# Billie Marie (Tuttle) Brackett

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.*

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> 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.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> 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.
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views10086 views since posted 2004-10-07; last edit 2022-03-05 23:23 UTC;
> 
> previous at archive.org.../francis_brackett_biography;
> URLs changed in 2010, see archive.org.../bahai-library.org
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> Shortlink: bahai-library.com/1556
> Citation: ris/1556
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> — *Billie Marie (Tuttle) Brackett (Used by permission of the curator)*