Frank Henderson Wood

Wood—Frank Henderson Wood, 94, on December 11, 2023, in Minneapolis, Minn. Frank was born on November 29, 1929, to Willis (Woody) Bowne and Mina Henderson Wood in Cherryvale, Kans. Frank grew up in Cherryvale with his sister, Elizabeth (Libby), and brother, Willis (Bill). Many of Frank’s ancestors were “gathered” before and during George Fox’s visit to Long Island, N.Y., in 1672.

Frank attended Choate Rosemary Hall boarding school in Wallingford, Conn., and then Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., graduating from the latter in 1951 magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. During holidays, he often stayed with his father’s Quaker relatives and returned to the faith his father had left. Frank graduated with a master’s degree from Haverford College in Pennsylvania in 1953.

On June 13, 1953, at Radnor (Pa.) Meeting, he married Raquel Deborah Kaufman, a Quaker by convincement. They settled in Minneapolis with baby Matthew. In 1954, Frank and Raquel served as teachers at the Bureau of Indian Affairs school on the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation in southern Florida. In 1956 they returned to Minneapolis, where Edmund (Ned) was born in 1957 and Mina Elizabeth in 1966. Frank and Raquel were active members of Twin Cities Meeting in Saint Paul for many years. Frank was a First-day school teacher. Later they helped to found Prospect Hill Meeting in Minneapolis. Frank and Raquel were active in the Minneapolis branch of American Friends Service Committee and attended Friends General Conference Gatherings and other national Quaker activities for many years.

In 1957, Frank was hired as the inaugural teacher for students with behavior disorders in the Minneapolis Public School District. In 1965, he was the first to graduate from the University of Minnesota with a doctorate in education of students with behavior disorders. He was a professor of educational psychology and special education at the University of Minnesota for many years. In 1961, Frank organized meetings that led to the formation of the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders (CCBD; now the Division for Emotional and Behavioral Health). Later he served as president of CCBD and on the Board of Directors for the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). Frank established and directed the Advanced Institute for Trainers of Teachers in Serious Emotional Disturbances, which brought together leading researchers, educators, and innovators from across the country. He received the CCBD’s first outstanding leadership award, the CEC J. E. Wallace Wallin for Special Education Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Midwest Symposium for Leadership in Behavior Disorders (MSLBD) Outstanding Leadership Award.

An interview with Frank appeared in MSLBD’s ReThinking Behavior magazine in 2017. The organization’s oral history project conducted an interview with him in 2010; the video is archived online at mslbd.org.

Retiring in 1995 at the age of 65, Frank dedicated time and energy to Quaker life. With Raquel and others, he helped found Friends School of Minnesota in 1988, still a flourishing K–8 in Saint Paul. They also supported Scattergood Friends School in Iowa; and Ramallah Friends School in Palestine, which was founded in 1869 by Quakers, including Frank’s great-uncle Timothy Hussey.

Frank’s hobbies included boat building, dogs, fishing, and observation of nature. He loved music, building his own instruments, and playing in small groups of fellow Quakers. He was a gifted conversationalist, had great compassion for those who were “different,” and encouraged others to follow their inner purpose, however unusual. He was wise, considerate, good natured, and enjoyed a contemplative life.

Frank was predeceased by a sister, Libby; a sister-in-law, Dixie; and a grandson. He is survived by his wife, Raquel Wood; three children, Matthew Wood, Ned Wood (Veronica), and Mina Leierwood (Greg); three grandchildren; a brother, Bill Wood; and many nieces and nephews.