By the time Gayle Abas Woolson opened the Galapagos Islands to the Baha'i Faith in 1954 — thus earning the distinction of Knight of Baha'u'llah — she was already a veteran pioneer for the Faith in Latin America. She had co-founded the Baha'i community of Costa Rica, helped raise the first Local Spiritual Assembly in Central America, and served on elected National Spiritual Assemblies. She was also part of the first appointed Baha'i Auxiliary Board serving the Americas.

A Baha'i since 1932, she was part of a family that helped establish or consolidate the Faith in North Dakota, Wyoming and Arkansas. Passionate about spreading its healing teachings, she authored books on the Faith and provided valuable translation work. In later years she trained children in speaking to the public about Baha'i principles.

Gayle passed away May 30, 2011, at age 97. She had been in nursing care in Wilmette, Illinois, after living in nearby Evanston close to three decades.

The Universal House of Justice said in a message of tribute to Gayle: "Her many decades of service, distinguished by the historic efforts to advance the Cause of God in those [Galapagos] islands and throughout Latin America, are remembered with loving admiration and respect. Also recalled with grateful appreciation are the devoted services Mrs. Woolson rendered at the Baha'i World Centre."

In its turn, honoring her decades of activity for the Faith in many nations, the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly wrote, "We honor the intrepid spirit that enabled her to undertake such a service, as we recall with great fondness the loving heart that impelled her to reach out to countless children, patiently teaching them the value of memorizing and reciting with developed oratory skill excerpts from the Baha'i sacred writings."

A Minnesota native of Syrian heritage, Gayle Alice Abas was brought up in an Arabic-speaking Muslim family that explored the teachings of Baha'u'llah in the 1930s through friendship with Clement Woolson, a physician who had moved from New York in 1909 to raise a Baha'i community in St. Paul and had met ‘Abdu'l-Baha during His extended visit to America in 1912.

Family members who embraced the Baha'i Faith included her father, Hassen Abas, who later established the Faith in North Dakota, along with her mother, Mahdie; brothers Julian and Gerald Abas, who worked to develop Baha'i communities in Wyoming and Arkansas, respectively; her grandfather Kamel Hider; another brother, Murrie Abas; and sisters, Dahela Hick, Loroli Moore and Victoria Abas. Another brother, Edward, was a long-standing friend of the Faith.

Gayle accepted the Faith at age 19 in 1932. Three years later she married Clement Woolson, who passed away a few months later.

She published two small books in Spanish expounding Baha'i teachings. She wrote an English translation of the first, Divine Symphony. An excerpt from that book reads: "The Divine Symphony, whose notes are the teachings of all the Messengers of God, mounts in a steadily rising crescendo and reaches its climax in the universal Message of Baha'u'llah sent by God to usher in a great world civilization based on unity, love and justice, thus fulfilling the promise of all ages."

Gayle Woolson is buried not far from Hand of the Cause of God Mr. Khadem.

Gayle as a young lady.

Gayle Woolson (center) on the steps of the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois.