Marion Jack was born on 1 December 1866 in Saint John, New Brunswick, into a prominent family. She received much of her education in England and France, where she studied art. Painting landscapes was her field of specialty. She first learned of the Bahá’í Faith at a social gathering during her student days in Paris. From that time on, she dedicated her life to serving that Faith. She spent some time in Acre, Israel, (then part of the Ottoman Empire) and, in 1908, taught English to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s grandchildren. She continued to paint while she was there.
By 1914 she had returned to North America; she traveled to Alaska, Ontario, Quebec and many other places in North America to share the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith. “Jackie,” as she was affectionately called, was completely comfortable with young and old alike and was loved wherever she went, drawing everyone to her and to each other through her faith, love and devotion.
Marion Jack returned to Haifa in 1930 and, following this visit, moved to Sofia, Bulgaria, where she spent the remainder of her life. In Sofia, she held frequent meetings that were well attended by people of prominence and capacity. As World War II approached and all who could flee the country did so, Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, suggested that she go to Switzerland or some other safe country. She pleaded to be allowed to stay at her post, preferring, as she put it, to “remain at the switch.” Living on a small pension, which did not always reach her, suffering serious deprivation, ageing and in poor health, she stayed at her post.
For the duration of World War II, and especially after Sofia fell behind the Soviet Iron Curtain, Marion Jack displayed constancy, fearlessness and self-abnegation by remaining in Sofia and contributing to the development of the Bahá’í Faith in Bulgaria. Despite living in poverty, with an enlarged heart and many other ailments, exposed to the misery of a nation torn by war, and friends pleading with her to leave, Marion Jack remained in that country for more than 20 years, until her passing on 25 March 1954.
It was not without cause that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá called her “General Jack.”
* Adapted from Bahá’í World, Vol. 12, 1950-1954, “In Memoriam,” pp. 674-7.
She was a long-time follower and proponent of the Baha'i faith, which she learned about when she was living in France.
She returned to Canada, and exhibited with the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1908 and 1914, and at the Art Association of Montreal from 1908 to 1916.
She came to west to Vancouver in 1919, and went on an extended trip to Alaska, covering some 6,000 miles in the process (Jasion). After her return to Vancouver, she exhibited her work in the 1920 Annual Exhibition of the B.C. Society of Fine Arts, held at the Vancouver School Board offices on Hamilton Street. She exhibited more work the same year in at least three exhibitions with the Vancouver Sketch Club, winning a prize for a landscape in oil in one of the exhibitions.
The painting titled "Study of Miss J. Fripp" is a portrait of Thomas William Fripp's daughter Jocelyn Mary Fripp, who was born in Hatzic on September 8 1903 and passed away in Kamloops on May 18 1991.
After leaving Vancouver, Jack ended up living and working in Bulgaria for a number of years, where she died and was buried in 1954.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
| DATE | EXHIBITION | ARTWORK |
| 1920 April 10 | Sketch Club Monthly Exhibition | (paintings from the far north) |
| 1920 June | Sketch Club Monthly Exhibition | (pictures) |
| 1920 September | Vancouver Exhibition VSC Exhibition | (landscape) |
| (part of loan exhibition) | ||
| 1920 Sept. 18 - 25 | BCSFA Annual Exhibition | Study of Miss J. Fripp |
| Savary Island | ||
| The Old Favorites | ||
| 1920 Oct. 2 - ? | Sketch Club Monthly Exhibition | (portrait) |
| (portrait) | ||
| (Palestine sketch) | ||
| (Palestine sketch) | ||
| (landscapes) | ||
| 1920 Dec. 4 - ? | Sketch Club Annual Exhibition | Mrs. George Blace (portrait) |
| Miss Heaton (portrait) | ||
| ("several portraits") | ||
| (Bedouin encampment) |