In loving memory of Michael Stokes
Our dear friend and Baha’i brother passed into the Abha Kingdom on Tuesday, August 28, 2018. After being treated for cancer of the brain for more than a year, he passed quietly at home in Dormont, PA, in the presence of his dear wife, Helga, and daughter Laura. His son, David, and daughter-in-law Kelly arrived soon after his passing, and daughter Corinna joined them in prayer over the telephone.
Cantwell Carson, a Baha’i who moved to Pittsburgh in 2013, stayed with Michael and Helga when he first arrived in the area, and lived near them in Dormont once joined by his wife and daughter.
Cantwell says, “To me, [Michael] was part Mr. Rogers, part Sherlock Holmes… He combined an irresistible, personal warmth with a trained and powerful intellect.”
One morning Michael found that the handle on his garage was broken. From this he deduced that it had been broken into and that it may be connected to a string of other break-ins that he had heard about in the neighborhood; likely someone looking for a place to sleep or something to steal; someone with a drug habit, perhaps. It seemed to me that, not unlike the sleuth at 221B Baker Street, Michael might recognize the culprit on sight, but for all these powers of deduction, Michael showed no hint of malice or anger. To the contrary, Michael had a hint of amusement, as though the would-be thief had left behind a gift of excitement and mystery that had livened up Michael’s day, and for which he was happy.
Sharon Eakes, a Baha’i and long time resident of Western Pennsylvania, recalls Michael’s willingness to develop new skills.
Many years ago, Michael’s son David was studying film and asked Michael to act in a short film he made. Michael told me that he agreed somewhat reluctantly, and wasn’t at all sure he’d be good. But he was fabulous! It was such good acting, I couldn’t stop smiling as I watched. He was a natural and gifted actor.
Sharon says she also admired Michael’s curiosity and warmth, even in the face of a life-limiting illness.
After [Michael] got the diagnosis of glioblastoma, I expressed my interest in his experience with this brain cancer. He seemed eager to share the details. He wrote regular emails including what he knew, what the doctors told him, how his tests went, what he was experiencing, what was next, and how he was thinking about all of this. Sometimes the reports were really long! …
When John McCain was diagnosed with the same illness, Michael said he felt almost famous – glioblastoma, at least, would be famous. In narrating his experience, he always expressed gratitude for the care he was receiving especially from Helga, whom he called “dear Helga,” and Laura.
Michael was born May 3, 1946, in Columbus, OH. He earned a BA in communications from Ohio University and served in the Navy during the Vietnam Era. Brought up in a strongly Catholic environment, when he learned about the Bahá’í Faith he was attracted by the universal outlook, the unity of religions and principles of social justice. In 1974, he became a Bahá’í. His work in radio and television led him to service for the Faith first at the National Bahá’í Center in Wilmette, IL, and later to Bahá’í radio stations in Ecuador, where he met and married Helga in 1981, as well as serving on the National Spiritual Assembly, then on to Peru and South Carolina where he trained local radio staff in program production.
After South Carolina, a radio project from the US Agency for International Development took him and his young family to Liberia, West Africa, from 1986 to 1987, just at the time when the Bahá’ís of Liberia were given a radio license. That year was followed by eight years in Puerto Rico and the past twenty years he resided in Pennsylvania, in State College and Dormont. He and Helga have three children and four grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, September 8th at 11:00 a.m. at Penn Forest Natural Burial Park,
121 Colorado St. Verona PA 15147-2215. Please contact info@pittsburghbahai.org for additional information.
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