Helen Ackeroyd
1927 - 2011
Helen was the granddaughter of a Danish bookbinder and a Bradford born weaver. Her father Thomas Petersen married Amy Clarkson, and Helen was born on the 28th July 1927. The Great Depression was starting to grip England, and work was very hard to find. Thomas managed to get a job in Manchester, and Helen ended up seeing very little of him. Her mother, Amy, died of cancer when Helen was only nine years old, so Helen was farmed out to various relatives, until her father was forced into early retirement because of ill-health.
Helen's parents were High Church of England and attended Bradford's Tong Street Church.
Helen first heard of the Bahá'í Faith in 1946 , through a Bahá'í, Marjorie Naylor, whilst traveling regularly on a local bus. Marjorie was on her way to work and Helen to school, and the mutual passengers discussed the coming of Bahá'u'lláh and His wise words and guidance for humanity. Helen's interest in the Faith was further heightened when she attended Marjorie's wedding. She had also had the joy of attending a wonderful event called the Nineteen Day Feast!
In 1947 Helen attended a Summer School at Hornsea, and declared shortly afterwards. Helen was married in 1949 to Frank Ackeroyd. It was the first wedding to be held at the Bradford Bahá'í Centre in Great Horton Road – now the site of the University.
Although her husband was not a Bahá'í, at first he did not object to her attending meetings, but he did not accompany her. Helen served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Bradford during her early years in the Faith and she was elected a convention delegate in 1949 with another Bahá'í, Marcel (Mickey) Michaeloff.
Later Frank did accompany Helen to Bahá'i meetings, but when the Bradford and Manchester Bahá'í Centres closed and more meetings were held in people's homes, Frank was less and less inclined to attend, and as he did not want Helen to attend without him, Helen lost touch with the local community, however she met Hand of the Cause Hermann Grossmann when he visited Bradford in the early 1950s, and whilst visiting relatives across the world, after Frank's death, attended both the Wilmette and Sydney Temples.
A chance meeting many, many years later in the early 1990s, with another Bahá'í, David Ridehough, reignited Helen's commitment to community life. David had moved up to Bradford from Brighton to look after his mother in a nursing home, and soon Helen and he became great friends, with her often accompanying him on visits to his sick mother.
David and Helen both loved to host Nineteen Day Feasts and other meetings at their respective homes, and in 1999 they were both blessed, along with Helen's close bus friend, Marjorie Naylor, with a pilgrimage to Haifa. Helen magnanimously paid for them all to go together which David described as a "truly selfless act".
Sadly Helen became ill with a re-emerging cancer and passed away on the 24th August 2011. During her last months David acted as her full-time carer. Helen described herself as shy and retiring, but she was a spirited humanitarian who helped to run the Samaritans' Charity Shop in Shipley, chaired an Abbeyfield Retirement Home, and initiated the 'Heaton Woods Trust' to protect a beautiful wood from building developers She is to be commemorated with a wooden bench. She loved to play golf and walk her dog in the countryside.
In the introduction to her funeral, held at the beautiful Nab Wood Cemetery just outside Bradford, appeared this quotation from Bahá'u'lláh:
'Know thou of a truth, that if the soul of man has walked in the ways of God, it will assuredly return and be gathered to the glory of the Beloved.
IN MEMORIAM BOOKLET 2012_IN MEMORIAM BOOKLET 24/04/2012 13:27 Page 6
1927 - 2011
Helen was the granddaughter of a Danish bookbinder and a Bradford born weaver. Her father Thomas Petersen married Amy Clarkson, and Helen was born on the 28th July 1927. The Great Depression was starting to grip England, and work was very hard to find. Thomas managed to get a job in Manchester, and Helen ended up seeing very little of him. Her mother, Amy, died of cancer when Helen was only nine years old, so Helen was farmed out to various relatives, until her father was forced into early retirement because of ill-health.
Helen's parents were High Church of England and attended Bradford's Tong Street Church.
Helen first heard of the Bahá'í Faith in 1946 , through a Bahá'í, Marjorie Naylor, whilst traveling regularly on a local bus. Marjorie was on her way to work and Helen to school, and the mutual passengers discussed the coming of Bahá'u'lláh and His wise words and guidance for humanity. Helen's interest in the Faith was further heightened when she attended Marjorie's wedding. She had also had the joy of attending a wonderful event called the Nineteen Day Feast!
