W.D. Frazee was born on February 15, 1906, near Phoenix, Arizona. At sixteen, young Bill Frazee (as he was known by friends and family) applied to the Medical Missionary Course at the College of Medical Evangelists in Loma Linda, California. Achieving high scores throughout the year, he was allowed to choose classes from the medical course.
Elder Frazee served as apprentice to John Tindall for about five years; gaining all the wisdom and experience that he could. Eventually, Elder Frazee began holding meetings in the San Francisco area, and soon received a call to go to Utah as a gospel medical evangelist. During the Great Depression, when the church could not afford to hire any assistants, Elder Frazee began inviting professionals to join him as volunteers. This began a faith ministry that would become the foundation for the establishment of the Wildwood Medical Missionary Institute in 1942.
In addition to co-founding Wildwood, W.D. Frazee was a teacher and lecturer. (Right click here ".mp3" and select "save target as" to download Elder Frazee's testimony about how Wildwood was founded.) He spent many years teaching medical missionary classes and lecturing on the Bible, not only at Wildwood but as a guest speaker across the country. Some of the fascinating topics included: the Christian home, the Sanctuary, end-time prophecies, overcoming sin, and many others. More than 1,600 of these sermons and classes have been preserved on tape and are currently being transcribed to be made available to the public in print as well as audio form. Some samples, of both audio and print, are available to download on this site.
W.D. Frazee believed that each person is unique, specially designed by the Lord, of infinite value, and has a special place and mission in this world which only he can fill. His life followed this principle and he encouraged others to do the same. (Listen to: Being Dead Yet Speaketh.mp3, for a concise biography, testimonies, and a message by Mark Finley recorded at Elder Frazee's Memorial Service.)
I spent about a year at Wildwood in 52 and 53. I became acquainted with both Sister Helen and Elder Frazee. It was for the must part a happy memory and they have made a big difference in my life. No telling what I would have turned out to be if it were not for Wildwood.
Posted by: Floyd Hurd | October 30, 2007 at 05:33 PM