Frank Henderson Wood
November 29, 1929 - December 11, 2023
Frank was a friend to BICA since its inception. A teacher and mentor to Dr. Braaten, Dr. Wood presented at the first Institute conference in 1982 (photo of session description below).
Beloved husband, father, grandfather, and teacher, Frank was born Thanksgiving Day in Cherryvale, KS. As a child, he worked in the family dairy, and following his father’s footsteps, Frank attended Choate and Harvard (1951). He took a Masters in Education at Haverford Quaker College. Frank married Raquel Kaufman at the Radnor Friends Meeting in 1953.
In 1954, Frank, Raquel, and baby Matthew embarked on a great adventure when Frank became a teacher on the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation in the Everglades. Here they participated as community members: Teacher Frank in the one room schoolhouse and Dietitian Raquel as the native Mikasuki was still the dominant language.
In 1956, they came to Minneapolis where Edmund (Ned) was born and Frank worked for the Minneapolis Public Schools. He became the first teacher in the district for children with behavioral problems. When Special Education became a discipline, he joined the Ph.D program at the University of Minnesota, graduating in 1965. He remained at the U as a professor of Special Education from 1965-1984. Child Mina was born in 1966.
Frank and Raquel were lifelong Quakers, members of the Twin Cities Friends Meeting, where they raised their children, and Prospect Hill Meeting; active in regional and national Quaker life, the American Friends Service Committee, Friends for a Non-Violent World, were founders of the Friends School of MN, supporters of the Scattergood Friends School of lowa and the Ramallah Friends School.
Frank was a storyteller and dog lover, carpenter, boatwright, self-taught musician, and photographer. He was a gifted conversationalist, genuinely interested in all, had great compassion for those who were “different,” and encouraged his children, students and friends to follow their inner leading, however unusual. He enjoyed a contemplative life with books and the natural world.
Frank is preceded in death by his parents, Mina and Willis Wood, sister Libby, sister-in-law Dixie and grandson Dan. He is survived by wife Raquel, brother Bill and children Matthew, Ned (Veronica) and Mina (Greg), grandchildren Avram (Grace), Andie, and Ash.
His memorial was held at the Friends School of Minnesota on January 27, 2024 at 10:00 AM.