Elmer Frazee 434

Elmer always called me J.D. I guess that it was because of the family's history of using initials. I always wanted to think of a nickname for him, but the name Elmer didn't lend itself to any. He really belongs on the hidden valley frazee blog because of how he lived so close and I'd see him time and time again, but except for the few years he lived at Pa's house taking care of him, I didn't know when he would arrive and when he left. I'd like to say it's because he was a quiet man, but that wasn't exactly it. He was just waiting for the opportunity to say something great, and if he didn't have something great to say, he just didn't say anything at all.

Obituaries - 9/02/2006 By: North County Times and The Californian

Elmer Frazee, 85

OCEANSIDE - Elmer Frazee, 85, died at his home Aug. 29, 2006. Born Jan. 28, 1921, in Oceanside, he lived there all his life. (Except when he lived in Carlsbad as a young boy) He enjoyed spending time at the family cabin, playing cards, music and going to thrift stores. Mr. Frazee was preceded in death by his wife, Marge. He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Blair and Joyce Frazee; daughters and sons-in-law Shelley and Jim and Teri and Mark; six grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren. A graveside was held Friday, Sept. 1. Following the service there was a celebration of life in Oceanside.

Remembering Elmer Frazee : Oceanside man known as a 'laid-back' family man By: SCOTT MARSHALL - Staff Writer OCEANSIDE -- Sunday afternoons for Elmer Frazee's family meant getting together and playing cards, especially Shanghai rummy, into the evening. Regular trips to a family cabin in Tom's Place, between Bishop and Mammoth, also were part of the family norm for decades, said Frazee's daughter, Teri Buckley, 53, of Oceanside.

An integral part of those family gatherings will be missing in the future. Elmer Frazee died Tuesday at his Oceanside home. He was 85.

"He was very laid back," Buckley said of her father. "He just wanted to take care of his family."

Born Jan. 28, 1921, in Oceanside, Frazee was part of a pioneering family in North County that has been credited with helping turn the local flower business into a multimillion-dollar industry. Buckley said her father and his brother, Edwin Frazee, worked together in the flower business their father, Frank Frazee, had started. Their younger brother, Robert "Bob" Frazee, a former mayor of Carlsbad and former state Assemblyman, also worked in the family business, sharing Farmer of the Year honors with Edwin Frazee in 1997.

When Edwin Frazee died in 2004 at the age of 87, Eric Larson, the executive director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau, credited the Frazee family with putting San Diego County on the map for commercial and nursery crops, which had become a $900 million-a-year business at the time.

Buckley said her father never wanted to get involved with politics like his younger brother did. Elmer Frazee was involved with the Alhambra group, a service group at St. Mary's by the Sea that provided scholarships, for about 10 years, and enjoyed playing cards with his family every Sunday afternoon, Buckley said.

"He was a very quiet man with a very dry sense of humor and could really make you laugh at an unexpected time," Buckley said. "When he got laughing, we used to say he had a belly laugh."