Frank Tholenaer

Which man of faith in the Calgary Diocese inspires you in your vocation as husband and father? Joe Woodard shared:

My archetype father is Frank Tholenaer. He’s the guy who with his friend Gordon built the adoration chapel at St. Anthony’s Church. He was a big-burly, hard-working, blue-collar Catholic, but he loved to read — novels! — and hated TV. He was a sheet metal worker who eventually worked as a heating and ventilation foreman. He went to St. Mary’s High School in the 40s. He didn’t mind getting into the occasional fist fight. But later in life he developed a very solid, charitable faith. He was incredibly generous with his time and talented with things like home renovations. In one case he moved in and built us a bedroom in our basement. He raised five kids with his wife, Carol. They met when he was working on his car, and a bucket of gasoline caught fire, and he ended up badly burned, and Carol was the nurse in the emergency ward. They met when he was all puffy and red from this flash gasoline fire. They had a long life together, built a beautiful house in Haysborough and basically to every degree possible dedicated themselves to their parish — St. Anthony’s. He was just always available. Anything that needed doing, Frank was always there doing it, and he attended daily Mass whenever possible. (Frank died peacefully on September 26, 2008, at 3 p.m. at the age of 80)

† Frank Tholenaer

​Joe Woodard is a husband, a father of 10 and a grandfather of four (so far). He attends Sacred Heart Parish in Calgary. He has worked as an academic, journalist, citizen judge, and most recently an adjunct philosophy professor at Newman Theological College (Edmonton) and Latin teacher at St. John's Choir Schola (Calgary).

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Written by Sara Francis