It is with deep regret that we must inform all of
R.E. Lee High School Alumni and the Class of 1969 that Candace died
September 19, 2005.
To see Candace was to love
her. To love and be loved by Candace was to be
transformed forever.
With grace and great courage,
our dear friend Reverend Candace Smith Frank ascended peacefully on
the morning of September 19, 2005, inspiring the deepest respect,
admiration, and love from all who were privileged to share in her
journey. Arriving July 24, 1951, this bright spark of a Leo
brought her fire to the stage in many forms – a true Diva in the
most delightful of ways. A singer, a dancer, an actress, and a
comedienne in nature, her childhood dream to be an opera singer was
powerfully transformed to a call to Ministry. She found her path
in the United Church of Religious Science where she used her unique
voice to express her deepest truths and to inspire the hearts of so
many, in truly profound ways.
She graduated Ministerial
Studies from the Holmes Institute at the (then) Seattle Church of
Religious Science, and stepped fully into a deep and dynamic career.
She served as the Senior Minister at the Global Heart Spiritual Center
in Grand Junction, Colorado and the Mastery of Life Center in Las
Cruces, New Mexico before returning to Seattle to become the Family
and Youth Minister aka “Love Goddess” of the Center for Spiritual
Living, Seattle. In Vancouver, BC, the Centre for Spiritual
Living became home to Candace and her husband Chip in 2001, and
they themselves quickly became home to a growing community of
like-minded and radiant-hearted “Canadians who know how to
party!”, as Candace would often rejoice. It was here in
Vancouver, she shared with colleagues, that she found her greatest
ministerial joy. From the pure intention of her heart, she
steadily catalyzed the spirits of a loving few to become a powerful,
growing community - with purpose. Her vision to “Unite the
World in Love” was so grand that it sometimes broke her heart so
wide open that we could all easily glimpse the treasures and
possibilities of her ideals within.
For your ability to live the
divine and human in equal strength, authenticity, and passion, for
sharing your wit and wisdom, your truest joys and most honest
struggles…we thank you most, dear Candace. You allowed us to
know ourselves and our possibilities by always being the full truth of
yourself. You succeeded, sweet friend—you united your world in
love. Dance on, precious one...
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