Verne Stout

Verne Stout

Verne LaRue Stout (10 September, 1897 – 28 June, 1995) was an American Bahá'í who pioneered to Alaska. He served on the first National Spiritual Assembly of Alaska along with his wife Janet.

Life

Verne was born in the logging community of Sugar Run, PA, [near the city of Bradford, PA]. He attended the University of Rochester for three years before graduating from the University of Michigan, B.S., 1921. He worked in various fields, as a farmer, an insurance salesman, an aircraft plant worker in Cleveland and an autoplant worker in Detroit. He was introduced to the Faith by someone he played cards with in Geneva, New York and became a Bahá'í.

In 1943 W. Kenneth Christian sent him a letter asking him if he would be willing to move to Anchorage so that a Local Spiritual Assembly could be formed there, the first Assembly in Alaska, and Verne accepted the request. He was working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the time which allowed him to move to Alaska with a job waiting for him. He later worked for the Alaska Railroad as an upholsterer.

He arrived in Anchorage in June 1943, and was the first male Bahá'í pioneer to the country. He was named on a Pioneer Honor Roll published in Bahá'í News for the move.

He found it difficult to find accommodation. Initially he was only able to rent a bed for a few hours, with others sleeping in the same bed at other times during the day. He met Janet Whitenack, a fellow Bahá'í who had been asked to move to Anchorage so an Assembly could be established, when he picked her up from the train station by renting a taxi when she arrived in Anchorage.

The Local Spiritual Assembly of Anchorage was established on September 8, 1943, and Verne was elected as vice-chairman. He served on the Assembly for fourteen years. He married Janet on January 29, 1945, and the couple stayed in a tent while Verne built a house in Anchorage. In 1946 he undertook a ten day teaching trip to Fairbanks, holding two firesides.

In 1953 Verne chaired the first State Convention for Alaska, at which it was announced that Alaska would be forming an independent National Spiritual Assembly. He symbolically founded a fund for an Alaskan Haziratu’l-Quds by presenting a dollar bill in response to concerns that a fund could not be established before the National Assembly was established. The Guardian approved of the establishment of the fund, with Leroy Ioas writing the following on his behalf in a March 1954 letter:

The beloved Guardian was greatly encouraged to learn through a letter from Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell addressed to me, that at the Alaska State Convention on December 6th, a fund was started for the Hazíratu’l-Quds. The Guardian attaches great importance to the development of the Hazíratu’l-Quds even before there are prospects for the establishment of the National Assembly. The Guardian is arranging for a gift to this fund of $500 as his personal contribution. It will be sent you by the Treasurer of the American N.S.A. He hopes this will stimulate the friends to contribute to this important fund, as time goes on.

Leroy Ioas also wrote a letter on behalf of the Guardian to Verne and Janet personally in 1954.

The beloved Guardian greatly values the active services of you two devoted workers in the Faith. As you know, the Guardian feels that the future of Alaska is very important indeed, particularly the city of Anchorage. One of the goals of the Ten Year Crusade is the establishment of a National Assembly in Alaska. This great bounty carries with it great responsibilities; and therefore the Guardian is hopeful that each and every Bahá’í in Alaska will redouble their efforts in order to spread the Faith far and wide, and to bring many new souls into the Faith.

The Guardian feels sure that you two will render distinguished and outstanding services in connection with the development of the Cause in Alaska during the present Crusade. He assures you of his prayers in your behalf, and sends you his loving greetings.

Verne performed renovations on the building that was purchased to serve as the Alaskan Haziratu’l-Quds, and only completed work half an hour before it was opened in August 1954. He became the first white man to be elected to the local Executive Board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1953, and he was elected as the chapters Treasurer in 1954. In 1955 he attended the All-Alaska Teaching Conference held in Anchorage, and moderated sessions with his wife.

In 1957 both Verne and Janet were elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly of Alaska, and Verne served on the Assembly until 1963. He retired from work on the Alaska Railroad in 1958, and pioneered to Palmer, a town in the Matanuska Valley, with his family, building a house outside of the town for them to live in. In May 1958 he briefly left Palmer to teach the Faith in Yukon. Verne and Janet were able to contribute a Bahá'í exhibit to the Matanuska Valley Fair in late August 1958, and they distributed approximately 400 Bahá'í pamphlets. Verne voted for the first Universal House of Justice in Haifa along with the rest of the Alaskan National Assembly in 1963.

He continued to serve the Faith in his old age, for example by giving a talk on the history of the Faith in Alaska at the Alaskan Teaching Conference of 1976 and undertaking a travel teaching trip to Africa the same year.

Janet passed away in 1985, and Verne moved from the home he had built to a retirement home the following year. He lived to be 97, and was buried next to Janet after his passing. The Universal House of Justice sent the following message after his passing:

The Universal House of Justice has received your email conveying the news of Mr. Verne Stout at the age of 97. He is warmly remembered for his long service to the Bahá'í community of Alaska, particularly for his services during the Faith’s early years there. Pioneering to Alaska in 1943, Mr. Strout had the honour of serving on both its first Local Spiritual Assembly and its first National Spiritual Assembly. His dedication is most warmly remembered. Rest assured that the House of Justice will offer loving prayers in the Holy Shrines for the progress of his soul.

References

• Obituary published in Anchorage Daily News, July 6, 1995: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=44179294
• Bahá'í World, In Memoriam Insert: 1992-1997, pp 229-231