- The Rev. Frank C. Mabee, minister emeritus of Midway Hills Christian Church, devoted his life to a ministry of justice. His good works included being a founder of the Dallas Center for Survivors of Torture, for which the Dallas Peace Center recognized him as the 1999 Peacemaker of the Year.
Dr. Mabee, 79, died Sunday of congestive heart failure at his Dallas home.
A memorial will be at 2 p.m. today at Midway Hills Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), 11001 Midway Road. He will be buried in a private ceremony at Restland Memorial Park before the memorial.
"He always had a cause – at least one – and when it was his cause, he enlisted other people and they made it their cause," said the Rev. J. Stanley Hagadone, director of admissions and continuing education at the Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University. "That was his greatest gift: When he had a passion, he shared it with others."
Dr. Hagadone was co-minister and successor to Dr. Mabee, who was senior minister at Midway Hills Christian Church from 1968 to 1981.
At Midway Hills, Dr. Mabee focused his ministry on social issues, including the integration of Dallas schools. He was president of the Dallas Ministerial Alliance.
After leaving Midway Hills in 1981, Dr. Mabee was area minister for the Christian Church in the Houston area, where his work included opening new churches for Hispanic and black congregations.
In 1990, he retired and returned to Dallas, where he continued his decades of activism.
"His entire ministry was devoted to promoting justice for all people," Dr. Hagadone said. "He really lived out what Jesus talked about in Matthew 25," including feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and visiting those in jail.
Dr. Mabee sought human rights for immigrants in the Rio Grande Valley and for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. He took medical supplies to Nicaragua and made human-rights visits to Korea, Japan, England, Scotland, Italy and Costa Rica.
He was a former longtime volunteer staff member for Proyecto Adelante Inc., the Dallas area nonprofit agency that provided legal help for refugees and immigrants. In January 1997, Dr. Mabee became the first director of the Center for Survivors of Torture, which he helped create out of Proyecto Adelante. The Center for Survivors of Torture is now one of 23 in the nation that provides victims psychological and physical rehabilitation.
In 2000, he was a founder of The Center for Human Rights in Dallas.
Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Dr. Mabee attended Phillips University in Enid, Okla., where he received his bachelor's degree after serving in the Navy.
He attended the University of Chicago and received a master of divinity degree from TCU's Brite Divinity School in 1959. He received a doctor of divinity degree from Phillips University in 1967.
He ministered at churches in Louisiana and Oklahoma before coming to Dallas.
From 1991 to 1993, Dr. Mabee was a volunteer with the new church department for the Christian Church in the Southwest (Disciples of Christ).
Dr. Mabee is survived by his wife, Winifred Mabee of Dallas; two daughters, Cathy Mabee Dozier of Dallas and Margaret Mabee of Grand Prairie; a son, Joel Mabee of Dallas; a sister, Mickey Bentall of Des Moines; and two grandchildren.
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1958 - 2010 (52 years)
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