Helen Hazel Wilks

Helen Hazel Wilks

Helen Hazel Wilks (March 31, 1903 - January 3, 1980) was an American Bahá’í who pioneered to Africa where she served as an Auxiliary Board member.

Biography

Wilks was born in Anderson, Indiana, in 1903. Her father passed in 1919 and she moved to Bellingham, Washington, where she was raised by an aunt an uncle. She became a teacher and worked in a single room school in the town of Glacier in Washington.

In the 1930's Wilks began working as a store clerk and a coworker, Anna Reed, introduced her to the Bahá’í Faith. She declared in 1934 and began established a Bahá’í children's class in Seattle, although the only student was her daughter. In 1936 she married William S. Wilks, who was her second husband, and he became a Bahá’í shortly after their wedding and they pioneered within the Seattle area several times to help establish Local Spiritual Assemblies.

In 1963 the Wilks attended the First Bahá’í World Congress in London, England, and while attending they decided to pioneer to Africa. They served the community by travel teaching in southern Africa however William passed away while in Swaziland in December, 1965. In 1966 Wilks was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member for Propagation assigned jurisdiction over Swaziland. She later became Board member for Zimbabwe and also undertook assignments on behalf of the Continental Counsellors in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, the Seychelles, and Mauritius.

Wilks continued to actively serve as Board member into her later years despite suffering ill health and her eyesight failing. She passed away in January 1980 shortly after undertaking an extensive teaching trip to Bahá’í Women's Clubs. After her passing the International Teaching Centre conveyed the following message:

GRIEVED NEWS PASSING MUCH LOVED DEVOTED SERVANT FAITH HELEN WILKS. HER LONG YEARS OUTSTANDING WORK TEACHING FIELD BAHAI EDUCATION CHILDREN IN HER NATIVE LAND AND HER HIGHLY EFFECTIVE SERVICES AS PIONEER AND BOARD MEMBER AFRICA UNFORGETTABLE. SUPREME BODY AND TEACHING CENTRE ASSURE ARDENT PRAYERS SHRINES PROGRESS HER RADIANT SOUL.

A message written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice after her passing stated the following:

"It is the hope of the Universal House of Justice that the selfless and sacrificial efforts of friends like Helen Wilks may serve to inspire other friends in their aspirations for services to the Threshold of the Blessed Beauty, and to guide them in what they can achieve by devoting their resources to the advancement of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh."