Sue Benatar

Sue Benatar
Born	October 31, 1917 Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia
Died	April 5, 1995 South Africa
NSA member	South & West Africa 1959 - 1961
ABM	Africa 1958 - 1959

Salvator "Sue" Benatar (October 31, 1917 - April 5, 1995) was a Zimbabwean Bahá’í who served on early Bahá’í institutions in Africa and later moved to England where he served on Local Spiritual Assemblies.

Background

Benatar was born into a Sephardic Jewish family in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, in 1917 and he was the second youngest of eight children in his family. His family called him Salvator but he was generally known as Sue, a nickname based on his Hebrew name which was Yeshua. His father founded the Sephardic Hebrew Congregation in Salisbury holding the services in the family home.

Benatar enrolled to study chemical engineering at the University of Witwatersand and while studying he boxed becoming the amateur welterweight champion of Rhodesia and he also competed in ballroom dancing competitions. At the start of WWII he enlisted in the Military initially joining the Medical Corps but he was sent to Nahariya, Palestine, to study in a Officer Cadet Training Unit and he became a lieutenant in the King's Royal Rifle Corps and served in North Africa, Italy, and Austria. At the end of the war he did not have enough money to continue his studies.

After the war Benatar met Sylvia Schulman through ballroom dancing and they married on September 12, 1949. He worked in various fields after the war and in 1954 he was working in a furniture store and through the store he met Dr. W. Kenneth Christian and his family. Christian was a Bahá’í pioneer who had just arrived from the United States and they became close friends, with Benatar trying to help Christian find work, and they remained in correspondence when the Christian's left Zimbabwe, although they never discussed religion. In December 1954 Lawrence Hautz and his wife arrived in Salisbury as Bahá’í pioneers and contacted the Benatar's and began proclaiming the Faith to them which they initially found off-putting but in 1955 they both declared and were elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of Salisbury when it was established that year.

Benatar joined a leading photography firm at some point and he worked in photography for the rest of his professional career. He served as the official photographer for the early National Conventions for South and West Africa which were held in Salisbury. In 1958 he attended the laying of the foundation stone of the Kampala House of Worship in Uganda. When John Robarts and William Sears were appointed as Hands of the Cause Benatar was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member and assigned responsibility for Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Angola, Mozambique, and Ruanda-Urundi and he was later elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of South and West Africa and served as treasurer.

In 1962 the Benatar's moved to England settling in Cambridge and Sue was elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly. In 1967 he went on pilgrimage and the Audio-Visual Department at the World Centre consulted him and he began supplying the World Centre with high quality photographic equipment. In 1971 he pioneered within England to Bedford where he also served on the Local Spiritual Assembly and in 1976 he pioneered to Luton. In 1977 the Benatar's returned to Africa pioneering to Cape Town, South Africa, to fulfil an international goal of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United Kingdom and he served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Cape Town until pioneering to open the suburb of Milnerton to the Faith.

In 1990 Benatar was diagnosed with leukemia. While undergoing treatment he continued to travel accompanying his wife to musical events and he was able to attend the commemoration of the Centenary of the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh in the Holy Land in 1992 and an International Summer School in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1994. He suffered a fall at home in 1995 and passed away on April 5. The Universal House of Justice conveyed the following message after his passing:

SADDENED LOSS OUTSTANDING PROMOTER FAITH SOUTHERN AFRICA, SALVATOR "SUE" BENATAR. HIS DEDICATED BAHA'I SERVICES, IN VARIOUS CAPACITIES OVER SEVERAL DECADES, WILL BE LONG REMEMBERED. PRAYING HOLY THRESHOLD PROGRESS HIS RADIANT SOUL ABHA KINGDOM. KINDLY CONVEY OUR CONDOLENCES HIS DEAR WIFE AND CHILDREN.