FALL 2003
his spring, a season when life is reaffirming all around us, Marion Frazier died in Woodstown Friends Home. A few days before, she had gathered her family and some of her friends around her. She talked with steady, resolute voice about her imminent passing. It was characteristic of her to face life, and death, with courage, taking care as best she could for others.
Marion was born and lived most of her life in Salem County. The second child of Frances Coles Pettit, a Quaker, and Frank Pettit, a Baptist, she attended both faiths until her family joined the Society of Friends, a union with which she remained faithful for the rest of her life. An independent child, as her brother and sisters attended George School, she chose to cultivate the close ties she had with her community, and therefore attended and graduated from Woodstown High School. Addressing her career, she attended the New Jersey College for Women, now Douglas College, and worked as a nutritionist for several years in North Jersey. But ultimately it was teaching as a career she loved most, and thus she served on the faculty of Kingsway High School for many years. There she assisted the students as a guidance counselor and was respected and honored by students, staff, and parents alike for her direct advice and her caring demeanor. She married Irving Frazier, settled down in Woodstown, and reared two children, Diane and Frank.
Within the Society of Friends she served in many capacities, on the monthly, quarterly, and yearly meeting levels, and until her latest illness was Clerk of Overseers at Woodstown Monthly Meeting. She facilitated an organized, Spirit-led committee. Those who worked with her attested to her hard work, entire commitment to those endeavors she embraced, follow-through to completion of the work she started, plain speaking, and selflessness in regard to credit due. One of her concerns was providing financial assistance to the children of her Meeting so they could afford an education. To this end she was instrumental in starting an educational fund that now provides about $15,000 a year for Woodstown Monthly Meeting students.
Life reaffirms itself in many forms, some quite mysterious. For many of us, Marion Frazier will be that life-affirming energy which propels us upward. To the next generation of Friends, she will be a life-affirming inspiration and example. The New Testament affirms: “... and God will raise up new sons of Abraham.” Often it is from knowing those who lived among us that we see raised up “new sons of Abraham.” Marion Frazier will be deeply missed, but also lovingly remembered.
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Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:19 AM
