Frank Satterwhite was born in Pomona, California. He grew up in southern California in a family whose life revolved around the Baptist church. His grandparents were Quaker, but later converted to Baptism. He sometimes chuckled that they must have quietly instilled “some Quaker thought” in him since he was never directly exposed to Quakerism when he was young.
In 2014 Frank became a member of Strawberry Creek Friends Meeting, where he has been a longtime member of Finance Committee. His membership committee said “Living and acting according to his evolving understanding of God's presence is now, and always has been, of primary importance to Frank.” His life testifies to this.
In 1958 Frank enlisted in the Army. Only two weeks before entering the military, John Hershey's ideas in the book "Hiroshima" influenced him and he began having grave doubts about “killing people”. Seeking answers, he read the New Testament cover- to-cover (26x) and met with Quakers: at Fort Ord (Monterey, 1958-59) he joined Berkeley Monthly Meeting. In Texas (1959), he joined Austin Quaker Meeting. Later in life, he was a member of other Bay Area Meetings, e.g, San Francisco, and Palo Alto.
His next military assignment was Monterey language school to learn Russian, and there he began filing appeals for conscientious objector status. Both appeals were denied, and Frank refused any further orders. His refusal to follow orders led to disciplinary action punishable by a six-year prison term.
After 37 days in solitary, Frank was visited by a colonel concerned that his practice of refusing orders appeared to be rubbing off on others. Asked if he would quit filing appeals if he were given an "undesirable" discharge, Frank agreed. His time in the military totaled slightly over 18 months.
With credits earned from his military language school, combined with earlier credits from California community and state colleges, Frank entered University of California, Berkeley, to earn a bachelors in linguistics (followed by a law degree there).
In 1962, his then wife (a registered nurse), wished to travel to India. Lacking airfare, Frank and his wife rode his motorcycle to Montreal, where they eventually found a freight vessel with a captain willing to transport them to Scotland. From there, they rode across Europe and through Turkey and Iran to India, where the two of them worked in a leprosy hospital. His oldest child was born in India, and rode home from the hospital on the back of the motorcycle.
His work life was eclectic. He was highly skilled in many areas, including being an electrician and a junior high school teacher in the Oakland Unified School District. His longest job (30+ years) was as a court appointed receiver for a bankruptcy court.
Frank was married three times before he met Sherry Thomas, who lived upstairs in the same apartment complex. Four months after first meeting, they were married in a judge’s chamber in Hayward (1982).
Their marriage lasted 42 happy years, during which they traveled to over 40 countries and to every state in the United States.
In January 2023 Frank and Sherry moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he passed away less than a year later.
Frank is survived by his two sisters Donna Lloyd (Oakland) and Pam Butler (Crescent City), and his five children David Satterwhite, Heather Levinger, Erica Herbert, Lisa Gowan, Meadow D’Arcy, as well as sixteen grandchildren, and nine great grandchildren.
Frank was the primary parent for three of his children, having sole responsibility for them from the ages of 5, 6, and 12. He never missed an opportunity to declare what a wonderful experience it was to be a parent.
In terms of their shared faith communities, Sherry was already active in Starr King Unitarian Universalist Church in Hayward. For eleven years Frank served as its Treasurer and the head of its building committee. Eventually though, he was drawn to return to his Quaker roots.
Reflecting on their many years together, Sherry said she admired Frank’s inquisitiveness, ethics, honesty, humor (“when not annoying”), brilliant mind and his ingenious creative ability to fix anything.
As a big believer that there is no reason to wait until a memorial to say nice things about the deceased, Sherry jokingly called Frank’s 70th birthday party (2006) his “funeral” to which everyone came and said how wonderful he was. This Hayward event is remembered with great joy and laughter.