Roddy Dharma Lutchmaya
Roddy Dharma Lutchmaya | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | June 7, 1932 Mesnil, St. Paul, Mauritius |
| Died | September 24, 1989 |
| NSA member | Indian Ocean 1964 - 1972 Mauritius 1972 - 1985 |
| Counsellor | Africa 1985 - 1989 |
Roddy Dharma Lutchmaya (June 7, 1932 - September 24, 1989)[1] was a Mauritian Bahá’í who served on National and Local Spiritual Assemblies in Mauritius, and as a Continental Counsellor for Africa.
Biography[edit]
Lutchmaya was born in Mesnil, St. Paul, Mauritius in 1932 into a Church of England family, and he was an active member of the Church from childhood. He graduated from formal studies at the age of seventeen and became a clerk in the Government Service the following year, and worked in that role until being recruited into the Prisons Service and attending a one-year course on prison management in England a few years later.
In 1956 Roddy was introduced to the Bahá’í Faith by a talk given by an American doctor who had pioneered to Reunion Island and he declared in November 1956. In 1957 he was elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of Quatre Bornes and he served on Local Spiritual Assemblies until being appointed a Counsellor in 1985.
In 1963 Roddy attended the First Bahá’í World Congress in London, England.[2] In 1966 he married Premabye Appa and they had four children. In 1967 he was appointed Commissioner of Prisons for Mauritius, and he was the first local Mauritian to serve in the post, which he held until his passing.
In 1964 he was elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Indian Ocean, and he served on the body until the National Spiritual Assembly of Mauritius was established in 1972, and he served on that body until being appointed a Continental Counsellor for Africa in 1985.
Roddy passed away in 1989 and the Universal House of Justice conveyed a message after his passing, an excerpt:
PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS RADIANT SOUL. CALLING FOR SPECIAL MEMORIAL GATHERINGS MOTHER TEMPLE KAMPALA AND IN BAHA'I COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT AFRICAN CONTINENT. CONVEY RELATIVES HEARTFELT SYMPATHY
References[edit]
- Obituary published in Bahá’í World, Vol. 20, p 940-41
Notes[edit]
- ↑ Baha'i News (1990). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 705, Pg(s) 17. View as PDF.
- ↑ Heroes and Heroines of the Ten Year Crusade in Southern Africa (2003) , compiled by Edith Johnson and Lowell Johnson, p 60
