Evelina Fradejas, a longtime leader in Episcopal Asiamerica Ministries at the diocesan, national, and international levels, has died at 80.
She was born in Odiongan, Romblon, Philippines, and was an active member from her youth of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Philippine Independent Church), an independent Catholic church that has long been in full communion with the Episcopal Church.
Fradejas earned a degree from Mapua University and worked at the national Bureau of Telecommunications before immigrating to the United States in 1969. She joined other family members in California and became a lay leader at St. Thomas’ Church in Hacienda Heights. She also provided regular support to many congregations in her homeland and scholarships for seminarians. Several of those supported by her gifts were ordained as priests and one as a bishop.
She was involved in Episcopal Asiamerica Ministries for many years, serving as secretary of the Filipino Convocation and attending several international gatherings of the network. She was EAM’s unofficial photographer and enjoyed organizing ballroom dances for the group’s gatherings. She is survived by eight of her 13 siblings, and by many nieces and nephews.
The Rev. Horace Douglas Judson, who worked as a stained-glass craftsman while serving parishes in the Dioceses of San Joaquin and Los Angeles, died February 22 at 85.
He grew up in Glendale, California, a scion of the family that owns Judson Studios, a renowned stained-glass firm, and began working in the shop at 11. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War, and after earning a degree in history returned to work in the family business for several years. He was proud of having crafted the windows at St. Gregory’s Church in Long Beach, where and his wife worshiped in retirement.
He studied for the ministry at Bloy House, the Episcopal seminary in Claremont, California, and was ordained in 1971. After serving as an assistant at Holy Trinity Church in Alhambra, he moved north to serve as vicar of congregations in Tracy and Tulare, as well as a youth minister and camp chaplain for the Diocese of San Joaquin.
Judson returned to the Los Angeles area in 1981, combining parish ministry with ministry in several congregations, including eight years as priest in charge of St. Timothy’s Church in Compton. He was also involved for many years with the L.A. Mission on Skid Row, and spent a day or two each week providing pastoral care for the homeless associated with the mission.
He is survived by his wife, Kathern, three children, and eight grandchildren.
The Rev. Raymond Low, an Australian who served as the rector of St. Luke’s Church in Scituate, Mass., for 39 years, died March 6 at 89.
He was born in Melbourne, and trained for the ministry at Ridley College, an Anglican seminary within the University of Melbourne. He was ordained in 1958, and began his ministry in a group of parishes in Victoria.
He accepted a call as curate of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Brockton, Mass., in 1961, expecting to return to Australia in two years. Instead he was called to be rector of St. Luke’s, where he remained for nearly four decades. He was very active in community life there, cofounding the Scituate Food Pantry and the town’s Rotary Club.
Low was also a devoted peacemaker, and served as president of “Search for Justice and Equality in Israel Palestine,” a non-governmental organization that sought common ground for reconciliation conversations. He also organized a Cold War-era exchange trip that brought students from the Soviet Union to Scituate.
He was an avid reader and Australian rules football fan, and loved to travel, with a penchant for pulling over the car for a visit every time he passed an Episcopal or Anglican church. His children claim to have seen the interior of 99% of the churches in the United States, England, and Australia. He is survived by Joan, his wife of 61 years, and by three children and five grandchildren.