Theodorus Ruys, a resident of Bainbridge Island since 1962, passed on peacefully at home June 29, 2015.
He was born April 3, 1930, in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Dutch parents. His early years living in Indonesia included five adolescent years in a Japanese concentration camp during World War II.
Following the war, the family was repatriated to Holland.
Theo and Olga met at the University of Illinois, Champagne-Urbana, while he was an architecture student. Olga was a new Baha’i and introduced Theo to the Baha’i Faith. He was very interested in a faith that is working for world peace, the unity of mankind and the unity of religion.
Theo and Olga went to Holland to meet his parents in person. They decided to marry and stay in Europe. They were a part of the growing Baha’i community of the Netherlands.
In 1962, with two daughters, they moved back to the United States. They settled on Bainbridge Island where they added two more daughters to their growing family.
Theo found work as an architect in Seattle at NBBJ, where he worked on many important laboratories at universities all around the United States and edited several books on laboratory planning.
They helped form the first Baha’i Local Spiritual Assembly in Kitsap County. Theo and his wife were able to visit Baha’is on almost every continent over the years. These were years of parenting, working, community building, mountaineering, horseback riding, camping, house building and traveling. The family grew to include eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
One of the important teaching of the Baha’i Faith is service to humanity. When Theo and Olga both retired, they moved to Belarus for about six years, starting a project of bringing English books to public libraries and schools. They felt this project was the best way for them to be of service to the people of Belarus, eager to learn English after the end of the Cold War and the Chernobyl disaster.
After several years back on Bainbridge Island, they moved to Lithuania for two years, working with the English department at Kaunas University.
Throughout their marriage of 56 years, they have combined family, faith, fun and service.
An online memorial can be seen at www.poulsbomortuary.com.
