My husband, Ray Sheppard, suddenly passed away before he could write his own story, which would have been much better.  

Brinley Raymond Sheppard (he preferred to be called Ray) was born in Gosforth military hospital, on 9^th June 1952, the only child of Sylvia May Grattage and Ivor Sheppard. Sylvia came from a religious background, in Stafford, and Ivor was from Newport in Wales. Both Ray’s parents were in the Royal Air Force and that was how they met. Ray was christened at RAF station, Hucknall Parish Church, Nottingham. 

They were an RAF family living in Stafford when they were posted to Northern Ireland. The religious conflict there was rife and affected their relationships with neighbours. For example, Ray would play with Catholic children, which was disapproved of by Protestant neighbours, but his mother wouldn’t stop him.  When Ray was 5 years old his father died of a cerebral aneurysm, and his mother and he moved back to Stafford. After about 7 years, his mother married again. Her new husband was Philip Corlette, a wonderful man from the Isle of Man, and a very good father to Ray. Phillip passed away in April 1978.

Ray was 20 when he came across the Bahá’í Faith through a good friend of his, Jackie Bandha, nee Hutchinson. Jackie tells the story:

They met through mutual friends while he was working in the offices of The Universal Grinding Wheel Company in Stafford and she was working at the County Library. They came from opposite ends of Stafford and had been to different schools but there were plenty of local cafés, and dances at the polytechnic as it was then, to which the local youngsters would flock, and it was in this local scene that they met.

Ray was always fond of listening to music and would give Jackie cassette tapes of songs he had recorded that he thought she would enjoy. With a wry smile and a cryptic comment, he would hand them over as he tried to educate and broaden her outlook in music. It became a source of amusement between them as she invariably didn’t ‘get’ the music he enjoyed at that time. Jackie recalls “I remember him talking about his trip to the Isle of Wight Music Festival and made all friends envious as it was ‘the place to go’ in those days, long before there were many other music festivals.”

He would cram his long frame into the small space between the fixed tables and bench seats in the Juliette Café, one of their favourite venues that stayed open later at night. With Ray’sh feet sticking out at all angles, they would discuss all and sundry, as he was interested in many topics and loved a good discussion. He had quite a serious face, especially in those days and to hear his hooting laugh and see his face crease up in giggles was something that would always bring a smile. During these discussions, Jackie introduced Ray to the Bahá’í Faith. He was always one for a good meaty talk and he was immediately responsive, giving her his keen, searching look as he asked her questions about it.

At the time there was a Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Stafford. During the week, the members all had family commitments, so teaching the Faith at the weekends was common. The Bahá’ís would descend on a town, invite locals to a musical or discussion evening, stay the night in a local Bahá’í home or community centre, lying on floors in sleeping bags, hold another teaching event the following day and then all go off to catch the train home. Ray went to a few of these but he was of a quieter and more thoughtful nature, preferring deeper discussions than were often available at those events. He built up his own circle of Bahá’í friends and would go off to their homes, usually travelling by train, having an encyclopedic knowledge of train timetables that stood him in good stead for that way of life. 

Jackie and Ray eventually got their own mode of transport, each buying a small motorbike and she remembers Ray arriving in all his protective clothing. He would come in and lean his long frame back into an easy chair until he was almost horizontal, and with a cup of coffee they would have a good discussion about the Faith as well as other matters.  He would delve deeply into topics, questioning closely and earnestly and with his wry sense of humour would suddenly break out into his fulsome laugh. His Bahá’í circle of friends was increasing and continued to the end.  Initially his friends were Bob and Tina Griffiths, Paddy and Stephen Vickers and their families, and Ken and Betty Goode.

He declared his faith in Bahá’u’lláh, but it took six months before he got the courage to tell his mother. Her response was “Don’t worry, you’ll grow out of it!”. it wasn’t too long before she started reading “Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era” and learning about the Faith. Though she never became a Bahá’í, she kept an open mind about it and started going back to her own Church of England church. She went to the Holy Land with her church group and visited the Shrine of the Báb and the Bahá’í gardens in Haifa too.

Jackie moved away from Stafford, and Ray was elected on to Stafford Spiritual Assembly.

In 1977, Ray pioneered to promote the Faith in Perthshire, Scotland. He started his studies in Dundee and in 1978 he married Mina Froughi who was also a Bahá’í student in Dundee.

We had a lovely Bahá’í wedding in Dundee, officiated by a wonderful Bahá’í marriage officer from East Lothian, Commander Surgeon John More Nisbet. My parents came over from Iran and the wedding became a source of proclamation for the Faith in the local newspaper, the Dundee Courier, as the first officially-recognised Bahá’í wedding in Dundee.

Early in 1979 we pioneered to Cupar, Fife, to help the formation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of North East Fife, with Nuri and Pam Sabet, Goli Sabet-Jones and Belle Roch.

By the end of 1983 Ray had graduated with a BA in Business Studies and gained his postgraduate Diploma in Industrial Administration.

