Margery McCormick

Margery McCormick
Born	February 9, 1889 Winnetka, Illinois
Died	July 14, 1964 Wilmette, Illinois
NSA member	USA 1953 - 1959
ABM	Americas 1954 - 1964
Media

Margery McCormick (February 9, 1889 - July 14, 1964) was an American Bahá'í who served on the National Teaching Committee and National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and as an inaugural Auxiliary Board member for the Americas.

Biography

Margery was born in Winnetka, Illinois, in 1889. She suffered a lengthy illness in her youth and was unable to attend school. She married a Canadian urologist and they moved to Edmonton, Alberta. She returned to visit her family in the United States and during one of these visits in 1925 she was taught the Faith by Albert Ross Vail.

Her husband passed away in 1935 and she moved to the United States and became an active Bahá'í. In 1937 she went on pilgrimage and met Shoghi Effendi, who encouraged her to give talks during dinners with the pilgrims and when she arrived back in America she gave a talk at the New York Bahá'í Center. She continued to deliver talks on the Faith for the rest of her life.

Margery was serving on the National Teaching Committee of the United States by the 1940's and in October 1946 she represented the NTC at a conference in New York. Throughout October and November 1946 she taught the Faith in Greensboro in North Carolina, Greenville and Columbia in South Carolina, and Augusta and Atlanta in Georgia. During her teaching trip local Bahá'ís arranged for her to teach at public meetings, firesides, luncheons, and suppers. She spoke at the 1947 National Convention on behalf of the NTC on the goals set by the Guardian. In January 1948 she spent three weeks in Charleston assisting with a public teaching campaign.

In 1950 Margery spoke on the radio station KFAB in Nebraska and also gave a talk on the progress of the Wilmette Temple to the Bahá'ís in Omaha. She taught a session on the Seven Valleys and the Hidden Words at Louhelen Summer School in 1951. At the 1952 National Convention Margery suggested that it was necessary for Bahá'ís to become informed about the prophecies of the Bible during discussion on the topic of teaching. She also attended a regional teaching conference in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in May, 1952.

In 1953 Mamie Seto and W. Kenneth Christian retired from the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly to pioneer and Margery was elected alongside Robert McLaughlin at a by-election. The following year she was appointed as an inaugural Auxiliary Board member for the Americas, being assigned to the United States, in addition to continuing to serve on the National Assembly, being elected Treasurer. She visited Louhelen School in 1954 as she was preparing to undertake a tour of Bahá'í communities across South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma. She continued to travel extensively as part of her duties as Auxiliary Board member into early 1955, visiting cities in Michigan, Alabama, Mississippi, New Orleans, Louisiana, Texas, Indiana, and Wisconsin. In the Fall of 1955 she visited the Maritime Provinces of Canada and gave a talk to twenty-five guests at a public meeting in Charlottetown and a fifteen minute radio talk in addition to meeting with the local Bahá'ís.

Margery made a second pilgrimage in 1955 during which she received praise from Shoghi Effendi for her service. After returning from pilgrimage she served as a guide at the Wilmette Temple, then resumed traveling to visit communities across Canada and the United States. Around this time she prepared a short compilation from the Writings called Spirit-Lifters which she gave out at talks she gave. In March 1957 she participated in a teaching conference in Kansas City, and in April 1957 she visited Buenos Aires, Argentina, and spoke at the Convention at which the Regional Spiritual Assembly of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay was formed, representing the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States. She also represented the National Assembly of the U.S. at the formation of the National Spiritual Assembly of South East Asia the same year. In September 1957 she spoke at a regional conference in Minneapolis.

In 1958 Margery was reappointed as an Auxiliary Board member for teaching, as separate Auxiliary Boards for teaching and protection were established that year. From 1961 she traveled extensively across the middle west, south, and southeastern states of America. In 1963 she attended the Bahá'í World Congress in London. She continued to serve on the Auxiliary Board into her old age, attending a week-end conference for Auxiliary Board members in Wilmette in 1964.

She passed away in July 1964. A memorial was held at the Wilmette Foundation Hall in December that year at which Hand of the Cause Zikrullah Khadem spoke on her longterm service. She was survived by two sons, Alan and James. The Universal House of Justice conveyed the following message after her passing:

GRIEVED LEARN PASSING MARGERY MCCORMICK BELOVED DEVOTED SERVANT BAHAULLAH LUSTROUS SERVICES FAITH SPANNING LONG LIFETIME BEFITTING MEMORIAL ASSURE FAMILY PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HER SOUL ABHA KINGDOM

References

Bahai.media has a related page: Category:Margery McCormick

• Obituary published in Bahá'í World, Vol. 14, pp 362-364