Mahin Stanley

Mahin Omidvaran Etzenhouser Stanley, 72, Topeka, passed on to the spiritual world August 11, 2010. Mahin was born in Hammadan, Iran in 1938 to Unis and Saltanat Omidvaran.

She is remembered for her passion for art, for her amazing ability to cultivate plants and flowers, and most of all for her dedication to the Bahá'í Faith and its principles of world peace and multi-cultural diversity. Mahin moved to the United States in 1959 to attend the University of Kansas. She spent her remaining years in Kansas, and became of citizen of the United States in 1979, unable to return to Iran due to the persecution of the Bahá'ís there. She was elected annually and served on the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Topeka for nearly three decades.

Mahin was preceded in death by her husband William Stanley. She is survived by her two children, Gail Amare and Shane Etzenhouser, both of whom live in Ethiopia, Africa but were by her side at the time of her passing. She is also survived by five grandchildren in Ethiopia, and one grandson serving at the Bahá'í World Centre in Haifa, Israel, and five siblings in New York, Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland, and New Zealand.

A small Bahá'í burial will take place Saturday morning in Topeka. Friends and close family are welcome to attend. A joyful celebration of Mahin's life will take place between 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm at the Peppertree Clubhouse at 3333 Burlingame Rd. It will be an open house celebration, with a program of devotions, music, and memories repeated at 2:30 pm and 4:00 pm.

Memorial contributions earmarked for orphans and vulnerable children in Ethiopia may be made out to the Bahá'í Fund of Topeka, P.O. Box 1962, Topeka, KS 66601. Penwell-Gabel Mid Town Chapel is in charge of arrangements.