In his two years as a Bahá’í pioneer in Latvia, Darrell J. Vice’s efforts contributed to the formation of the country’s first Local Spiritual Assembly amid the death throes of the Soviet Union. That period came in the middle of nearly four decades’ pioneering service in Sweden.

He passed away September 19, 2017, at age 64. He had lived in Nässjö, Sweden, since 1992.

In a letter of condolence to his wife, Sylvia Riekstins-Vice, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States wrote, “His dedicated services to this beloved Cause — including those you rendered together as pioneers to Sweden and Latvia … are remembered with gratitude.”

Born in 1953 in Port Arthur, Texas, Darrell attended a Catholic high school in San Antonio in hopes of being trained as a missionary, but his eyesight disqualified him, according to an online family obituary. Later attending Lamar University in Beaumont, he was introduced to the Bahá’í Faith and declared his belief at a conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1971.

Over the next few years he taught the Faith energetically while residing in Texas, Louisiana and Georgia, also traveling to the Bahamas and to Illinois for Bahá’í projects. He presented at fireside meetings, spoke in public, gave radio interviews, took part in neighborhood outreach, and served on local committees.

Even as he studied to earn a teaching certificate and did graduate work in education for the deaf, he honed his proficiency on the piano. He spent a year touring various cities playing and singing at piano lounges, and music was always part of his life and Bahá’í service.

Resolving to move overseas as a Bahá’í pioneer, Darrell relocated to Sweden in summer 1979, settling first in Enköping northwest of Stockholm. In a few months he met and married Sylvia, a Canadian Bahá’í from a Latvian family, who had also pioneered to Sweden. They brought up a son and a daughter.

To improve his teaching of the Faith, Darrell continually worked on his Swedish language skills and socialized with neighbors and fellow musicians. He helped maintain a Local Spiritual Assembly in Enköping; served as an assistant to an Auxiliary Board member, assigned to working with youth in central Sweden; and supported Sylvia when she was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly.

Their 1989–1991 residency in Riga, Latvia, was marked with material hardship and health problems. This was amid political upheaval; notes from a phone conversation with the U.S. Office of International Pioneering indicate “the darkest week in modern Latvian history (Russian tanks, shooting of citizens, etc.) was the same week as the first Local Spiritual Assembly was elected.”

On the family’s return to Sweden, they settled in Nässjö for the duration. Darrell taught theater, English and history at various schools. Even after a liver transplant in 2009, he continued to be a mainstay of Bahá’í activity and a fountain of music, conversation and storytelling.

Darrell Vice is survived by his wife, Sylvia; a daughter, Tamara; a son, Talis; three brothers and a sister, Bradford Vice of California, Elizabeth Turner, David Vice and Jeffrey Vice, all of Texas; and a grandson.