With the passing of this great character, Mrs. Claudia Stuart Coles, the Baha’i Cause has lost one of its most loyal and enthusiastic adherents.
Mrs. Coles was born in South Carolina about sixty-five years ago. When quite young she moved to Washington, D. C., and it was here she heard and accepted the Baha’i Teachings, and served as a faithful and honored member of the Baha’i community for many years. In 1920 she moved to London, England, where her daughter and granddaughters lived, and thus for the past eleven years she was a member of the London Baha’i community. She had been reelected many times to the National Baha’i Assembly of England, and as Secretary of this body served indefatigably.
Mrs. Coles’ home in London was a meeting place for traveling Baha’is from other countries. It was always a joy to associate with and consult this radiant enthusiastic Baha’i to whom friends could turn for help and advice. She undoubtedly worked far beyond her strength in her great enthusiasm, and one might well say that from the standpoint of her physical health, there was always in her work and service the element of sacrifice. Particularly noteworthy, too, was her great efficiency. She was undoubtedly one of the best-informed Baha’i teachers in the western world, and knew where to find any quotation asked for. She certainly has been instrumental in spreading the Baha’i Message around the world, for her personal correspondence had assumed voluminous proportions.
As a Baha'i, Mrs. Coles had an international reputation, and was distinguished and will be forever remembered for her true spirituality and her unique spiritual enthusiasm. She classified among the most sincere and devoted Baha’is, and we are told that "the rays of those spirits (the sincere) are the cause of the development of the people." From this beautiful soul "will appear the traces of God.”
(The Baha’i World 1930-1932)
