Chauncey M. Frazee 42

I have only heard one story about Uncle Chauncey - and it appears to be a victim of the Telephone Game.  It was that Chauncey worked as a chauffer for a star in Hollywood and drove a huge Duesenberg sedan.  When that was replaced, they offered to sell it to Chauncey for a very small amount, but Chauncey declined thinking that he had no need to waste his money on it. What would he do with it?  Of course, when I was told the story, a 1930 Duesenberg sedan would have been worth a quarter of a million dollars and it would have been a great investment.

I wish I could clear up this story 100%, but my research is also clouded by speculation but is based on facts that I have found.  First, Uncle Harry also worked as a chauffer based on the 1910 census, and as they were living in California, Uncle Harry might have driven for a Hollywood movie star. Next, Chauncey was hired by Clark Browning of Toledo, a real estate investor, who from 1895 to 1915 hired and replaced several staff, but Chauncey lasted for 25 years. He and Elizabeth apparently sold their little home and moved in with Harriet after Mr. Browning died in 1931.  It would appear that Mrs. Browning, who was childless and 25 years older, had strong maternal feelings for the Frazees who had lost their only child, Adam, as a stillborn in 1915, shortly after he was hired.  Any transfer of title for a fancy car, would have been only that.  The car would have been kept in the same garage and filled up with the same gas.  Also, considering that the story was probably from the family reunion in Oceanside in 1937; Chauncey was 48 and Mrs. Browning was 74 and it would make more sense that she would be dying in a short time and he would most likely inherit the car.  Few people would imagine that she would outlive him by sixteen and a half years.

What follows immediately is Chauncey's obituary which I transcribed word for word from the newspaper. It seemed like such a tragedy to include without correction, that I wrote up a better obituary for him.

FRAZEE—CHAUNCEY, 2135 Park-

wood Ave., Nov. 15 (1939) Husband of

ary, Collingwood Memorial, where

Elizabeth, brother of Alma, Harry,

Services will be Friday, 2:30 p.m.

Interment Woodlawn.  -- TOLEDO

BLADE, Nov. 16, 1939.

FRAZEE – CHAUNCEY, 50, caretaker for Mrs. Harriet Browning of 2135 Parkwood Ave. died Wednesday, November 15, of (unknown, unnatural causes).  Mr. Frazee was born in Oceanside, California to Doniphan and Martha Frazee, December 18, 1888. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Mroczkowski Frazee, a sister and four brothers, nine sisters and brothers-in-law, and many nieces and nephews.  He was preceded in death by their only son, Adam.  Services will be held at Collingwood Memorial, Friday, 2:30 p.m. Interment will be at Woodlawn Cemetery, 1502 West Central Ave.

Elizabeth Mroczycowski Frazee 42S

Researching Chauncey and Elizabeth, all I can find is that they were pretty poor by family standards, they had no children when the rest of the family had several, and he died young leaving Elizabeth a widow for 38 years. She came from a family of at least ten Mroczkowski children - she quite possibly was the oldest - and by her obituary, her father died young, and her mother remarried and had at least two more, Moore children.  The Mroczkowskis spoke Polish in the home and Latin in the church (St. Anthony's) Elizabeth never traveled to Oceanside to visit her husband's family after his death.  Was she happy? It's so hard to say, but one thing telling about her obituary: with at least eleven brothers and sisters all younger than she was, only four were mentioned, and all four were unmarried and most likely childless. That does seem to be the recipe for a long life.

FRAZEE

ELIZABETH (Mroczkowski) age 87 years of 1563 Gould Rd. Wednesday, September 28th,  (1977) wife of the late Chauncey Frazee. Survived by her brother Raymond Moore, sisters Miss Regina Mroczkowski, Miss Clare Mroczkowski and Miss Helen Moore.  Friends may call after 7 p.m. Thursday at the BLANCHARD BROS. FUNERAL HOME Sylvania at Lockwood. Services will be held Saturday at 9:30 a.m. with Mass at 10:00 a.m. at St. Catherine’s Church. Interment Calvary Cemetery. Recitation of the Rosary 8 p.m.

Helen Claire Logan 413

H. C. Logan

Funeral services for Helen Claire Logan, a Clearlake Oaks resident who died Friday in her home, are at 2 p.m. today at Clear Lake Memorial Chapel in Lower Lake.  She was 60.

A native of Berkeley, she was an instructor at Laney College in Oakland for 17 years.  She vacationed in Lake County as a child before making it her permanent residence.

Mrs. Logan was a graduate of Berkeley High School and a 1958 graduate of San Francisco State College.

Survivors include her husband, Samuel O. Logan of Clearlake Oaks; two sons, Samuel D. Logan of Modesto and Douglass D. Logan of Danvillle; one daughter, Ila Logan of Clearlake Oaks; two brothers, Howard Frazee of Los Altos and Glenn Mosley of Prescott, Ariz.; and two grandchildren.

Burial is in Lower Lake Cemetery. The Rev. Ted Moring is officiating. Funeral arrangements were by Jones and Lewis Clear Lake Memorial Chapel.

January 2nd, 1984 Lake County Record-Bee

Wilmonte Doniphan Frazee, Jr. 111

Elder W. D. Frazee, Founder, father of the Wildwood Institution "Slipped to sleep quietly, peace- fully, and without any real pain, following a brief bout with pneumonia...(March 19, 1996)

In harmony with his desires and family tradition, he was prepared by dear friends for immediate burial and was laid to rest in a hand-crafted casket on Maranatha Hill above Wildwood Chapel.

