,[1] and he was appointed to the Regional Teaching Committee for Brazil.[11] At some point they moved to Chile,[12] and in November 1948 the Bodes returned to the United States, sailing to New York from Chile, aiming to establish connections in the States which would allow them to pioneer again in the future.[13]
In March 1949 the Bodes pioneered to Amsterdam, Holland,[14] and in March 1950 they pioneered again to Lisbon, Portugal.[15] In mid-1950 they returned to the United States,[16] where Bode had major surgery in 1952,[1] but in 1954 pioneered again settling in Cuernavaca, Mexico.[17] They remained in Central America, also teaching in Puebla and Panama, before returning to the United States in January 1956 where they taught in Mississippi and Florida.[1]
In October 1959 the Bodes returned to Holland where they helped establish a Bahá’í group in Arnhem.[18] In July 1960 Bode he contributed to the Benelux Summer School delivering a course on Bahá’í Administration,[19] and in September he was appointed to represent the Bahá’í International Community at the World Association of World Federalists conference held in Cologne, Germany.[20] In 1961 the Bodes were elected to the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Arnhem,[21] and as of 1966 Bode was serving on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Netherlands.[22]
In 1969 the Bodes pioneered to the Madeira Islands in Portugal from Holland settling in Funchal at the suggestion of the Universal House of Justice.[12] They were able to form a Bahá’í Group that year,[23] and his wife passed in Lisbon that year.[12] In January 1976 he contracted bronchial asthma after suffering influenza and in March he suffered a stroke and passed the following day.[1] The Universal House of Justice cabled the following after his passing:
SADDENED PASSING DEDICATED BELIEVER EDWARD BODE HIS FIRM DETERMINATION REMAIN POST MADEIRA EXEMPLIFIED SPIRIT DEVOTION CAUSE HE SERVED FOR MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS AS PIONEER AMERICAS EUROPE. OFFERING PRAYERS HOLY THRESHOLD PROGRESS HIS SOUL.[24]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1978). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 16 (1973-1976), Pg(s) 567. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1976). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 15 (1968-1973), Pg(s) 460. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1941). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 141, Pg(s) 11. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1941). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 149, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (July, 1942). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 154, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1942). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 156, Pg(s) 9. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1943). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 160, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1946). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 181, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1946). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 182, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (December 1948). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 214, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1947). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 194, Pg(s) 12. View as PDF.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Baha'i News (1970). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 466, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (December 1948). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 214, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1949). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 218, Pg(s) 1. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1950). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 229, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1950). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 233, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1970). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 13 (1954-1963), Pg(s) 930. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1961). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 363, Pg(s) 11. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1960). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 354, Pg(s) 13. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1960). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 356, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1961). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 367, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1966). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 425, Pg(s) 9. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1969). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 462, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1976). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 541, Pg(s) 0. View as PDF.
