Hugh Chance

Hugh Chance
Born	December 28, 1911 Winfield, Kansas
Declared	1954
Died	March 25, 1998 Winfield, Kansas
Resting place	Tisdale Cemetery
NSA member	United States 1961 - 1963
UHJ member	1963 - 1993
Spouse(s)	Margaret Chamberlain (1911 - 1996) m. 1934
Children	Mary Ann
Signature
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Hugh Emery Chance (December 28, 1911 - March 25, 1998) was an American Bahá’í who served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and the Universal House of Justice. In his professional career he was a lawyer who primarily worked representing the field of chiropractic.

Biography

Early Life & Career

Chance was born into a Methodist family in Winfield, Kansas in December 1911. His parents were Hugh Chester and Edna Johnson Chance and they moved to a rural farm near Tisdale, Kansas, in 1912 where Chance grew up performing farm duties such as taking care of chickens, milking cows, and assisting his father with slaughtering pigs for meat. He rode a horse two miles in order to attend school in Tisdale from the farm.

In 1922 the family moved to Davenport, Iowa, where Chance's father studied chiropractic at the Palmer Chiropractic College, and Chance attended High School in Iowa and joined the Reserve Officers Training Corps in his final year. After completing High School in 1929 he enrolled in Cornell College in Mount Vernon and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in political science with a minor in psychology and he met Margaret Chamberlain during his studies. After graduating he enrolled in law school and in 1932 he began working as an announcer for a local radio station working alongside Ronald Reagan.

In 1934 Chance married Margaret Chamberlain, and he secured a job as an assistant to a professor writing Conflicts in Law and also as a janitor as his father was no longer able to support him financially. He attended summer classes which enabled him to graduate from law school in 1934 and he then established a private practice in Muscatine. In 1935 he joined the Y's Men International (affiliated with the YMCA) later becoming the bodies International President in 1943. The Chance's lived with Margaret's mother in Muscatine and due to the Great Depression his practice struggled so in 1936 he began working as a Justice of the Peace. In 1937 his daughter Mary Ann was born. In 1942 they had a son, Robert, who died the next year.

In 1943 Chance joined the United States Navy and move to Tucson, Arizona, for training. At the same time B.J. Palmer employed him as the secretary of the Chiropractic Health Bureau as he had heard through his father that he was a lawyer and he worked while completing his Navy training. After training he was transferred to San Diego and assigned to the crew of the S.S. Moscowski. Chance's father encouraged him to visit Stanley and Mariette Bolton, chiropractors he had studied at Palmer College with, if Chance was ever in Australia. Chance was stationed in the South Pacific at some point and spent a weekend with the Bolton's who introduced him to the Bahá’í Faith giving him some pamphlets on the religion although he was not particularly interested in it at the time. He sent the pamphlets home to his wife who became very interested, along with their daughter.

In 1946 Chance completed his term of military service and then settled in Davenport, Iowa, where he began working for the International Chiropractor's Association as legal counsel.

Bahá’í Service

In 1953 the Bolton's visited the United States for the Dedication of the Wilmette Temple and visited Chance and his family. Chance's wife and daughter declared that year and he declared in 1954. He was elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of Davenport when it was established in 1956, as a delegate to the National Convention, and after a short time he was appointed to the National Teaching Committee. In 1961 he was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and as Assembly Secretary succeeding Charles Wolcott who had been elected to the International Bahá’í Council. He retired from his position with the International Chiropractor's Association as he had to move to Wilmette, Illinois, to serve as Assembly Secretary.

In 1963 Chance attended the First International Convention in Haifa held to elect the Universal House of Justice as a member of the US National Assembly and he was elected to the Universal House of Justice himself. He initially intended to resign immediately in order to care for his mother-in-law and maintain his house, however within a few days his mother-in-law passed and his house was sold and he moved to the Holy Land to serve on the Universal House of Justice being assigned to the English Secretariat of the body. One of the initial goals the Universal House of Justice set for itself was formulating a Constitution and as Chance was a lawyer he was majorly involved in drafting the Constitution which was finalized and published in 1972. He also completed the codification of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, begun by Shoghi Effendi in the 1950's, which was published in 1973. He later assisted with the establishment of the International Bahá’í Audiovisual Centre while serving as a House member.

In addition to his Bahá’í service Chance founded the Haifa Historical Society and served as a member of the Haifa Rotary Club having joined Rotary in the United States in 1961. He visited Australia where his daughter had settled in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, in 1984, and in 1985 he visited Winfield, Kansas, where he was able to give talks at several churches as he had assisted the Winfield Oratorio Society in gaining permission to visit Israel in the 1980's.

Retirement

In the late 1980's the Bahá’í community of Winfield, Kansas, invited the Chance's to retire to the city and they moved there when Chance retired from the Universal House of Justice in 1993. Chance was an active member of the American Bahá’í community, teaching at the Louhelen Summer School and attending unit conventions and other events.

Chance suffered a stroke and became partially paralyzed at some point but continued supporting Bahá’í activities. As of 1996 he had begun to reduce his activities due to his health being in decline and that year his wife Margaret passed away. In 1997 he participated in the Kansas Bahá’í Centennial despite having a broken collar bone at the time and having to be driven on an over three hour journey from Winfield to Enterprise.

In 1998 Chance passed away and he was buried alongside his wife in Tisdale Cemetery. The Universal House of Justice cabled the following after his passing:

HEARTS HEAVY WITH SORROW AT PROFOUND LOSS TO BAHÁ’Í WORLD OF HUGH E. CHANCE, OUR DEARLY LOVED FORMER COLLEAGUE, STAUNCH, FAR-SIGHTED SUPPORTER CAUSE BAHÁ’U’LLÁH. CONSTANT OPTIMISM, ADAMANTINE FAITH, INDOMITABLE WILL CHARACTERIZED HIS NOTABLE THREE-DECADE-LONG SERVICES AS MEMBER UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE SUBSEQUENT TO HIS MEMBERSHIP NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY UNITED STATES. HIS MANIFOLD CONTRIBUTIONS ORGANIZATION WORLD CENTER FAITH, HIS UNTIRING EFFORTS PROMOTE INTERESTS CAUSE ESPECIALLY FAR EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC REGIONS, HIS VIGOROUS ASSISTANCE DEVELOPMENT EXTERNAL AFFAIRS ACTIVITIES BAHÁ’Í INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY HAVE LEFT IMPERISHABLE RECORD ACHIEVEMENTS. SUPPLICATING ARDENTLY HOLY THRESHOLD THAT HIS NOBLE SOUL MAY REAP RICH REWARDS ABHÁ KINGDOM, THAT HE MAY BE JOYOUSLY REUNITED HIS BELOVED WIFE MARGARET, THAT HEARTS HIS DEAR DAUGHTER AND OTHER MEMBERS FAMILY MAY BE SOLACED.

ADVISE HOLD MEMORIAL GATHERINGS IN HIS HONOR ALL HOUSES WORSHIP AND THROUGHOUT BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY.

Publications

• 1982 - A Crown of Beauty, with Eunice Braun.

Bahai.media has a related page: Hugh Chance

References

• "Members of the Universal House of Justice". Beliefnet. 2002-09-13. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
• Duane L. Herrmann, personal interviews, November 1994.