Elder Frazee was preceded in death by his (first) wife, Helen (Larson Frazee), in 1986. Daughter, Rebekah (Frazee Graham Cochran), grandson, Wilmonte (Graham), granddaughter, Anita (Graham), Great-grandson, Michael, his (second) wife, May (Rickabaugh Frazee), and her (May's) daughters, Dona (Paulin), and Nancy (Mason) and her two sons (from her husband's first marriage), Henry (Steensma) and Ray (Steensma) survive.

A memorial service was held April 19, 1996 in the Wildwood Chapel with Elder Mark Finley officiating. (Elder Frazee's influence will live on in book and tape ministry, and the lives of those who have come under his tutelage. Tax deductible contributions in his memory may be made to Pioneers Memorial, PO Box 102, Wildwood, GA 30757- 0102. E-mail, on CompuServ 74617,2673.)

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=117192687

Wilmonte Doniphan Frazee 1

It feels so great to find this obituary after many hours of trying and finding that many others have tried and failed. This was made arbitrarily important because he was the eldest child of the eldest ancestor I am trying to follow. Having all three names being unacceptable to some people, made the search all the harder; i.e. he was known by William, Humbug Bill, and W. D. The D was for Don or Donald, never Doniphan. Frazee has been Frazzee, Frazel, Frazer, and Frazie. His death certificate was for "Willmannette D. Frezee." He died of Bright's disease.

I regularly gave up and tried to locate his living descendants instead hoping that they would know his date of death.  Learning more about them and him, I have become very impressed about how enthusiastically and adventurously they have lived their lives and I take from those stories, that a lot of my family's traits can be traced back to the Frazees and the Doniphans. 

Willmonte Doniphan Frazee, born December 26, 1855 in Indianapolis, Indiana died January 15, 1907 in Phoenix, Arizona. Father of Wilmonte D. Jr., Louise P., Helen I. and Mary C. Frazee. Grandfather to Wilmonte D. III, and Titus A. Frazee, and Richard H. and Arthur S. Collins. Great, grandfather to Rebekah, Kathleen F., Merrijean E., and Melinda M. Frazee, and (I will edit this when I find out if there were any Collins descendants. They seemed to spend a lot of their lives traveling internationally).

The Arizona Republican, Wednesday Morning January 16, 1906 – printer’s mistake should say 1907.

WILL FRAZZEE DEAD – A PHOENIX PIONEER

He Was a Man Concerning Whom Nothing But Good Can be Recalled By Old-time Residents.

Wilmonte D. Frazee died yesterday morning at his home on East Van Buren street, after an illness of three or four years. His funeral under the auspices of the Eagles will take place at 2 o’clock this afternoon from the undertaking rooms of Easterling and Whitney.

Will Frazee was born in Indiana fifty-one years ago. He came to Phoenix twenty-five years ago. He was a printer by trade and became foreman of the Gazette, a position he held for several years.  After that he entered the service of the Arizona Canal company and remained in it for fifteen years, leaving it at last only when his health failed.  He was stationed for the greater part of the time at the Arizona head.

He was known well throughout the valley and those who knew him the longest loved him the most. They say of him that a more honorable and upright man never lived. He was never known to do an unjust thing and he had the absolute confidence of every man with whom he had ever done business. He was always helpful as many an old printer knows. He leaves beside his wife, a son and three daughters. All of the children but one daughter have reached manhood or womanhood.

Arthur Shirley Collins 132

Arthur Shirley Collins was born in Sewell, Chile “The City of Stairs” February 12, 1913 to Helen Isabel Frazee and Arthur Lathrope Collins. Moving to San Francisco, Arthur got a job at McKale’s Service Station and then selling insurance before becoming a surveyor for the City and County of San Francisco, a job he kept the rest of his life. He took care of his mother when his parents split and his father remarried.  She died in 1944. He died just after his 56^th birthday.

He married Jeannette Ellen Maret, of San Francisco.  They had no children and is survived by Jeannette and his older brother Richard Hill Collins.

COLLINS, Arthur S. – In this city, February 19, 1969. Arthur S. Collins, dearly beloved husband of Jeannette E. Collins, devoted brother of Richard H. Collins.

Private funeral services were conducted Friday, February 21, 1969. Interment Holy Cross Cemetery.

W.C. LASSWELL & CO.

San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle, February 23, 1969

Helen Larson Frazee 111S1

MRS. HELEN FRAZEE

(The following is gleaned from an obituary written by Susan Ard of Chestnut Hill.)

Helen Larson Frazee was born April 4, 1914, in Montana, and died June 8, 1986 at Poland Springs Health Institute, Poland Springs, ME, where she was a patient under Dr. Richard Hanson's care. After completing her high school training at Pacific Union College, she joined her mother, a registered nurse, and younger sister in a medical missionary evangelistic company of volunteers led by W. D. Frazee. The company worked in northern California and in the cities of Utah. At her youthful age, she developed social skills and a real ability to share spiritual truths.

In 1933 she married W. D. Frazee. For the next 53 years, her talents, united with her husband's, made them one of the most powerful and far-reaching ministries for God and mankind in this generation. She loved self-supporting work and was one hundred percent committed to it. She and Elder Frazee, along with Neil Martin and George McClure, founded the Wildwood Sanitarium and Medical Missionary Institute at Wildwood, Georgia, in 1942. Hundreds have been trained to serve the Lord in self-supporting work far and near. More than 80 mission projects dot the globe due to the training received by young people and older ones. The couple's publications and tape recordings can be found in countries all over the world.

She authored several books on nature and the spiritual lessons it teaches, in which the lord

gave her unusual insight. Her published works include: Hot to Teach Nature in The Home;

Through the Seasons with God in Nature; and How To Give Short, Simple Bible Studies.

Sister Helen was laid to rest in the little Wildwood Cemetery. Surviving, in addition to her

husband, are one daughter, Rebekah Cochran of Portland, TN., and two grandchildren.