MY BAHA'I FAMILY HERITAGE

This website is dedicated to showing how the Bahá'í Faith can impact an individual's life and service to humanity, in the hope that my example might inspire others. I was raised in a Bahá'í family, so our origins are outlined here. We were four boys, with each choosing a different path of service. My older brother Keith lived most of his life as a Bahá'í pioneer in American Samoa, my brother Roger is in Illinois and has been the Archivist in the National Bahá'í Archives for decades, and my brother Gregory and his wife Emi are between Bulgaria and the Czech Republic  for the moment after many years of service to Bahá'í communities across Africa and in Europe. I have not documented the stories of my wife, our two children and many grandchildren in these public pages out of respect for their privacy, but they are rendering great services to the Bahá'í Faith and to society.

For a much more complete family history as well as a summary autobiography, see My life in pictures including past generations and where we have lived and served the Bahá'í Faith around the world. A parallel story of my professional life and service still needs to be illustrated.

OUR BAHA'I ORIGINS

My mother, Joyce Cowling Lyon, shared a room at Stanford University with her best friend, Marion Holley (later Hofman), whose mother was a Bahá'í, and they went together to the first Bahá'í summer school at the Bosch ranch in Geyserville, California, north of San Francisco in 1927. After my mother graduated, she went to Paris for a year and attended Bahá'í gatherings at the Scott studio. She was given some of Bahá'u'lláh's writings to read on the ship going back to America in 1931 that convinced her of the truth of the Bahá'í message.

My mother was active in the San Francisco area in the 1930s, organizing children's classes for Leroy Ioas' children, taking May Maxwell around for her appointments, and serving with Marion as the youth on the National Teaching Committee in the first Seven-year Plan. She married my father, Arthur Ludwig Dahl, Jr., at the suggestion of May Maxwell. He took seven years to finally become a Bahá'í as well. We lived in Palo Alto near Stanford University, where both my parents studied.

My mother focused on local Baha'i activities while raising her children, but in later years she was Auxiliary Board Member for southern California and Nevada, and made various international Baha'i teaching trips. My father served for eleven years on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, including ten years as Treasurer. He often spoke at Baha'i public meetings. We were thus immersed all our lives in Bahá'í activities and met many prominent Bahá'ís.

My mother Joyce Lyon Dahl in August 2005 age 97 Pebble Beach 1967	My parents Arthur L. and Joyce Dahl Joyce Lyon Dahl Dad, Mother and Keith 1985	My mother Joyce Lyon Dahl in 1949 My father Arthur L. Dahl Jr. ca. 1960 Dad golfing with Keith 1967
My mother Joyce Lyon Dahl passed away in March 2006 at the age of 97		My father Arthur L. Dahl passed away in June 2005 at the age of 91

MY GENERATION

My older brother Keith was born in 1940, me in 1942, the next brother Roger in 1946 and Gregory in 1948. We had a happy childhood in Palo Alto, with Bahá'í children's classes and attendance every year at the Bahá'í Summer School in Geyserville. One high point was when Keith and I attended the dedication of the Bahá'í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, and the associated teaching conference in 1953. In 1954, when Bahá'ís were encouraged to move away from the cities to establish the Faith in more rural areas, we moved down to Pebble Beach on the Monterey Peninsula, where we attended the Stevenson School. Keith and I studied at Stanford University, where we had a Bahá'í Club. In 1964-69 I studied for my Ph.D. in marine biology at the University of California at Santa Barbara, where our Bahá'í Club was one of the most active on campus, and we also formed a Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly in Goleta near the university.

My older brother Keith lived for 37 years in American Samoa as a Baha'i pioneer, businessman and avid photographer. He left 780,000 photos of the people of Samoa to the photo archives of American Samoa Keith golfing 1967 Roger and Keith	IN MEMORIAM KEITH DAHL My brother Keith passed away in Samoa on 9 December 2012 at the age of 72	My younger brother Roger lives in Illinois, USA. He is Archivist Emeritus in the National Baha'i Archives
Greg is the only brother with a family His wife Emi is Bulgarian Emi Dahl with Joyce and Mina 2007 Mina and Greg 2013 Mina, Gregory and Joyce at my chalet 2014 Mina, Gregory and Joyce 2014	My youngest brother Greg retired from a career in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and lives in Bulgaria and Czech Republic with his family http://www.gregorydahl.net/ April 2013 in the High Sierras 2013 Dahl family at my chalet, August 2014 Gregory married Merle in August 2020	Gregory and Joyce are twins Mina is 18 months younger Greggie 2007 the twins Greggie and Joyce April 2013 Joyce in her school calendar 2013 Gregory and Joyce on their 16th birthday
Carrie and her twins Cami and Mica 2013	I also have a niece and nephew from Greg's previous marriage: Carrie Smith-Dahl and her twins Cami and Mica live in Oakland, California, USA. Carrie teaches film-making http://www.myspace.com/mssmittyb Ian Smithdahl, his wife Stephanie Wagner and sons Gabriel and Samuel live in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Ian is a web site designer, artist and stay-at-home father. Stephanie is a lawyer back: Mina, me, Carrie, Cami front: Greg, Gregory, Emi, Joyce, Mica California August 2014	Carrie Smith-Dahl Ian Smithdahl
From left to right:  cousin George Herbert †  Keith Dahl †  Dr. Steinmetz (Baha'i friend)  Roger Dahl  Gregory Dahl  Arthur Dahl  Nora Steinmetz (Baha'i friend)  Ian Smithdahl  Below:  Carrie Smith-Dahl and  her twins Mica and Cami	Family gathering after Mother's funeral, Monterey, March 2006