“To remain at one’s post, to undergo sacrifice and hardship, loneliness and, if necessary, persecution, in order to hold aloft the torch of Bahá’u’lláh, is the true function of every pioneer. Let them remember Marion Jack…Surely the standard of Marion Jack should be borne in mind by every pioneer!”

Shoghi Effendi

Marion Jack, affectionately called “Jackie”, was the first Bahá’í to pioneer to Vancouver. She first learned of the Bahá’í Faith while studying art in Paris in 1904 and, in 1908, moved to Haifa and taught English to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s grandchildren. During a visit to her home, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá mentioned His hope “that the people of the West may be illumined by the light of God… that the Spirit of God may spread like a fire among them.” From that moment, Jackie dedicated her life to fulfilling ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s wishes.

In April 1920, she pioneered to Vancouver. A 1921 report from the National Teaching Committee of the United States and Canada captures Jackie’s impact on the city:

“…through Divine Confirmations she has taken some virgin soil and brought it under cultivation. How radiantly she responded to the Call. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has instructed us in detail about the work in Canada and the need for teachers, and in three or four of the Tablets He has told us that ‘the future of the Dominion of Canada is very great.’ Miss Jack has demonstrated that she has wonderful pioneer qualities, and that she is a loyal, magnanimous and devoted teacher. From all reports we believe she has tried ‘to achieve some new service every day’ and has ‘removed every obstruction from the path of the promulgation of the Word of God.’ The long weeks and months that she stood with firm feet serving alone in Vancouver called for intense sincerity of purpose, miraculous efforts and extraordinary exertions. The Knowledge of God was her guide and the Center of the Covenant her Protector.”

It was not without cause that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá called her “General Jack.”