Howard Menking
Howard Menking | |
|---|---|
_with_a_member_of_the_Continental_Board_of_Counsellors_in_Africa,_Kobina_Fynn,_at_the_jubilee_celebrations_of_the_Cape_Verde_Baha%27i_community..jpg) Howard (left) with Counsellor Kobina Fynn at the Cape Verde Bahá’í Jubilee, 2004. | |
| Born | March 29, 1925 Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA |
| Died | May 14, 2018 Charlestown, West Virginia, USA |
| Spouse(s) | JoAnne Menking |
| Children | Cristina, Clare, Cornell |
Howard Edwin Chris Menking (March 29, 1925 - May 14, 2018) was an American Bahá’í who opened the country of Cape Verde to the Faith with his wife JoAnne for which they were both named Knights of Bahá’u’lláh.
Biography[edit]
Howard was born to German Lutheran's Edwin C., a tool and die maker, and Esther Menking. He had one brother and one sister. In 1943 he joined the U.S. Navy, entering the Air Cadet program, and he was assigned to the USS Vulcan AR5. He met JoAnne Kinsey on a blind date during a furlough but was deployed to the Pacific front shortly afterwards.[1] He was an Electronics Technician's Mate Petty officer 2nd Class during his service, and was on the first U.S. ship to arrive in Hiroshima.
After the end of the war Howard returned to Indiana, and he met JoAnne by chance in a drugstore in Fort Wayne. They married on May 28, 1948. They settled in Fort Wayne and he found work repairing typewriters. Through this line of work he met Pauline Roth, an elderly Bahá'í woman, who introduced him to the Faith. Howard and JoAnne declared in 1949 and decided to pioneer to Brazil the same night.[2] The Menkings set sail for Sao Paulo from New York, where they met Juliet Thompson, but their time in Brazil was disastrous and they returned to the United States after a short time. They inquired with the Guardian about the year of separation required before divorce, and the reply included a postscript written by Shoghi Effendi assuring them that he would pray for their marriage, and they remained together.[3]
In 1953 they attended the dedication of the House of Worship in America, and at the Convention at which it was dedicated pioneers to open goal territories of the Ten Year Crusade to the Faith were requested. Initially the Menkings were reluctant, but with encouragement from Dorothy Baker they volunteered and later that year they departed the United States for the Cape Verde Islands.[4] They stopped in Lisbon, Portugal, on the journey where they purchased Portugese Bahá'í literature to assist them in teaching.[5]
The Menkings arrived in the Cape Verde Islands on January 4, 1954,[6] and were able to find a house shortly after arriving. As Howard had emigrated as a businessman they were confident they would be granted a residence visa, and they began lending out their Portugese Bahá'í literature shortly after arriving.[7] Howard struggled to find work, and sent a request to Shoghi Effendi that they be allowed to pioneer to mainland Africa, but they were directed to remain in Cape Verde. In 1955 the Menkings had their first child who they gave the middle name Pauline, after Pauline Roth. The Cape Verde community was more receptive after the birth of their child and the Local Spiritual Assembly of Praia was established in 1956.[8]
After the establishment of the Praia Assembly JoAnne and their daughter left for America, while Howard remained in Praia for a time. He later joined his family in America and he and JoAnne had a son, Clare, while in Clarksville, Tennesse in 1958. They moved from Clarksville to Dallas in 1959 where they pioneered to the suburb of University Park and they remained settled there for many years. They attended the 1963 World Congress. In 1964 they had a second son, Cornell.[9]
While living in Dallas the Menkings served the local Bahá'í community and raised their children. In 1988 tragedy struck when JoAnne passed due to cancer in May, and Clare was killed in a car accident five months later. Howard returned to Cape Verde and was joined by his two surviving children.
In 1990 he remarried to Loraine Browne and traveled the United States and Eastern Europe to teach the Faith, however they separated in 2002. Howard returned to Cape Verde again in 2004 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Faith in the country accompanied by his daughter and grandson. He visited the Bahá'ís across the island of Santiago and spoke at the Jubilee celebration.[10]
Later in life he continued to express the desire to return to Cape Verde, despite his health making it impossible. He passed away at the age of ninety-three in 2018, and was survived by a son and daughter.
References[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 907. View as PDF.
- ↑ Bahá'í World, Vol. 20, pp 907-908
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 908. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 908. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 281, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 276, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 281, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 909. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 909. View as PDF.
- ↑ https://news.bahai.org/story/350/