In Feb 1984, he went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and came back with fresh insights. Soon he was offered a few interviews for lecturing! Ray attended the interview in Stornoway and was offered the post of lecturer at the Lews Castle College.  He accepted it with great enthusiasm, keeping in mind that the islands are so important for the progress of the Faith. Ray bought a house, in the village of Sheshader, Point, Isle of Lewis. We moved there as a family and at all times the Faith was Ray’s priority goal. Bahá’í friends on Lewis were Alma Gregory, Roddy Grant, Ann Shaw, Janet Frame (nee Hewitt), and Harold Lane. Bahá’í friends on Uists were Peter Bird, Jean and Lyndon Payne, Mags and Barry Bartlett, Wendy and Tony Day. They all welcomed Ray, myself and Rhiannon (born in December 1979) with open arms. Then later, Rosemary was born in October 1984, Kalim in June 1986 and Kamran in December 1989.

In the 1980s there was the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the Western Isles, but as the number of Bahá’í adults increased, Bahá’í friends Liz and Royce Emerson, in 1988 and Ann Moqbel in 1991 moved to the Isle of Lewis, and a few others such as Harry and June Baker, and George and Sheila MacDonald, declared their faith in Bahá’u’lláh, for a few years there were two Local Spiritual Assemblies, one in the Western Isles, the Bahá’ís of Lewis and Harris, and the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Uists and Barra. It was a busy, active community with 13 children from Bahá’í families in Lewis and 8 children from Bahá’í parents in the Uists.

There was a flood of Bahá’í visitors to Stornoway from all over the world. Two Auxiliary Board members, Dr John Parris and Mrs. Jackie Mehrabi visited the islands every month and Mrs. Marjory Georgi, children’s class coordinator, regularly visited to see the children and engage in special activities with them, giving them lots of confidence and treating them to special afternoon teas at the local hotels. Every summer we had a trip to the Uists to visit Bahá’í friends and have a unity feast with them.

Ann Shaw, Bahá’í friend and colleague at Lews Castle College, Stornoway, feels very close to Ray and talks about him as if he were a younger brother. She says:

“As a lecturer, his style was unusual but effective.  She discovered this when he was her lecturer at Lews Castle College in Stornoway.  It was a style that suited her very well, as it did others, but it was not approved of by everyone, he met.  On the whole, the students who could be bothered to be interested in his subjects, found his discursive style assisted them to understand and learn.  Those who were only there because it was not an essential part for their particular course, and were really not interested, were irritated because he would not simply hand out notes to them to learn with emphasis placed on what they would need to know to get through the course.  He wanted people to understand his subjects and he encouraged conversations in class to assist this process.”

Some other staff members found his style difficult to understand.  On the whole Ann felt that those people were trainers rather than an educators.  He was always good natured in public, but we know that he felt hurt by the “teasing” he endured at work.  It was only when Ann qualified and joined the staff at the same college that it became clear what he was enduring bullying, not teasing.  She did her best at that time to dissuade people from running with the “pack”, with some success, but far from total, sorry to say.

Ray was a clever, sensitive man who was admired by many, especially students, who could always turn to him for advice in times of trouble and be helped, advised or succoured.  He had a retentive mind and would always be able to advise on travel both on the Islands and on the mainland because he seemed to know timetables by heart.  He loved to travel and that must have been the source of his wide knowledge.  He loved music and had a collection of LP vinyl records which he bought second hand, scouring second-hand shops and jumble sales.  His sense of humour was very like that of Ann’s elder brother, both of whom loved the ridiculous.  But both of them did share a dry sense of humour as well and often indulged in quick, witty banter. Ann Shaw notes:

“I will always remember Ray with affection and sadness that he was taken from his family so early – and that I lost my little brother with no real warning.  He endured much in his life but was rewarded by the love of his family.  I pray every day for the progress of his soul and will continue to do so for as long as I am able”

Ray and family attended and enjoyed many Scottish Bahá’í summer schools in Aberdeen,  winter schools in Oban, Glasgow and conferences in Scotland, Dublin and London.  He liked public meetings, and firesides and later on the Ruhi Institute programme.

Bahá’í friend Willie Nisbet living in Oban, was a very close friend of Ray’s who used to talk on the phone discussing all kinds of issues, and visit him in the holidays. David Lumsdon, his brother-in-law, was very close too, a brother from another mother.

In 2009, as a family we had the bounty of a family pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which was a wonderful, spiritual experience and a confirmation of faith for all of us.

I am grateful to Jackie for teaching the Bahá’í Faith to Ray and for his love of the Faith. Every year we celebrated and remembered his ‘spiritual birthday’ on 9th March, the day he declared his faith in Bahá’u’lláh. I am also thankful that his children and their families have the love of the Faith, for the loving guidance of the institutions of the Faith, local, regional, national and international, giving constant encouragement to their endeavours, and to the Bahá’í community of Scotland for their love, and friendship.

“O Son of Dust! Blind thine eyes, that thou mayest behold My beauty; stop thine ears, that thou mayest hearken unto the sweet melody of My voice; empty thyself of all learning, that thou mayest partake of My knowledge; and sanctify thyself from riches, that thou mayest obtain a lasting share from the ocean of My eternal wealth. Blind thine eyes, that is, to all save My beauty; stop thine ears to all save My word; empty thyself of all learning save the knowledge of Me; that with a clear vision, a pure heart and an attentive ear thou mayest enter the court of My holiness.”

– Bahá’u’lláh: Persian Hidden Words

____________________

Mina Sheppard

July 2024

Stornoway

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