Franklin Parker Poole, Sr.

OXFORD, Miss. — Rev. Dr. Franklin Parker Poole, Sr., 93, died peacefully at his home in Oxford , Miss. on Thursday, October 15, 2026, following an extended illness.

Poole was a former music professor at Bethel University-McKenzie.

A memorial service is Saturday, November 14, at 11 a.m., at Oxford-University United Methodist Church (OUUMC), with Rev. Chris McAlilly officiating. Friends and family are invited to remain and visit at a luncheon in the church immediately following the service. A private interment for immediate family at OUUMC columbarium will precede the memorial service.

Frank was born July 13, 1933, outside of New Orleans to Daniel William (Willie) Poole, Sr. and Helen Sells Poole.

Frank was a gentle and sensitive child, but his parents and older brothers were all competitive athletes and tried to make him one as well. Ultimately his father bought him a trombone. Playing that, Frank learned that music was “his thing,” and with his parents’ eventual full support, it would also become his life’s work and passion—and lead him to his life’s partner.

As an undergraduate, Frank studied music at Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now UL Lafayette) and LSU, where he enjoyed performing music but sometimes struggled with stage fright. One of his favorite memories of college was dressing up like a cowboy and singing “I’m Heading for the Last Roundup” to a big audience (no stage fright that night—maybe the costume helped?) Another undergraduate highlight was a national parks church ministry adventure he spent at the Grand Canyon one summer, where he served as a soda jerk by day, and as a choir director for evening worship services held on the rim for tourists. At LSU, he got a job as a choir director at Zachary Methodist Church, enjoyed it, and decided that’s what he wanted to do as a profession.

After LSU, Frank attended the Chandler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, where he earned a Master’s in Christian Education. Next, his parents drove him to New York City, where he enrolled at Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University. During his two years there, he earned a Master’s Degree in Sacred Music, and met and fell in love with Mary Lewis, a fellow southerner who was also studying sacred music at Union. They got married in 1958 in Mary’s hometown of Oxford, MS at Oxford University United Methodist Church. Thus began their lifelong partnership, which in the early years involved a series of churches from North Carolina to Louisiana to Texas, where Frank was the choral director and Mary often played the organ, as their family grew to include two sons and a daughter. It turned out church work could also be a full-contact sport, so in 1967, they packed up the family and moved to Nashville, where Frank enrolled at George Peabody College for Teachers (now a part of Vanderbilt) . Mary worked to put him through graduate school and even typed his dissertation. In 1971, he earned his PhD in music.

In 1972, Frank accepted a position as chair of the music department and choral director at Bethel College in McKenzie, Tennessee, where the kids grew up and all graduated from high school. He thrived there. He formed a choral group called “The Balladeers” and enjoyed staging several musicals. He also served as the choir director at the Methodist church in McKenzie and Mary was the organist in nearby Paris. During this time, the family enjoyed camping vacations, and Frank took up needlepointing to take his mind off work politics. For the next 50 years, whenever Frank was sitting—whether watching PBS murder mysteries or episodes of Bridgerton—he was also needlepointing. Among his proudest creations were the 16 Christmas stockings he made for his children, their spouses, and his 10 grandchildren—each of which took at least 6 months to complete. Another favorite was his Six Days of Creation series, a years-long needlepoint project that he finished at 90.

In 1983, Frank and Mary moved to Baton Rouge, where Frank became the Minister of Music at First United Methodist Church, and Mary became the organist and director of the children’s choir, worked as church secretary, and started a handbell choir. One of his favorite activities in this role was the Madrigal Dinners that his youth choir would put on, with the choir serving as madrigal singers and servers. After 8 years, Frank traded in his baton and became Minister of Older Adult Education in the church, where one of his favorite duties was organizing trips to lands near and far—from New England to Italy. While in Baton Rouge, their family began growing again: Frank was proud to perform the wedding ceremonies of all three kids at FUMC as well as the baptisms of the first five of their eventual ten grandchildren at that church.

In 1999, Frank and Mary retired to Oxford, where they built a house behind Mary’s parents. For several years after “retirement” Frank worked part-time at Oxford University United Methodist Church as minister of visitation, and Mary served as organist at First Presbyterian Church. Mary also started the bell choir at OUUMC. During this time, Frank became a master gardener, and delighted in his Zoysia lawn, and growing vegetables and flowers into his late eighties. He and Mary also enjoyed helping take care of several grandchildren, who were often in tow when they played bridge or Mexican Train with other retirees in town. They volunteered as ushers at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, a role Frank enjoyed into his 90s. They also bought season tickets to Ole Miss football games, where Frank could often be heard singing rather than yelling, cheer songs that he made up: “Fumble, Intercept! Fumble, Intercept!”

In 2004, when Frank was 71 years old, he and Mary took four of the grandkids to Lake Powell where they and six other relatives rented a houseboat for a week. At the end of the vacation, he and his brother-in-law, Tom Jackson, took a barge trip on the Colorado River to the base of the Grand Canyon, where they spent the night. The next morning at 8:00 am, Frank, Tom, and their boat party begin hiking out of the canyon. Over 50 years before, Frank had attempted to hike out of the canyon, only to become dehydrated and had to be carried out by mule. This time, when Frank began feeling short of breath, he was determined to persevere, so he kept walking—slowly. When he finally reached the top at 8:00 pm, a helicopter lifted him to Flagstaff, Arizona, where he became a local celebrity as that hospital’s first ever open heart high altitude surgery patient. He recovered from his heart attack, and he and Mary enjoyed taking trips and cruises in retirement. After Mary passed away in 2020, Frank took several riverboat cruises with Mary’s brother, Arthur. This past summer, Frank was able to travel with Arthur and other family members for a week at one of their favorite summer destinations: Chautauqua, NY, a sort of “summer camp for NPR listeners.”

Frank delighted in his family—his children and their spouses, and especially his grandchildren and their spouses and “particular friends.” Two years ago, Frank took a few weeks to write a 26-page version of his life story—a gift, he said, to his children and grandchildren. On the last page, he wrote: “It has been a great life. God made sure that I got the very best wife, the greatest 3 children and spouses, and 10 wonderful grandchildren….” He ends the story like this: “As a small kid, when asked my name, I would say, ‘Franklin Parker Poole, Mickey Mackey Moo.’ I have no idea where that came from, so with all my love I leave you with this: “FRANKLIN PARKER POOLE MICKEY MACKEY MOO. DAD, POPPA POOLE.”

In addition to Mary, he was preceded in death by his brothers James and Dan. He is survived by his two sons Franklin, his wife Amy of Keller, TX, and Bryant, his wife Shelli of Oxford; his daughter, Helen Hale, her husband Jason of Oxford; ten grandchildren, and two grandchildren-in-law.

His children would like to thank all of the staff at Enhabit Hospice and Cornerstone Caregiving for the professional and compassionate care they provided to their father, allowing him to finish his life journey at home, and to the friends and extended members who have offered their visits, calls, private prayers, and other expressions of love and comfort in recent weeks. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to Frank’s memory may be made to Oxford University United Methodist Church Music Ministry.