William deForge

William deForge
Born	January 17, 1899 Jersey City, USA.
Died	May 3, 1963 France
ABM	Americas 1954 - 1963
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William deForge (January 17, 1899 - May 3, 1963) was an American Bahá'í who served as an Auxiliary Board member from when they were established in 1954 up until his passing. He was also a travel teacher, and opened the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico to the Faith.

Biography

William was born in 1899 in Jersey City, New Jersey. His father was a Canadian of French descent. He lived in Jersey his whole life, marrying Catherine Marie de Garcia in Jersey, and organizing and conducting the North Jersey Symphony Orchestra for eight years. In his career he worked in New York City real estate, serving on the New York Real Estate Board and National Association of Realtors.

William was introduced to the Faith by Laura C. Wilhelm and declared in April 1933. He was elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of Teaneck shortly after declaring and served on the body until moving to Hackensack with his family where he helped to establish a Local Spiritual Assembly. In 1935 he requested that the development of cultural centers for local Bahá'í communities be made a priority at the 1935 National Convention. In 1936 William opened the Annual commemoration of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's 1912 visit to Teaneck.

During the Seven Year Plan, which began in 1937, he assisted the National Teaching Committee and Inter-America Teaching Committee by travel teaching, opening the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico to the Faith in 1938 and 1939. In 1938 he spoke on the Community at the National Convention. As of 1938 he was serving on the Committee on Annual Souvenir of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and in 1938 he chaired the Annual commemoration of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's visit to America in West Englewood.

In the early 1940's William secured two lots of land which linked two important Bahá'í properties which had previously been separated, the Wilhelm Property and the Grove of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in West Englewood. In 1946 he visited Greenville, South Carolina, to participate in a teaching project with his wife Catherine, as did Terah Cowart Smith and Alvin and Gertrude Blum. He also made a teaching tour that year speaking in New Haven, Hamden, Orange and Brattleboro in Connecticut. In 1947 he chaired a Brotherhood Meeting in Dumont, New Jersey, which featured speakers from several religious groups, and had an attendance of 68, the most for an event organized by the Bahá'ís of Dumont at the time.

As of 1950 William and Catherine were hosting monthly firesides in Tenafly, New Jersey, which were well attended. In 1950 the Trustees of the Wilhelm property appointed William to secure a renter for the property in order to help manage costs which he did. He was also appointed to the National Bahá'í Committee for the United Nations as Chair in 1950. He served as official observer for the United States National Spiritual Assembly at the United Nations, but later resigned from the position due to his commitments as Auxiliary Board member.

William deForge speaking at 51st US National Convention, 1959.

On February 18, 1951, William spoke on the Faith at Flatbush Unitarian Church at the invitation of the pastor, and he spoke at the Church again the following year. He also visited Miami, Florida, in 1951 to assist in teaching efforts, speaking to sixty at a Bahá'ís home and also at the Roxy Hotel at the invitation of the manager. In 1952 he was interviewed on television by Bill Slater on the program Luncheon at Sardi's speaking on the Faith. In May 1952, while in New York, William met with the Mayor of Haifa, who was visiting America and had visited the Bahá'í House of Worship; they spoke for three hours over breakfast.

In 1954 the Hands of the Cause for the Western Hemisphere appointed William as one of nine inaugural Auxiliary Board members for the Americas. While serving in this role, he travelled extensively across the United States, Canada, Alaska, and Latin America to visit and assist Bahá'í communities. In 1958 he visited Europe, attending a Conference in Germany and visiting eight countries in total. As of 1959 William was serving as chairman of the Western Hemisphere Teaching Committee.

William passed away in France in 1963 shortly after attending the Most Great Jubilee. He suffered a heart attack while on a train to Paris while teaching the Faith to some strangers who later told his wife "Don't grieve, your husband was the happiest of men." He was survived by his wife and son William deForge Jr.. The Universal House of Justice conveyed the following message to his family after his passing.

GRIEVED LEARN PASSING BELOVED DEVOTED STEADFAST SERVANT WILLIAM DEFORGE STOP HIS EXEMPLARY SERVICE MEMORABLE DEEPLY APPRECIATED STOP PRAYERS OFFERED PROGRESS HIS SOUL ABHA KINGDOM

References

• Obituary published in Bahá'í World, Vol. 14, pp 330-331.