Frank H. Woolever July 5, 2010 Frank H. Woolever, 77, of Syracuse, died peacefully at Crouse Hospital on Monday after a brief illness. Born and raised on the South side of Syracuse, Frank graduated from St. Anthony's where he was a star member of the basketball team. After attending St. Bernard's Seminary, he was ordained a Catholic priest. He was involved in the civil rights movement and served as director of Inner City Development for the Diocese of Syracuse. In 1970, Frank received an MPA from Syracuse University. Frank married Meme (Mary Elizabeth) Schmalzl in 1971. He then became director of Drug Abuse Services for Greene County, NY. In 1974, they returned to Syracuse with their two young daughters.
Frank served as director of Euclid Community Open House and then worked for Cornell's Cooperative Extension as program director for the Family Matters project. He become a pastoral counselor, and for many years provided spiritual and psychological counseling at the Onondaga Pastoral Counseling Center. From 2001 to 2006, he was the director of L'Arche Syracuse. Frank helped create and establish Unity Acres, Time of Jubilee (a housing land trust), and the Jericho Project which assists people reentering society after incarceration. He served on the Citizens Review Board and the Board of the Human Rights Commission. Frank completed a doctor of Ministry in 1995 from Colgate Rochester Divinity School.
Throughout his life Frank was involved in many social justice causes. He was a longtime member of the Syracuse Peace Council, Jail Ministry and Witness for Peace. He traveled to Nicaragua several times to visit the sister community of St. Andrew's parish. Frank was a participant in the School of the Americas Watch protests, and was incarcerated in 2007 for three months after an act of civil disobedience at Fort Benning, GA. He had been a charter member of a group advocating reparations for displaced Iraqis in the Syracuse area. A lifelong believer in civic involvement, Frank was a frequent contributor to the Letters to the Editor page of the Post Standard and participated in Syracuse University's Thursday Morning Roundtable. Frank loved to play handball at the downtown YMCA, was an avid golfer and enjoyed baseball, especially attending Syracuse Chiefs games.
Surviving are his wife of 39 years, Meme; daughters, Heidi Daly (Ned Daly) of Alfred, ME, Amy Woolever (Dan Krainin) of Brooklyn, NY; grandson, Micah Woolever of Brooklyn, NY; sisters, Jeanne Woolever Kinney of Hopedale, MA and Anne Woolever Warner of College Park, MD.