In 1947 Helen attended a Summer School at Hornsea, and declared shortly afterwards. Helen was married in 1949 to Frank Ackeroyd. It was the first wedding to be held at the Bradford Bahá'í Centre in Great Horton Road – now the site of the University.
Although her husband was not a Bahá'í, at first he did not object to her attending meetings, but he did not accompany her. Helen served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Bradford during her early years in the Faith and she was elected a convention delegate in 1949 with another Bahá'í, Marcel (Mickey) Michaeloff.
Later Frank did accompany Helen to Bahá'i meetings, but when the Bradford and Manchester Bahá'í Centres closed and more meetings were held in people's homes, Frank was less and less inclined to attend, and as he did not want Helen to attend without him, Helen lost touch with the local community, however she met Hand of the Cause Hermann Grossmann when he visited Bradford in the early 1950s, and whilst visiting relatives across the world, after Frank's death, attended both the Wilmette and Sydney Temples.
A chance meeting many, many years later in the early 1990s, with another Bahá'í, David Ridehough, reignited Helen's commitment to community life. David had moved up to Bradford from Brighton to look after his mother in a nursing home, and soon Helen and he became great friends, with her often accompanying him on visits to his sick mother.
David and Helen both loved to host Nineteen Day Feasts and other meetings at their respective homes, and in 1999 they were both blessed, along with Helen's close bus friend, Marjorie Naylor, with a pilgrimage to Haifa. Helen magnanimously paid for them all to go together which David described as a "truly selfless act".
Sadly Helen became ill with a re-emerging cancer and passed away on the 24th August 2011. During her last months David acted as her full-time carer. Helen described herself as shy and retiring, but she was a spirited humanitarian who helped to run the Samaritans' Charity Shop in Shipley, chaired an Abbeyfield Retirement Home, and initiated the 'Heaton Woods Trust' to protect a beautiful wood from building developers She is to be commemorated with a wooden bench. She loved to play golf and walk her dog in the countryside.
In the introduction to her funeral, held at the beautiful Nab Wood Cemetery just outside Bradford, appeared this quotation from Bahá'u'lláh:
'Know thou of a truth, that if the soul of man has walked in the ways of God, it will assuredly return and be gathered to the glory of the Beloved.
IN MEMORIAM BOOKLET 2012_IN MEMORIAM BOOKLET 24/04/2012 13:27 Page 6
Helen Ackeroyd
1927 - 2011
Helen was the granddaughter of a Danish bookbinder and a Bradford born weaver. Her father Thomas Petersen married Amy Clarkson, and Helen was born on the 28th July 1927. The Great Depression was starting to grip England, and work was very hard to find. Thomas managed to get a job in Manchester, and Helen ended up seeing very little of him. Her mother, Amy, died of cancer when Helen was only nine years old, so Helen was farmed out to various relatives, until her father was forced into early retirement because of ill-health.
Helen's parents were High Church of England and attended Bradford's Tong Street Church.
Helen first heard of the Bahá'í Faith in 1946 , through a Bahá'í, Marjorie Naylor, whilst traveling regularly on a local bus. Marjorie was on her way to work and Helen to school, and the mutual passengers discussed the coming of Bahá'u'lláh and His wise words and guidance for humanity. Helen's interest in the Faith was further heightened when she attended Marjorie's wedding. She had also had the joy of attending a wonderful event called the Nineteen Day Feast!
In 1947 Helen attended a Summer School at Hornsea, and declared shortly afterwards. Helen was married in 1949 to Frank Ackeroyd. It was the first wedding to be held at the Bradford Bahá'í Centre in Great Horton Road – now the site of the University.
Although her husband was not a Bahá'í, at first he did not object to her attending meetings, but he did not accompany her. Helen served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Bradford during her early years in the Faith and she was elected a convention delegate in 1949 with another Bahá'í, Marcel (Mickey) Michaeloff.
Later Frank did accompany Helen to Bahá'i meetings, but when the Bradford and Manchester Bahá'í Centres closed and more meetings were held in people's homes, Frank was less and less inclined to attend, and as he did not want Helen to attend without him, Helen lost touch with the local community, however she met Hand of the Cause Hermann Grossmann when he visited Bradford in the early 1950s, and whilst visiting relatives across the world, after Frank's death, attended both the Wilmette and Sydney Temples.
A chance meeting many, many years later in the early 1990s, with another Bahá'í, David Ridehough, reignited Helen's commitment to community life. David had moved up to Bradford from Brighton to look after his mother in a nursing home, and soon Helen and he became great friends, with her often accompanying him on visits to his sick mother.
