Obituary of Anne Kathleen Frazier

Anne Kathleen Frazier was born on April 4, 1956, in White Salmon, Washington, to Calvin and Jean Frazier. She began her childhood in Stevenson, Washington, with her older sister Laurie, and was followed soon by brothers Scott and Paul.

The family moved to Eugene, Oregon, where Anne started elementary school. The family moved to Boulder, Colorado and then to Colorado Springs, where Anne attended Irving Junior High and Mitchell High School through grade 11. Anne’s apparent ease of making life-long friends began here. A move to Lakewood, Colorado, saw Anne finish her final year of high school at Wheat Ridge High.

College took Anne on global adventures. She began at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, transferred to Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and finished her bachelor’s degree in Spanish and Education at CU Boulder. She continued her life-long love of travel with a semester abroad in Costa Rica taking Chinese in Spanish and, of course, forming more enduring friendships. Her master’s program took her to Bryn Mawr College and a semester in Spain.

Six years teaching in Garden City, Kansas, was followed by a ten-year stint in Adak, Alaska, located at the far end of the Aleutian Island chain. Thornton High School in the Denver area was her last career venture, instilling a love of Spanish within countless students, as part of the International Baccalaureate program, and finally directing the IB program in the Adams County School District.

Travel remained a life passion: all fifty states, Canada, Mexico, Bolivia, Panama, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Chile, Brazil, Western Europe, Greece, Turkey, Morocco, Japan, and China just to name a few.

Relationships were her essence. In addition to gaining the admiration and enduring friendship of countless students and educators with whom she shared her amazing Spanish talents, (she dreamed in Spanish) she hosted holiday celebrations bringing together an extended family of loved ones from many cultures.

Anne’s proudest and most fulfilling life event was the adoption between Mother and Daughter on February 6^th, 2006 with Mariah Jean Frazier. Anne is a miracle to Mariah. Mother and daughter shared a deep, loving bond that included rescuing beloved Sherlock Frazier, a passion for travel and food, a love for sharing books and recipes in the kitchen, and making connections with family friends. Anne’s legacy will live on through her Sherlock, Mariah and her first grandchild, in the making.

Anne was known to her nieces and nephews as their "Mary Poppins Aunt".  Whenever she came around to visit, it was as if the sun came out, the birds began to sing and magic would begin to happen.  She loved each of her nieces and nephews deeply and always let them know; often taking them on road trips, just to the cabin or simply showing up for events they were involved in Anne made each of them feel special, capable, wonderful, witty and smart.  They all knew her love for them and she has made them better people for it.   

Anne’s deep and abiding faith and courage brought her strength throughout her life and brought her solace as she survived getting hit by a car and her success of healing several bouts of cancer. Although she continued to live life to the fullest possible throughout, it was pancreatic cancer that finally slowed her down and brought to her next journey on February 22, 2020, where she was surely welcomed warmly by her father, Calvin.

She is survived by her daughter Mariah (Raheem), her bebito in Mariah, her Sherlock, her mother Jean, sister Laurie (John), and brothers Scott (Pam) and Paul (Jayne), as well as many nieces and nephews who all held very special places in her heart.

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