Bernard H. Guhrke

Bernard (Ben) Guhrke

Dearly loved Ben Guhrke, age 87, passed away Saturday, February 28, 2015. He was born April 13, 1927 in New York City to Anna and Otto Guhrke.  Just out of high school, Ben joined the Merchant Marines and during World War II served in many areas of the world.  After leaving the Merchant Marines, he followed in his father’s footsteps and attended Palmer School of Chiropractic, graduating in 1952.  He returned to New York City and set up an office, taking various early morning part-time jobs to support himself until he could earn a living as a full-time chiropractor.  With best friend Les Marcus, he investigated the Bahá’í Faith, and they both become members in 1952.  Ben was one of a group of worldwide Baha’is who left their homes to carry the Faith to all parts of the world, earning the title of “Knight of Bahá’u’lláh”  Arriving in the tiny village of Kodiak on Kodiak Island in January 1954, he was not able to continue his chiropractic profession due to the very small population, so he turned to bookkeeping skills learned in high school and got a job at the Bank of Kodiak.   There he met his first wife Harriet and they were married in 1955.  Harriet also became a Bahá’í and together they helped Bahá’í communities in Kodiak, Alaska and in Nak Nek, Alaska.   In Nak Nek, Ben was hired as the borough manager and instantly impressed the locals for his integrity, common sense and efficiency.  He helped build the first high school in Nak Nek and also helped to regulate the powerful salmon canneries who found they could not bribe him!

In 1970, Ben and Harriet were asked to serve at the Bahá’í World Center in Haifa, Israel.  With their banking backgrounds, they both worked in the Finance Department for many years.   Ben later moved to the Personnel Department, where he handled many of the day-to-day interactions between the Israeli businesses and government and the staff at the World Center –  such as car purchases, insurance, customs, etc.   Harriet passed away of cancer in 1986 and is buried in the Bahá’í Cemetery near the foot of Mount Carmel.

In 1988, Ben married Marvel Gray, also a volunteer worker at the Bahá’í World Center.  They met on the golf course and it did not take long for them to become a couple!  In 1994, they left the World Center and moved to Rio Rancho, NM, where Ben has served as Treasurer of the Rio Rancho Bahá’í community for almost 20 years.  In 2001, he was diagnosed with wet macular degeneration which left him legally blind.  In spite of this handicap, he still did his work as treasurer using a wonderful machine which magnified things up to the point that he could see them.   Marvel and Ben continued to work for their Faith, to travel and to play golf.  Together they have driven in all 50 states and even in Canada.

On Memorial Day of 2014, Ben fell, breaking his femur just below the hip; this started a series of complications, culminating in a very bad sepsis infection which took him from us.  He will be sorely missed by Marvel, by his sister Ann Sessler and her husband Dave, by his brother Bob Guhrke, by his in-laws, Steve and Linda Gray, Marty & Woody Littleton, Marilyn and Paul Sylvia, Audrey Wollard and by many nieces and nephews, not to mention the Rio Rancho Bahá’í comnmunity and hundreds of friends all over the world, many of whom are Bahá’ís.

Ben’s beautiful soul has now soared into the next world.  The Writings of the Bahá’í Faith describe the nature of the soul in the next world in these lovely words:

“Know thou of a truth that the soul, after its separation from the body, will continue to progress until it attaineth the presence of God, in a state and condition which neither the revolution of ages and centuries, nor the changes and chances of this world, can alter. It will endure as long as the Kingdom of God, His sovereignty, His dominion and power will endure. It will manifest the signs of God and His attributes, and will reveal His loving kindness and bounty. The movement of My Pen is stilled when it attempteth to befittingly describe the loftiness and glory of so exalted a station. The honor with which the Hand of Mercy will invest the soul is such as no tongue can adequately reveal, nor any other earthly agency describe. Blessed is the soul which, at the hour of its separation from the body, is sanctified from the vain imaginings of the peoples of the world. Such a soul liveth and moveth in accordance with the Will of its Creator, and entereth the all-highest Paradise. The Maids of Heaven, inmates of the loftiest mansions, will circle around it, and the Prophets of God and His chosen ones will seek its companionship.”

                                                                                                                Bahá’u’lláh