David and Helen both loved to host Nineteen Day Feasts and other meetings at their respective homes, and in 1999 they were both blessed, along with Helen's close bus friend, Marjorie Naylor, with a pilgrimage to Haifa. Helen magnanimously paid for them all to go together which David described as a "truly selfless act".
Sadly Helen became ill with a re-emerging cancer and passed away on the 24th August 2011. During her last months David acted as her full-time carer. Helen described herself as shy and retiring, but she was a spirited humanitarian who helped to run the Samaritans' Charity Shop in Shipley, chaired an Abbeyfield Retirement Home, and initiated the 'Heaton Woods Trust' to protect a beautiful wood from building developers She is to be commemorated with a wooden bench. She loved to play golf and walk her dog in the countryside.
In the introduction to her funeral, held at the beautiful Nab Wood Cemetery just outside Bradford, appeared this quotation from Bahá'u'lláh:
'Know thou of a truth, that if the soul of man has walked in the ways of God, it will assuredly return and be gathered to the glory of the Beloved.
IN MEMORIAM BOOKLET 2012_IN MEMORIAM BOOKLET 24/04/2012 13:27 Page 6
1927 - 2011
Helen was the granddaughter of a Danish bookbinder and a Bradford born weaver. Her father Thomas Petersen married Amy Clarkson, and Helen was born on the 28th July 1927. The Great Depression was starting to grip England, and work was very hard to find. Thomas managed to get a job in Manchester, and Helen ended up seeing very little of him. Her mother, Amy, died of cancer when Helen was only nine years old, so Helen was farmed out to various relatives, until her father was forced into early retirement because of ill-health.
Helen's parents were High Church of England and attended Bradford's Tong Street Church.
Helen first heard of the Bahá'í Faith in 1946 , through a Bahá'í, Marjorie Naylor, whilst traveling regularly on a local bus. Marjorie was on her way to work and Helen to school, and the mutual passengers discussed the coming of Bahá'u'lláh and His wise words and guidance for humanity. Helen's interest in the Faith was further heightened when she attended Marjorie's wedding. She had also had the joy of attending a wonderful event called the Nineteen Day Feast!
In 1947 Helen attended a Summer School at Hornsea, and declared shortly afterwards. Helen was married in 1949 to Frank Ackeroyd. It was the first wedding to be held at the Bradford Bahá'í Centre in Great Horton Road – now the site of the University.
Although her husband was not a Bahá'í, at first he did not object to her attending meetings, but he did not accompany her. Helen served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Bradford during her early years in the Faith and she was elected a convention delegate in 1949 with another Bahá'í, Marcel (Mickey) Michaeloff.
Later Frank did accompany Helen to Bahá'i meetings, but when the Bradford and Manchester Bahá'í Centres closed and more meetings were held in people's homes, Frank was less and less inclined to attend, and as he did not want Helen to attend without him, Helen lost touch with the local community, however she met Hand of the Cause Hermann Grossmann when he visited Bradford in the early 1950s, and whilst visiting relatives across the world, after Frank's death, attended both the Wilmette and Sydney Temples.
A chance meeting many, many years later in the early 1990s, with another Bahá'í, David Ridehough, reignited Helen's commitment to community life. David had moved up to Bradford from Brighton to look after his mother in a nursing home, and soon Helen and he became great friends, with her often accompanying him on visits to his sick mother.
David and Helen both loved to host Nineteen Day Feasts and other meetings at their respective homes, and in 1999 they were both blessed, along with Helen's close bus friend, Marjorie Naylor, with a pilgrimage to Haifa. Helen magnanimously paid for them all to go together which David described as a "truly selfless act".
Sadly Helen became ill with a re-emerging cancer and passed away on the 24th August 2011. During her last months David acted as her full-time carer. Helen described herself as shy and retiring, but she was a spirited humanitarian who helped to run the Samaritans' Charity Shop in Shipley, chaired an Abbeyfield Retirement Home, and initiated the 'Heaton Woods Trust' to protect a beautiful wood from building developers She is to be commemorated with a wooden bench. She loved to play golf and walk her dog in the countryside.
In the introduction to her funeral, held at the beautiful Nab Wood Cemetery just outside Bradford, appeared this quotation from Bahá'u'lláh:
'Know thou of a truth, that if the soul of man has walked in the ways of God, it will assuredly return and be gathered to the glory of the Beloved.
IN MEMORIAM BOOKLET 2012_IN MEMORIAM BOOKLET 24/04/2012 13:27 Page 6
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