With sadness I learned that a friend from the early years of my work in Edmonton Alberta, Franklin Henderson, has passed from this world. However, I imagine that both he and his wife Ruth are marveling to be part of the Heavenly Liturgy!

The Archdiocese of Edmonton, Alberta was enriched in many ways when the city grew greatly in population during the 1960s. The University of Alberta hired Dr. Joseph Franklin Henderson in 1963 in the Department of Biochemistry, where he worked with the Faculty of Medicine and published widely. His beloved wife Ruth was pleased to share that citations of Frank’s publications topped a thousand in many a year.

Frank’s approach to the challenges of scientific research was carried into the areas of interfaith relations and the history of the Latin Rite liturgy. In the year when full membership in the North American Academy of Liturgy was restricted to those who had advanced studies in the field, Frank was honored for his significant contribution to this Academy.

He and I participated in Jewish-Christian studies at the International Congress of Medieval Studies (Kalamazoo, Michigan) and contributed the essay “Jews and Judaism in the Medieval Latin Liturgy” to the volume The Liturgy of the Medieval Church (Medieval Institute Publications, 2005). In the late 1970s we were participants in the consultation of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy regarding inclusive language in English liturgical texts.

May Frank rest in peace, rewarded for his many contributions to human understanding of the fields of medicine and Christian worship. May his soul rest in peace!