The Rev. Wayne George Funk, the pastor of a Roman Catholic church in Frederick who had earlier served in the Northwood section of Northeast Baltimore, died of cancer Saturday at Frederick Memorial Hospital. He was 70.

Born in Baltimore and raised in Hamilton, he attended St. Dominic's Parochial School and at the end of eighth-grade entered the seminary at the old St. Charles College in Catonsville. He completed four years of high school and two years of college there.

According to his biography, in the fall of 1957 he was assigned to the Pontifical North American College in Rome, where he received a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1959 and a licentiate in sacred theology in 1963, both degrees granted by the Pontifical Gregorian University. In 1962 he was ordained in Rome.

"He was a compassionate person who seemed to know almost everyone here in a congregation of 4,100 families," said the Rev. Richard J. Murphy, administrator of St. John Roman Catholic Church in Frederick. "He was an articulate speaker and was not afraid to speak out. He was not easily swayed, and you always knew where he stood."

After finishing his studies in early 1963, Father Funk returned to Baltimore as a curate at St. Agnes Church in Catonsville. While there, he was an official of the Baltimore Archdiocese's board that studied the validity of marriage and was Mount St. Joseph High School chaplain.

He was also a board member of the West Baltimore Inter-Faith and Inter-Religious Council and was active in planning and holding ecumenical retreats for priests and ministers.

"I think of his love for the church and his courage to speak his mind in a candid way," said the Rev. Isaac Karoor, a priest at St. Ignatius parish in Hickory.

In 1969, Father Funk returned to Rome and served on the faculty of the North American College as assistant vice rector and an instructor in the skill of teaching. He was also a spiritual director and formation adviser to the seminarians. "He believed in supporting his fellow priests and ministering to his people," said the Rev. M. Shawn Mahon, pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Hampden.

He returned to Baltimore in 1974 and was assigned to St. Matthew's Parish on Loch Raven Boulevard in Northwood, where he remained for more than a decade and later became its pastor. While at the church, he was the Baltimore Archdiocese's personnel director for clergy.

"Even though he was later assigned to Frederick, part of his heart remained in Baltimore and St. Matthew's," Father Murphy said.

In 1990, he was appointed pastor of the large Frederick parish, where in 1996 he told a Sun reporter about his views on the shortage of priests.

"It is time to open the ministry to married men and women," Father Funk said. "I think there are tons of people who would make excellent priests who are married or who may want to marry."

Archbishop William D. Borders will offer a Mass of Christian burial at 11 a.m. today at St. John the Evangelist Church, 118 E. Second St. in Frederick. Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien will perform the final commendation.

Survivors include two brothers, Alfred H. Funk of Timonium and John W. Funk of Baltimore; and nephews.

jacques.kelly@baltsun.com