Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Richard Francis, Billie Marie (Tuttle) Brackett, bahai-library.com.
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Billie Marie (Tuttle) Brackett

Richard Francis

Arden Lee, editor

2003

Billie Marie Tuttle was born into possibly the most illustrious Bahá'í family
in America. Her grandparents are Charles and Maria Ioas, who recognized the Bahá'í
Faith in 1898, becoming some of the first believers in the United States. Charles
spoke seven languages and was a brilliant scholar, having graduated from the University
of Munich, Germany. After emigrating to the United States, he passed the Bar Examination
for the State of Kansas at the age of 21, and practiced law. .
Maria came from Bavaria where her uncle was a steward to
King Ludwig LI. She and Charles were playmates as children. She was an only child
and vowed to one day have 12 children of her own. After the untimely deaths of
both her parents, she was raised by an aunt and uncle who subsequently emigrated
to America in 1880. She and Charles were reunited and married, having 12 children,
two of whom died in infancy. Their seventh child, Viola, was to have two daughters,
Billie and Lois. The Ioas family moved to Chicago where Billie was raised.

Billie's uncle, Leroy Ioas, was appointed a Hand of the
Cause of God by the beloved Guardian of the Bahá'i Faith, Shoghi Effendi on December
24, 1951. The following year he moved to Haifa, Israel with his wife Sylvia to
serve at the Bahá'i World Center. 1.

Three of Billie's aunts and uncles became Knights of Bahá'u'lláh
and sped the Bahá'i message to countries and islands all around the world, many
for the first time. The entire family actively tough the Faith.

Despite the devotion to the Cause by her close family,
Billie didn't become a Bahá'i right away. 2.

Billie once described what
it was like to accompany her ant and uncle on pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1953
and meeting her uncle Leroy Ioas, Hand of the Cause, and Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian
of the Faith. It was a touchy situation crossing the Jordanian boarder into fledgling
Israel, escorted my military personnel through the demilitarized zone and undergoing
interrogation by officials of both countries. Saying or doing anything could
have brought suspicion. If it wasn't for the fast talking of a Palestinian cab
driver that suddenly just showed up to meet them on the Israel side of the DMZ
she was certain that she would have been either imprisoned or if nothing out of
character found, unscripted into the army. The driver had been sent by her uncle
Leroy to deliver them to Haifa.

Bellie often described her search for truth during her
college years and how she would question ministers about controversial subjects
and even be a source of trouble at Bahá'i firesides discussions. Finally, to the
delight of her mother, Billie became a Bahá'i. soon after graduating from the
University of Illinois.

She moved west and married Stanley Brackett. Together they
took the message of the Bahá'u'lláh to Mexico and established a bakery in a small
pueblo to earn a marginal living while teaching the Faith.

Eventually they returned to the United States and settled
in Reno, Nevada where her mother, Viola Tuttle was now residing..

Bellie became an elementary school teacher with the Washoe
County School District where she tough for some 25 years. Stanley became the top
auto mechanic for the world renowned William F. Harrahs Automobile Collection
which during the nineteen-sixties had over four-thousand classic and historic
automobiles. 3. Standley also kept a private car collection of some 23 Studebakers,
most of them in good operation condition.

Billie and her husband helped establish the Local spiritual
Assembly of South Washoe County on Ridván 1980. After Standley's death on March
28, 1990, Billie continued her activities in the Faith, often opening her home
for Bahá'i gatherings and dinners In early 2000, with failing health, she moved
to Monterey, California to be near her sister Lois and her family. At the age
of 80, Billie passed on at her Monterey residence on November 17, 2000.

References

Leroy Ioas was appointed Hand
of the Cause of God in 1957 His biographical account may be found in "Leroy
Ioas" by Anita Ioas Chapman, George Ronald Publishers.

A child born into a Bahá'i family
doesn't automatically become a Bahá'i. They must declare there belief in the Teaching
of Bahá'u'lláh at the age of fifteen. or older.

The
Webmaster often enjoyed listening to Standley talk of his work restoring classic
cars for the Harrah's Auto Collection. One of particular was when a Fará engine
was installed in a Jeep Wagoneer for an entree in a Baja Cross Country Race.

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