Alfred Woolcock

Bishop Alfred Woolcock, a one-time Anglican Church of Canada priest and former head of the Anglican Catholic Church, died in July at the age of 93.

Elected in 1984 as the second bishop of the Traditional Anglican Church – a breakaway church with worldwide membership – Bishop Woolcock headed the church for five years while he was in his 70s before stepping aside in 1989 to become assistant bishop of the church.

Born in Cornwall, England, Bishop Woolcock came to Canada in 1933. He was ordained that year in the diocese of Nova Scotia and served in two parishes there before becoming a chaplain in the British army during the Second World War. He spent his wartime chaplaincy in Africa, Italy, Greece, the Middle East and Yugoslavia.

After the war, he returned to Canada and served parishes in the dioceses of Algoma, Toronto and Saskatchewan before leaving the church over the issue of women’s ordination. In 1984, he founded the Anglican Catholic Church of the Good Shepherd in Oshawa, Ont. He served that parish until his death.

He is survived by a son, a daughter, seven grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren; he was predeceased by his wife, Eleanor.