Obituary: Mary Drew Fraser, 87, of Chester

Mary Drew Fraser, 87, of Chester, passed away Dec. 31, 2019 at Cheshire Medical Center after a brief illness.

Born Sept. 26, 1932, the only child of Frank and Alice (Ingerson) Drew, Mary grew up in Wilton and Milford, N.H. After graduation from the University of New Hampshire in 1954, she married the love of her life, George Robert Fraser.

Mary Fraser was intelligent and spirited. She ran a kindergarten, was a social worker, was the first elected Library Trustee chairperson in Springfield and a Unitarian Universalist Church member. She and Bob restored several historic houses, started an antiques business and created and managed several successful antique shows.

Mary Fraser was an avid reader who also wrote the news of the Vermont Antiques Dealers’ Association for Maine Antique Digest. She also wrote a newsy column for a Woodstock newspaper about the hamlet of Taftsville, where she and her husband lived for a number of years before returning to Chester more than a decade ago. Mary Fraser lived a long and happy life, loving her family, her pets and countless friends, and being much loved in return.

Mrs. Fraser leaves behind children Lissa Fernandez (David), Stephen Fraser (Anita), Donna Fraser-Leary (Dean), Kate Fraser, and her foreign exchange student daughter Sandra Fankhauser Azam and family in Switzerland; grandchildren Nathan Fraser (Angela), Alexander (Brittany) and Benjamin Fernandez (Stephanie), and Leon and Robyn Leary; great-grandchildren Kelsie, Kya and Skye Fraser, and Penelope Fernandez. She was predeceased by her husband Bob and a grandson Jason Fraser.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 1 p.m., Saturday, June 13, 2020 at the Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse, 21 Fairground Road in Springfield. Burial will be private. Donations in Mary Fraser’s memory may be made to: Community Cares Network of Chester/Andover, P.O. Box 64, Chester, VT 05143, or The Whiting Library, 117 Main St., Chester, VT 05143, or by clicking here.