Frances Mary (Madigan) Frazer

Frances Mary Frazer (Madigan) March 5, 1933 to October 29, 2020

Fran passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family in her adopted home of Northern California, where she has resided since 1966. Fran was born in Munising, Michigan and every summer for many years she would pack her family and return to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to share the charm of small-town living, her extended family and the great outdoors with her four children: John, Richard, Kelly and Robert. After her children were adults, Fran continued to make an annual trip in September to visit with her sister Alice Wanberg, her two brothers Richard and Jack Madigan and to view the “Spectacular Autumn Colors” of the forest. In addition to her children, she is survived by her daughters-in-law, Celia (John), Sherri (Richard), Vicki (Robert) and son-in-law Masatoshi Morita (Kelly); as well as her 10 grandchildren: Durban, Brimman, David, Jacob, Samantha, Benjamin, Makoto (Michael), Rachael, Samuel, and Hannah.

Fran was a longtime advocate for the preservation of nature and shared her love of nature with her family on camping trips around the country visiting many of the local and national parks in North America including Canada, Alaska and Hawaii. She supported Green Peace, the Sierra Club and she was a founding member and continuous supporter of the Monterrey Bay Aquarium Foundation. As a lifelong music lover, Fran regularly attended the Monterey Jazz and Ravinia Music Festivals.

Fran returned to college after raising a family and eventually worked at De Anza Community College as a Math and Psychology teacher until the age of 77. Her love of coffee and celebrations big and small caused her colleagues at De Anza to dub her the Queen of the “Fun Room”, and upon her retirement they gave her a plaque that read in part: We especially want to thank you for your many years of kindness in sharing and hosting collegial celebrations and fun filled, inspirational conversations during coffee/camaraderie breaks in the staff lounge AKA “Fun Room”. In keeping with Fran’s spirit of celebration her family is planning a celebration of her life, to be held at a yet to be determined later date and location, after the current restrictions on travel are lifted.

In lieu of flowers or other condolences the family is requesting that donations be made in the name of Frances Mary Frazer to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium Foundation. www.montereybayaquarium.org/donate